AUCKLAND (bFM / Pacific Media Watch): Radio New Zealand International has been praised this week for its coverage of the so-called constitutional crisis looming in Papua New Guinea.
Pacific Media Watch contributing editor Alex Perrottet lauded journalists Johnny Blades and Don Wiseman on the bFm Southern Cross report for being the only mainstream media in the country to deliver consistent news and interviews with PNG parliamentarians to the New Zealand public.
"You would not hear about these amazing political situations that happen on our doorstep without the journalism from these small entities," Perrottet told The Monday Wire host Anna Bracewell-Worrall.
"The journalists there really need to be commended on their work."
He said despite small budgets and the difficulties of reporting on Papua New Guinea, the national broadcaster was providing a crucial service on a topic hardly considered by the mainstream media.
"We've got to be thankful for those sorts of journalists... If they can't often get on the ground and report about this, they dig it up and use their contacts and really find out what is happening."
Listen to The Southern Cross, a Pacific conversation on bFM's The Monday Wire
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Pacific Media Watch
