Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia – The formation of a Mongolian Media Ethics Council was announced. Nomin Chinbat, CEO of Mongol TV, was named as Chairperson of the inaugural Board. This announcement comes as the 2nd Annual Mongolian TV Forum where global media and Mongolian broadcasters will participate in the 2 day conference, held in Ulaanbaatar on 5-6 February.

Over the past year, journalists, editors, broadcasters, business owners and academia came together as an informal group called The Media Council Club of Mongolia and evolved into the official Mongolian Media Ethics Board. The Council will protect citizens against unethical reporting in the media and raise awareness about the importance of truthful reporting while monitoring the implementation of an ethics code for journalists. Lastly, the council will mediate between dissatisfied readers and the media.

The Council consists of 15 Board Members and a Chairperson, while the Ethics Committee will have 15 members each in 2 divisions – broadcast and radio; print and online media – who will mediate on complaints made by the public about the media. The Freedom House has labelled Mongolian media as “partly free” in 2014. There have been 297 civil and 16 criminal cases recorded from 1999 to 2011 in Mongolia.

“Mongolia’s media industry is changing by taking a positive step forward, and creating the first-ever ethics council. I am honoured that my Mongolian colleagues put their trust in me as their first Chairperson. The illustrious Board and I will strive to ensure all Mongolian journalists and broadcasters utilise ethical and high quality standards,” said Nomin Chinbat, CEO of Mongol TV. “We want Mongolian citizens to trust our media and know that we are reporting in a truthful and unbiased manner.”

Scholars in global media hail the importance of self-regulation in media and how it plays a pivotal role in upholding freedom of expression and protecting citizens from media misconduct.

Tamir Ukhnaa, former communication regulator, now media NGO leader, said, “The newly set up ethics council will help journalists from criminal prosecution while defending public’s right to free and unbiased reporting and overall raise the bar of reporting quality in Mongolia.” The NGO Ukhnaa heads is titled: Communication capacity-building development forum.