The Minister for Information and Communications Technology, Hon. Timothy Masiu has welcomed the setting up of the Independent Complaints Tribunal by the PNG Media Council.
He said it is a welcoming initiative by the Media Council of PNG, and one which is long overdue and must be in place.
“Our society has changed exacerbated by fast evolution in technology and dissemination of information therefore such bodies are crucially important for standards to be maintained and society assured of protection from wrong and inaccurate information.”
“The Media Policy approved by the NEC recommended strongly self-regulation and the need for the media to establish such bodies and therefore I am happy about this development. It gives s assurance to the government and the people that the media is serious in its desire to maintain ethical standards. and responsibility and the government welcomes this”
He said he recently wrote a letter to the PNG Media Council expressing concerns about graphic pictures of cut-up human bodies on the front page of the Post Courier which contradicts Journalism Ethics and he hopes his concerns are referred to the Tribunal.
“Ethical and responsible journalism is essential in this time and I continue to urge the media council to ensure newsroom and the media are enforcing this.”
Minister Masiu says the media policy will also assist in this area by supporting recognized Schools of Journalism to strengthen their curriculum to graduate journalists strong in ethics and also urge the media council to enforce policies that make it mandatory that journalists employed are graduates from these recognized institutions.
“As we all know, information is power hence the need for quality, ethical and responsible information going out to the masses especially in a society like PNG with so much diversity in culture and language.”
The Department of Information and Communication Technology will soon be having discussions with the PNG Media Council and stakeholders to discuss the implementation of the PNG Media Policy.
