THE Press Council of SA has received a string of submissions after asking for input from the public on how to improve the media's self-regulatory mechanism, the Press Ombudsman said yesterday.

Joe Thloloe said in a statement: "The task team reviewing the council's constitution, its complaints procedures and the Press Code told the council that it has had great co-operation from the public and the media and that very few South Africans can legitimately say they are not aware of the review."

The council decided to extend its time frames to receive input from February to March 2011 to "allow for a wider range of inputs".

Thloloe said submissions made so far included suggestions around the funding of the council, the appointment of council members and the sanctions the ombudsman could impose.

It also included suggestions over the turn-around time of complaints and the constitutionality of the waiver that complainants had to sign before their complaints were accepted.

In evaluating the submissions, the team would use three criteria - whether the suggestion would lead to an improvement in the quality of journalism, whether it would make the press council system more efficient and whether it would be practical to implement.

Those who have already made submissions included the Law Society of South Africa, the Centre for Constitutional Rights, Media Monitoring Africa, the Freedom of Expression Institute and the South African National Editors Forum.

"In the meantime, the council has received a letter from the ANC welcoming the review but also pointing out that it would go ahead to implement the resolution of its national general council in Durban in September to have Parliament investigate 'media accountability mechanisms in the public interest'," said Thloloe.