The

International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) joins its associate the Pacific

Freedom Forum in expressing its disappointment at comments made by a government

information adviser attending the Pacific Media Summit in Suva that it is not the job of journalists to

challenge government.

The Deputy

Secretary of the Papua New Guinea (PNG) Department of Communications and

Information, Paulius Korini, initiated a heated discussion among regional

journalists in an Anti-Corruption workshop with his claims that media controls

and regulation would help the media industry achieve balance in reporting.

Korini -

a former mainstream broadcast journalist, now a senior information adviser to

thePacific's largest developing country - told other participants who disagreed

with his statement that he agreed with some of their views. Just hours later,

he told Radio Australia journalist Bruce Hill twice in the same interview that it's not the job of PNG's journalists to challenge government, and that

the media should work in partnership with governments and be more responsible

in their reporting. 

“The IFJ

strongly challenges Deputy Secretary Korini’s statement that holding

governments accountable is not the role of journalists”, IFJ Asia-Pacific said.

“While

journalists must hold themselves to the highest standards of accountability and

ethics, this should not preclude them challenging governments when necessary.

In fact, the media plays an essential role in providing a voice for the

community, by ensuring that governments operate in line with principles of

democracy, transparency and good governance.”

The IFJ

urges the Government of PNG to publicly refute the statements made by Deputy

Secretary Korini, and reaffirm its commitment to press freedom and media

rights.

For

further information contact IFJ Asia-Pacific on +61 2 9333 0950 

The IFJ represents more than 600,000 journalists in 131

countries

Find the IFJ on Twitter: @ifjasiapacific

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