PNG: Another media bashing condemned

 

PFF, Rarotonga, COOK ISLANDS-- Another attack on a journalist in Papua New Guinea has been condemned by regional media monitoring body the Pacific Freedom Forum, PFF.

Post-Courier correspondent Michael Koma was viciously attacked after his October 11th report into high level local government appointments in the Highlands province was published in PNG daily the Post-Courier. Two days later, four men approached Koma as he sat outside a relatives house in the Highlands district of Kundiawa, and after questioning him over the story, beat him until he was unconscious. He was rushed to hospital and has since recovered from the attack.
 

"The use of violence to silence and intimidate journalists is both deplorable and criminal  and we commend Koma and the Post Courier management for reporting this to the authorities," says PFF co chair Titi Gabi of Papua New Guinea. Gabi has previously researched media freedoms in Papua New Guinea and noted a reluctance from media colleagues to report and follow up on abuse and intimidation from those angry at media coverage.

 

With the police investigation into the assault currently underway, Gabi says it's imperative that journalists continue to report assaults and threats to themselves and colleagues.

 

"The culture of impunity over journalist bashings, threats and intimidation will only change when we stop accepting criminal attacks and abuse as part of the work we do," she says. 

"Pacific journalists stand in solidarity with our colleagues in Papua New Guinea. We continue to support the call for vigilance and alerts to the threats against freedom of media, especially reporting that supports right of people to know what is going on," says PFF co-chair Monica Miller of American Samoa. -- ENDS 


LINKS

PNG POST COURIER http://www.postcourier.com.pg/20121016/news02.html

PACIFIC MEDIA WATCH http://www.pmc.aut.ac.nz/pacific-media-watch/png-newspaper-journalist-bashed-over-post-courier-report-8135


CONTACT: PFF Chair Titi Gabi | Freelance Journalist | Papua New Guinea Mail: PO Box 7776, Boroko, NCD, Papua New Guinea | Mob: (675) 7314 3929 | Email: titi.gabipng@gmail.com PFF co-Chair Monica Miller | KHJ Radio | American Samoa Mob 684 258-4197 | Office 684 633-7793 | Email: monica@khjradio.com The Pacific Freedom Forum are a regional and global online network of Pacific media colleagues, with the specific intent of raising awareness and advocacy of the right of Pacific people to enjoy freedom of expression and be served by a free and independent media. We believe in the critical and basic link between these freedoms, and the vision of democratic and participatory governance pledged by our leaders in their endorsement of the Pacific Plan and other commitments to good governance. In support of the above, our key focus is monitoring threats to media freedom and bringing issues of concern to the attention of the wider regional and international community.