Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare has called on the media to be responsible in how they disseminate information.
Speaking in parliament, Sogavare said in his last Sine Die motion he had made a call on the media to be responsible and now he is reiterating this call as he claimed the media’s attitude has not changed.
Sogavare says the country needs a fair and strong media but it must also be responsible.
“A strong and fair media is a strong ingredient for a strong and vibrant democracy. In most and if not all cases, it is the media that sets the agenda for public discussions unfortunately. The public consumes what the media feeds them and as you can see the media rules great power to influence how the public perceive and understand issues”, Sogavare says.
He said in the words of Malcolm X, ‘the media is the most powerful entity on earth’.
“They have the power to make the innocent guilty and to make the guilty innocent. And that’s power because they control the minds of the masters”, Sogavare says.
The Media Association of Solomon Islands (MASI) is the body that aims to provide strong leadership and support members of the media industry, its stakeholders and the community to provide up-to-date, quality news and information to all Solomon Islanders without fear or favour.
Over the years MASI, a not-for-profit organization, has strived to provide support for journalists through training and capacity building to ensure they perform to the journalistic standards expected of them.
The Prime Minister however said the media is duty bound and obliged to provide nothing else but the truth to the general populace.
The Solomon Islands media continues to enjoy Press Freedom as guaranteed by article 12 of the constitution.
The Media Association of Solomon Islands (MASI) encourages journalists to stick to the general principles of Journalism in their news coverage, more so at this time of State of Emergency.