The Washington News Council has joined the Alliance of Independent Press Councils of Europe. We’re not in Europe, you say?

True, but neither are several other press councils in AIPCE: Botswana, Israel, Peru, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Zambia, among others. It’s a big tent, this group, and their numbers are growing. (For more details, see What is a Press Council?)

WNC is the first American council to ally with AIPCE. Why did we join? Well, like minds stick together. Besides, there are only a handful of other news councils in the United States: Minnesota, Hawaii, and New England.

We joined AIPCE this week after I met with Will Gore, public affairs director of the British Press Complaints Commission. Gore coordinates the alliance from his office in London.

AIPCE is a self-described “loose network of independent content regulators for both press and broadcast media.” There is no formal membership and no central secretariat. “I am basically the de facto secretary,” Gore told me.

The organization was formed in 1999 after the death of Princess Diana, which raised profound concerns about the conduct of the news media, especially the so-called “paparazzi.” Its annual conference provides a forum to discuss current press issues and exchange ideas about media ethics and performance.

“We realized there was a shared view among press councils that media standards should be kept high,” Gore said. “It is sort of a loose-knit alliance. Press councils are very wary of any greater formalization. We are all national bodies, and don’t like the idea of pan-European regulation of the news media.”

According to its website, the aims and core beliefs of the AIPCE are that:

– any regulation of media editorial content should be independent of government;

– media content regulation, whether national or regional in its coverage, should be based on nations’ differing cultures;

– journalistic ethics codes and their administration is the business of journalists and publishers, who take into account public views, and not the business of governments;

– it is not possible to operate a universal code of ethics, and the imposition of supra-national codes and regulatory organizations, either at the European or global level, should be opposed.

Those are general principles that the Washington News Council upholds – although we avoid the word “regulation” and would not want any legal authority to regulate or control the news media. Many European countries, lacking a First Amendment, have more history with actual regulation and control of the press, so their councils are self-regulation forums for the industry.

Also, unlike most AIPCE members, our news council was not created by media organizations. We are an independent citizens’ organization. That gives us even more credibility, since we are not funded by the media.

AIPCE shares many values with the Organization of News Ombudsmen, whose annual convention I attended recently at Oxford University. Most ONO members work either full- or part-time for newspapers, television and radio stations. They deal with complaints from readers, viewers or listeners. Not being an actual ombudsman, I’m an associate member of ONO.

At Oxford, I was part of a panel, which I had proposed, on “Press Councils and Ombudsmen: A New Partnership?” I told the gathering that it was somewhat ironic for me to suggest such a partnership, since we have no full-time ombudsmen at any media outlet in Washington state.

But the idea of closer collaboration was well-received. ONO and AIPCE may explore opportunities to work together more in the future, although their perspectives are somewhat different.

“Ombudsmen are looking at things from the journalists’ point of view, while press councils are looking more from the readers’ point of view,” Gore said.

The Washington News Council, for the past dozen years, has tried to see both points of view. We are now allied with two different global organizations that do the same.