Moran leader calls on media to report fairly

THE chairman of the Moran Special Purpose Authority, Tony Kila, has called on the media to report accurately, The National reports.

Kila said some media organisations had failed to report news without fear or favour.

He said ethically, journalists were expected to collect accurate information and balance their stories instead of hearsay and one-sided reports and accounts from people with vested interest.

Kila was referring to a news article published in the Sunday Chronicle newspaper on Sunday and aired on radio last Friday that two policemen were shot when landowners fired shots at each other at the airport.

“There was no policeman hurt or was there any exchange of gunfire between my group and the opposing landowner faction; it was a public shooting which resulted in the wounding of two people who were not party to any issue,” he said.

Kila said the use of guns at the airport was a national security issue as the gun-wielding men shot at the public.

“I’m not happy with the way the two media outlets had reported on the incident because they reported from hearsay without even checking facts with the policemen on the ground.

“Trained journalists should know better as what goes out to the public becomes news which might have greater implications on certain people or groups,” he said.

He called on the PNG Media Council to investigate the two outlets as their reports lacked facts with poor journalism practice and lacked ethical decision-making.