FOTP 2013 Full Report

of the Institutional Protection Service detained journalist Rafaela Sánchez and a cameramanwith the RPC television network while they were reporting a story about a water purificationplant.All Panamanian media outlets are privately owned, with the exception of one state-ownedtelevision network and one radio station. There are at least five daily papers, around 100 radiostations, and several national television networks. Cross-ownership between print and broadcastmedia is prohibited. The government has been accused of distributing official advertisingaccording to political criteria. There are no government restrictions on the internet, which wasaccessed by 45 percent of the population in 2012.Papua New GuineaStatus: FreeLegal Environment: 6Political Environment: 12Economic Environment: 10Total Score: 28Survey Edition 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012Total Score, Status 28,F 26,F 24,F 25,F 27,FNews media in Papua New Guinea (PNG) have traditionally been among the strongest and mostindependent in the South Pacific, but press freedoms eroded following political turmoil in 2011that left the country with two prime ministers and two administrations. The crisis was resolved in2012 with the reelection of Peter O’Neill as prime minister. He pledged to protect and enhancemedia freedom, but critics argued that the media environment continued to deteriorate.Freedoms of speech, the press, and information are guaranteed under Section 46 of theconstitution. Journalists can be sued for defamation in civil cases, but it is not a criminal offense.In November 2011, the Malaysian timber company Rimbunan Hijau, which runs the singlelargest logging operator in PNG and owns the country’s top-selling daily newspaper, theNational, filed a major defamation suit against that paper’s rival, the Post-Courier, over itscoverage of an official investigation into the company’s logging interests in the Pomio District ofEast New Britain Province. In November 2012, the Post-Courier ran an apology that retracted its“incorrect accusation” that the logging operation in the area was in violation of a court order.PNG does not have an access to information law. The Media Council of Papua NewGuinea (MCPNG) serves as a buffer against government pressure by lobbying for mediafreedom, managing a complaints process, and undertaking media research. The council also has awell-developed code of ethics, which member journalists follow. However, the MCPNG’sexecutive director, Nimo Kama, was suspended in June 2011 after an independent audit ofAustralian government funding to the organization found evidence of fraud. The future of thecouncil remained in limbo in 2012.Threats and harassment against journalists and attempts to interfere with their work occuroccasionally, particularly in reprisal for investigative reporting on corruption issues. At least fourmajor assaults on journalists were reported in 2012, some of which were committed by securityforces with apparent impunity. In January, soldiers threatened to shoot journalist Tauna George302