Journalists, editors and media leaders from across Papua New Guinea and the wider Pacific gathered in Port Moresby this week for a PNG Media Summit convened by the Media Council of Papua New Guinea and PNG Women in Media, placing artificial intelligence, misinformation and election integrity at the centre of discussions ahead of World Press Freedom Day on May 3.
The summit came as Papua New Guinea prepares for national elections and as governments across the region grapple with the rapid spread of disinformation online. Kalafi Moala, president of the Pacific Islands News Association, used the platform to urge regional solidarity and robust protections for journalists working in high‑risk environments. “To move forward, we must defend press freedom as a cornerstone of democracy, protect journalists, especially those working in high risk environments, promote media and digital literacy, harness AI responsibility guided by ethics and public interest,” Moala said.
Neville Choi, president of the Media Council of PNG, warned that traditional newsroom practices will be insufficient in the face of AI‑driven misinformation and election‑period manipulation. He said mainstream media must prioritise fact‑checking, verification and investigative reporting to prepare for the elections, and invest in newsroom systems that can cope with the velocity and technical sophistication of false content. “In preparation for the elections… we have prioritised focus on factchecking and verification, investigative reporting, and building the capacities of our mainstream media newsrooms in understanding AI,” Choi told delegates.
A key new element at the summit was a public unpacking of Papua New Guinea’s National AI Framework by Steven Matainaho, Secretary of the Department of Information and Communications Technology. Matainaho framed the framework as an enabling tool rather than a panacea, arguing that technology must be paired with sound data governance and policy to protect freedom of expression and public discourse. “It is not the end game, it is the enabler to solve the problem that we are trying to solve,” he said, urging responsible AI use and attention to privacy and transparency.
Lisa Kingsberry, Director for Strategic Communication, Outreach and Engagement at the Pacific Community (SPC), reminded attendees that regional institutions have a role to play in supporting access to information and strengthening accountability mechanisms. “We are your organization, owned and function for the Pacific by Pacific, reach out for information and hold us accountable to it,” Kingsberry said, stressing collaboration between media and regional bodies to shore up information ecosystems.
Throughout the day, conversations moved beyond abstract tech debates to a practical reality check: shrinking public trust, the increasing speed at which false information spreads, pressures on understaffed newsrooms, and the new threat of deepfakes. Delegates repeatedly returned to a common refrain — that technological tools, including AI, cannot replace the patient verification, human judgement and ethical standards that underpin credible journalism.
The summit marks the latest development in an ongoing regional focus on press freedom and digital resilience. In recent months Pacific media groups have raised alarms over government restrictions on journalists and island states have advanced national digital strategies and cybersecurity measures. With PNG’s election cycle imminent, the summit’s outcomes are likely to shape newsroom training, fact‑checking initiatives and collaborative responses to disinformation in the weeks ahead.