The president of Papua New Guinea’s media council says there is a need for the country’s media ethics codes to be revised, Radio NZ International reports.
Alex Rheeney, president of the Media Council PNG, said local media were under fire recently over coverage of recent police shootings of students at the University of Papua New Guinea.
Rheeney, who is also editor of the Post-Courier newspaper, said there had been many changes in the industry over the years including the rise of social media.
He said the current code of ethics which was implemented nearly 30 years ago needed to be changed.
“Social media has funnily become a movement in Papua New Guinea,” he said.
“How do we work within the code of ethics and apply – how can journalists in Papua New Guinea apply that to their profession today. You know, we need to have a code of ethics that actually reflects those changes,” he said.
He was among an 11-strong Asia-Pacific contingent organised by the Pacific Media Centre at the World Journalism Education Congress in Auckland last week.
