PNG dominates PINA Board as it sets its sights on 2028
PNG: Members of the PNG Delegation to the 2026 PINA Summit (L-R) Kelvin Caspar (NBC Bougainville), Rose Amos (NBC), Neville Choi (PINA President and President of the MCPNG), Gregory Moses (Vice President MCPNG), Ben Kedoga (Office of Censorship) and Vanessa Ripa (NBC Mt. Hagen) outside the Wasawasa Event Centre in Savusavu, Fiji. Pic: NBC
SUNDAY, 4TH OCTOBER 2026 - PAPUA New Guinea has three media representatives on the new Pacific Islands News Association (PINA) Board as it sets its sights firmly on hosting regional Pacific media at the next Pacific Media Summit in 2028.
President of the Media Council of Papua New Guinea (MCPNG), Neville Choi was appointed President of PINA, while the other two Papua New Guinean Media Representatives on the new board are Frank Genaia, General Manager of the Post-Courier who was elected Print Industry Representative; and Rose Amos, Director Provincial Radio, National Broadcasting Corporation (NBC), who was elected Online Industry Representative.
They join PINA Industry representatives for Television, Charles Sumbe President of the Media Association of Vanuatu (MAV); Radio, Viola Ulakai, CEO of Tonga Broadcasting Corporation (TBC); and Tipi Autagavaia who leads the National Media Associations (NMAs) as the main implementing agencies for PINA programs.
The PINA membership voted unanimously for the next Pacific Media Summit to be hosted in Papua New Guinea. This follows an official bid from the Media Council of Papua New Guinea and the National Broadcasting Corporation (NBC) to host the 9th Pacific Media Summit in Port Moresby, PNG.
“The MCPNG and NBC have decided to host the next PINA Summit in 2028. We have begun a process of education and awareness amongst our members of parliament and the community over the past three years as the government of PNG has done its best to understand how the media works, the difference between social media and its unregulated nature, and mainstream media who operate under a set of guidelines and know how to properly vet information before it is presented for public consumption,” Mr. Choi said, adding that PNG will be resting on its experiences and engagements with the PNG National Parliament, to help the other smaller Pacific Island countries’ media sectors.
Post-Courier, through their General Manager Frank Genaia, will now lead the PINA’s print members comprising:
1. Post-Courier (Papua New Guinea)
2. Sunday Bulletin (Papua New Guinea)
3. Solomon Star (Solomon Islands)
4. The Island Sun (Solomon Islands)
5. Island Times (Palau)
6. Cook Island News (Cook Islands)
7. Samoa Observer (Samoa)
8. Pacific Island Times (Guam)
9. Fiji Times (Fiji) and
10. Fiji Sun (Fiji)
The NBC PNG, through their Director, Provincial Radio, Rose Amos, leads PINA’s Online/Digital Industry Group made up of:
1. NBC Online (PNG)
2. Tavuli News (Solomon Islands)
3. Talanoa O Tonga (Tonga) and
4. Jubi Media (West Papua)
Tipi Autagavaia from the Journalists Association of Samoa (JAWS) leads PINA’s National Media Associations (NMAs) membership comprising:
1. Media Council of Papua New Guinea (MCPNG)
2. Fijian Media Association (FMA)
3. Media Association of Solomon Islands (MASI)
4. Media Association of Vanuatu (MAV)
5. Palau Media Council (PMC)
6. Media Association of Tonga (MAT) and
7. Journalists Association of Samoa (JAWS).
Viola Ulakai, Managing Director of the Tonga Broadcasting Commission (TBC) leads PINA’s Radio Members comprising:
1. BroadCom Radio 89.5FM (Tonga)
2. Fiji Broadcasting Corporation (FBC)
3. Solomon Islands Broadcasting Corporation (SIBC)
4. Communications Fiji Ltd (CFL)
5. PNGFM Limited (PNGFM)
6. National Broadcasting Corporation (NBC PNG)
7. Vanuatu Broadcasting & Television Corporation (VBTC)
8. Broadcasting and Publications Authority (BPA – Kiribati) and
9. Tonga Broadcasting Commission (TBC - Tonga).
Charles Sumbe, President of the Media Association of Vanuatu (MAV) leads the PINA Television Industry group comprising:
1. Vanuatu Broadcasting & Television Corporation (VBTC)
2. Fiji Broadcasting Corporation (FBC)
3. BCN/TV (Niue)
4. NBCTV (PNG)
5. Nauru Media Bureau (Naoeru)
6. TMC TV (Palau)
7. Mai TV (Fiji)
8. TVBC (Tuvalu)
The 8th Pacific Media Summit hosted by the Fijian Media Association (FMA) in partnership with PINA has been the largest Summit yet in terms of in-person attendees, pre-Summit training workshop participants and facilitators, and one which has set the bar for all future PINA Summits.
This was also the first PINA Summit which saw participants from several PNG Government Agencies in the PNG Censorship Office, the National Information and Communications Technology Authority (NICTA) and the National Institute of Standards and Industrial Technology (NISIT).
ENDS…//
