Uphold media ethics

MEDIA organisations have a responsibility to maintain the highest integrity and ethical behaviour in their duty to disseminate information to the public, a media workshop was told in Lae.
Independent Media Standards Committee (IMSC) member John Toguata said this was because PNG had a free news media that was one of the pillars of democracy in the Constitution.
The IMSC is an independent body that has the objective of ensuring that the media maintains its ethical responsibility to the public.
It is currently participating and observing a one week Media Ethics and Standards Accreditation and Paralegal training workshop held at the Lae International Hotel  that started yesterday.
During discussions at the workshop, Mr Toguata said  freedom in the media must also be protected and cherished.
He believed that freedom in the media must not be taken for granted.
Freedom given to media organisations meant carrying out activities responsibly, he said.
Mr Toguata stressed that the public’s trust in the media solely depended on integrity.
Reflecting on this, IMSC would be relying on the PNG media code of ethics to ensure that media organisations maintained standard and were responsible to the nation.