PORT MORESBY (Pacific Scoop / Pacific Media Watch): A former president of the PNG Media Council has called on “isolated” Pacific news organisations to strike a better relationship with civil society groups to have a stronger stake in the community.
In a speech marking the World Press Freedom Day celebrations in the Papua New Guinean capital of Port Moresby, he said media groups needed stronger community ties to stand up to government attempts to muzzle them.
He also called on media groups to cooperate with their rivals in campaigning for media freedom.
“In most Pacific countries we have one or two major media players; some of them are government-owned or have some form of government ownership,” he said.
“Most, if not all, of these organisations work in isolation, by that I mean they do not actively seek engagement with other media organisations because they view them as competitors.”
They also did not actively interact with the broader community in the form of NGO groups – “some say because they want to retain their independence”, Aitsi said.
“The opportunity for governments to introduce media control is greater in this type of environment where the media is isolated and there is no real demonstrable – let me say that again – no real demonstrable link between them and their communities.”
In Melanesian politics, MPs often used the defence “it is in the best interest of the people”, Aitsi said.
Expecting support
“How many times have we heard that? Our objective is to ensure the people see that the media is part of them, that we are representing their interest it is only when we have achieved this level of relationship can we reasonably expect their support.”
It needed to be asked how civil society could be mobilised and actively involved in the process of protecting media freedom.
“I will share with you my experience during my time with the Media Council of PNG. If you think the approach is useful and has a ‘take away’ value, then well and good.
“In 1994, the PNG government started making serious moves to control the media, this galvanised our newspapers proprietors, radio station operators and our television station and they came together, galvanised by the threat of media regulation.
“The heads of those organisations at the time had the wisdom to realise it was in their interest to put aside issues of competition for the common good of the industry.
“On the back of this consensus a heightened commitment was visibly made by each media organisation.
“The Media Council of PNG was revitalised and its executives were voted to office.
Critical factor
“Each organisation gave its undertaking to support the work of the council through the executives, a critical factor in the council’s early success was the placement of a motivated and energetic secretary who was able to build the relationship between all members keeping them informed of all activities and coordinating the interchange of information and material.”
The media council also developed ties with civil society groups. Aitsi was president of the PNG Media Council for eight years until 2007. However, in recent months AusAID funding for the Media Council was suspended pending investigation of allegations of fraud.
Peter Aitsi’s full speech is on Pacific Media Centre Online
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 New Zealand Licence.
Pacific Media Watch
