Opportunities for development journalism in Papua New Guinea

Abstract

The Social Journalism Awards (SJA) is a journalism exchange programme providing Papua New Guinean journalists with opportunities to report on development issues. This article draws on information collected from SJA participants, and analysis of the media content they produced, to gather insights into development journalism in Papua New Guinea. The study found that Papua New Guinean journalists are interested in reporting on development issues but they lack appropriate opportunities to do so. The main issues facing Papua New Guinean journalists include few opportunities to report on issues outside the national capital; few professional development or training opportunities; few opportunities to report on development issues, particularly those affecting the rural poor; conflicts of interest for media owners including the government and foreign corporations with mining interests; and low pay within the industry. The study showed that when given appropriate opportunities, PNG journalists can contribute to development and democracy in meaningful ways. The article concludes that it is important for media indices to go beyond procedural freedoms and to measure substantive freedoms, or opportunities, available to journalists.