Samoa’s new media council adopts code of ethics

SAMOA - The Samoa Media Council has approved the Media Code of Ethics in principle as its first decision when it met for the first time on Friday.

The code will be officially adopted at a second meeting this week.

The Media Council was appointed by the National Media Association of Samoa – JAWS, as prescribed under the Media Council Act 2015.

The Council – meeting for the first time, reviewed the draft Code of Ethics that has been developed by JAWS and consultant Geoff Heriot under funding from the Australian funded Pacific Media Project – PACMAS.

The Code will be the guideline for the Samoa media and will be central to the work of the Samoa Media Council in ensuring prescribed standards and ethics are maintained in the media.

Also central to the Code of Ethics is upholding media freedom, the freedom of information and expression as guaranteed under Samoa’s Constitution.

The Code is the result of ten years work and addresses prevailing advances in the media landscape including the social and the mainstream media platforms.

The chair the of the Media Council, lawyer Leautulilagi Vanessa Barlow Schuster, declared “this is a living document” when the 15 member Council unanimously adopted the document.

The Media Council is appointed by the JAWS Executive under the Media Council Act 2015 and works to ensure professional standards are established, developed and maintained across the media in Samoa. - Talamua