Now Covers

[?]Ig Press Corps

New Guinea

Twenty-eight full-time Euro san journalists and 12 native

idet journalists are now

agaged in the collection and issemination of news in Papua few Guinea. i ND as the result of this, and the V Australian Press’s markedly icreased consciousness of the Terri >ry, P-NG is getting almost daily lentions in Australia’s leading letropolltan newspapers and in L BC national broadcasts.

And, since never before has there een such a gathering of full-time mrnalists there (in 1953 there were nly two, and for many years there 'ere only three) there has been a lash of interests at times.

On January 28 the South Pacific 'ost, edited by John Blair, came out dth an editorial comment that rought down the wrath of one of le “foreign” correspondents, who sked for and got space to reply.

Said the Post editorial: “Papua lew Guinea is in for a renaissance f sensationalism judging from the umber of representatives of the letropolitan Press established here ir about to come. Cliches are [ragged out, and old stories, done to leath years ago, are rehashed; staid cientists are made to look like ;ibbering idiots and responsible nen of standing are startled at their iwn staggering statements”.

"Irate"

Experienced Mirror Newspaper’s orrespondent Keith Willey, now >ased in Port Moresby, wrote a etter to Blair, published in the next ssue, demanding to know what outhern journalists had done to nerit the editorial blast.

Such charges as the Post had made )ften were levelled by politicians ind departmental heads, he said, )ut it was “a bit rough when fellow vork'ing journalists like yourself join he chorus”.

He added that the Post’s abuse was probably actionable if he wanted ;o take it to law, but to do that ‘would be as ludicrous as your own iffort”. The editorial was just another instance of the pot calling

the kettle black, added the irate Willey.

The big build up of journalists started in September, when AAP- Reuter, who for the past six years have maintained a reporter in Port Moresby, posted another, Geoff Herd, to Rabaul to open an office t h ere And in the same month the ABC announced its intention of recruiting a fourth European journalist to its Port Moresby staff.

In mid-December Don Hogg, formerly on the South Pacific Post,

returned to the Territory to free lance.

He represents The Sydney Morning Herald, The Sun, Sun-Herald.

Brisbane’s Sunday Mail, London’s Sunday Express, United Press Inter national and GTV9 Melbourne.

In the second week of January, Mirror Newspapers Ltd. posted Keith Willey full time to Port Moresby, the second journalist employed full time in the Territory by an Aus tralian newspaper group.

The first was Angus Smales who covers the Territory from Rabaul for

the Melbourne Herald and Sun, Sydney’s Daily Telegraph, and others in the group.

Adelaide’s evening newspaper The News, and its Sunday paper, Sunday Mail, are both serviced by Willey.

Wide Representation

All major Australian dailies are directly represented there now either by their own men or by the compre hensive AAP-Reuter service.

The ABC employs four European journalists and two native cadets in its Port Moresby office and one European journalist and a native cadet at Rabaul.

New Guinea’s Times-Courier maintains one European and two

natives in its Rabaul office and two Europeans and two native cadets at Lae.

South Pacific Post Ltd. employs three full-time journalists and one working part-time, all in Port Moresby.

In addition to these independent news-gathering organisations the Department of Information gathers news from Rabaul, Port Moresby and Wewak. Its operation will soon be extended to Daru when an admini stration broadcasting station is opened there.

The Department employs 11 European men and women plus a number of natives who are con cerned with news gathering.