Why arent PNG Journalists confrontational?

Why aren’t Journalists in PNG confrontational? I am affirming that ‘confrontational’ here means to ‘stand up’ or ‘speak out’ and ask the hard questions to those who are responsible for the masses in terms of health, education, welfare, ICT etc.  While there may be a variety of reasons and some people will have even more stronger, valid points than I may make here, in my opinion, I believe that the ability of a journalist to be ‘confrontational’ is hampered by news media organizations in the country who employ journalists.

1. Lack of support by news organisations -  I am of the belief that we as journalists in PNG have very little to be confrontational about since we have not shown that we are prepared for hard work. When was the last time, a news organisation put effort, resources and sought professional and technical advice to investigate a story? When have we seen a step by step investigative story uncovering facts and intelligent writing? The story of budget cuts and not enough resources have been excuses that impede us as journalist to take longer, deeper meaningful research into an issue. Entertainment news has taken over the issue based news because it is easier to write and takes much less time to produce. How often do we see a follow up of a story six months after an event happened? We never got to hear what happened to the outbreak of Cholera in remote area of Morobe Province six months later after everyone closed up and went away. Then we had a similar outbreak in NCD some months later. Which news organisation wants to send a reporter to visit this remote part of Morobe, then ask the hard questions to WHO, Morobe Provincial Government and minister for Health, study the epidemiology of Cholera, trace the origins of Cholera in PNG, find the associations between susceptibility and transmission? All this finding and exploring takes time and financial resources – something news organisations profess not to have. Iam of the opinion that if news organisations or journalists are to be foundations of the fourth estate, then time and financial resources must be devoted to investigate stories and seek to uncover facts and figures that influence issues. News organisations must be prepared to fund journalists to travel, do research and help write intelligently and produce news stories.

2. Keeping journalists in news media. - Iam also of the belief that journalists who possess the passion and the drive to take on investigative journalism, are not being rewarded or justifiably commensurated financially by news organisations. This, I believe is not only found in PNG but evident throughout the Pacific.  Many who start off in the field of journalism as general news reporters, who then take specialist fields such as business, HIV/AIDS, politics, agriculture, mining, carbon fuels, information technology, sports etc don’t usually stay in that news area for long. This is because as they become more experienced, more knowledgeable of the subject area and write accurately, they are more often than not, subject to be coaxed into leaving the news organizations for ‘greener pastures’. This mostly include higher salary, housing, travel, allowances and better working hours, all of which better than those provided by media organizations. They then become public relations officers, community media officers or even journalists in that organisation. Thus, this migration leaves a gap in news organisations that cannot be easily filled. Gone are the person’s valuable experiences, advisory roles, leadership, news values, contacts, etc, things which cannot be easily replaced.  How is that related to a journalist be confrontational? For a journalist to be confrontational, he/she needs good advisors to guide the research, people who can be mentors, people who have experiences over decades, people who can sniff out a rat or see a problem a mile away - the kind of skills are not easily given but gained over the years.  As they leave, they also take their reputation, skills and credibility and leave the news organisation having very little to write or produce investigative stories. It is about time news media organisations pay journalists what they deserve and keep them on the job for longer periods.

Em tasol!

Social media - my opinion

Earlier this month, I made a contribution to an article by Rachel Shisei, a journalist in PNG, when she posted about the impact of social media in the country on Thadreina Abady's blog.

Firstly, I’d like to thank Rachel for writing her views about social media and its use in PNG. Thankyou Rachel! We need more journalists to write and bring this issue into the mainstream media and encourage more young people to digest and construct ideas from this.
I would like to add on to Rachel’s article here that one of the positive things to come out from the use of social media in this country is that it allows mainstream media organizations to get stories, data, tips and views off other people and organizations online on social networks – something that was almost impossible just a decade ago. Lately on the local television station, EMTV and in the local newspaper, Post Courier, I have seen Facebook posts used as news items. This sort of interaction is what the news media in PNG needs – people using a social website to post items that are news worthy. You never know, sooner or later, we may even have a Papua New Guinea version of Julian Assange doing a PNG version of Wiki Leaks! Another positive outcome for the use of the social media for many organisations is that it is a cost effective way to bring your message to the mass media and also the general population. Its way cheaper and can be visibly informative.
Other the other hand, social media use has some issues that need careful thought. I will not highlight all these issues but point out a few that I believe, are important. Firstly, there is currently, in my opinion, a lack of legislation and regulation to guide its use and protect people. For instance, if online bullying occurs, defamation, use of profane language, trolling, inciting hatred, etc happens online in social media, who regulates this bad behaviour? Do we just let it by? Can people be held accountable for their actions? Is there even a need to regulate use of social media? Others will say that any kind of regulation reduces the right to free speech as guaranteed in the PNG constitution! Sure, social media is a positive outlet for free speech but on the other hand, when it is used for actions that are irresponsible, who accounts for their actions? For example, if a group is formed on Facebook and users, using false names, write untrue and baseless information about somebody or an organisation, and this information is read widely, people form opinions and construct ideas based on that information. Who comes in and says “okay what you are saying here is not correct and illegal. You need to be responsible for your actions here”?
My second observation, and again this is my own opinion, that even though the older methods of news collection (fronting up at a office and doing face to face interviews or doing telephone interviews) are still prominent, I feel that there is a shift towards this new method of collecting news as I highlighted earlier (using Facebook posts as news items). Sometimes i worry about the ethical issues behind this method and get uncomfortable when i read news collection methods today that have gone overboard – if you can remember the News of the World phone hacking scandal in Britain last year. When news collection methods shift, does this mean that news values change?
For me, the most interesting thing about the use of social media in PNG is that its’ cost effectiveness, simplicity of use, connectivity combined with our personal yearning for social interaction online will drive its use further more into the future. A decade ago, we knew very little about social media. Today, a friend, wanting to communicate with you will ask: “Yu stap lo facebook tu?” ( Are you on Facebook?)!