Prime Minister Peter O’Neill has defended the Government on the suspension of EMTV’s senior journalist, Scott Waide.
He said EMTV runs its own affairs and the decision was entirely on the organisation.
When responding to this newsroom on the involvement of Government with the suspension of the senior journalist, PM O’Neill said he has no knowledge of the EMTV management’s decision.
However, he said he will find out more in the next few days on what had actually transpired.
Meantime, the Media Council of PNG released a statement calling on the board and management of Media Niugini Limited to allow Scott Waide back to active duty.
It was alleged that Waide was suspended for airing a story considered by the MNL Board, the Kumul Telikom Holdings Board, and the Kumul Consolidated Holdings Board, to be ‘negative’.
The MCPNG went on and maintained that the job of portraying a positive image of the country rests solely with the government.
The Council pointed out that the media’s sole responsibility is to the people, and not to government, regardless of whether it owns some, or all of any media company's shareholding.
It was alleged that the decision to suspend Waide came from the Kumul Consolidated Holdings Board.