NUKU’ALOFA, Tonga – New government guidelines on news reporting may lead to a lifting of the current ban on political reporting, Minister of Information Afu’alo Matoto told Tongan journalists on Friday.  He said that the ban is in place because the government felt that the Tonga Broadcasting Commission (TBC) was presenting unbalanced news and was concerned with the quality of reporting.  Matoto believes that the new guidelines will be helpful for reporters in the long run, though some, like TBC news editor Nanise Fifita, have expressed their doubts.  The guidelines are still being drafted, and their scope has not yet been determined.

Tongan journalists remain concerned, especially about their lack of access to important documents like pending legislation, which is not released to them unless and until it is passed, and to court decisions, where cost per page can be prohibitive.  During his meeting with the journalists, Matoto said that he will try to improve the flow of information from the government to the news media.

Matoto recently criticized a report from Reporters Without Borders, which ranked Tonga as 119th of 169 countries on its World Press Freedom Index, a large slide from last year when Tonga was ranked 54th.

For more information, please see:

Tonga Now – Minister of Information doubts report by Reporters Without Borders – 14 November 2007

Matangi Tonga – Govt drawing news “guideline” for public broadcasting – 19 November 2007

Radio New Zealand International – Tonga to get guidelines to lift ban on political reporting – 20 November 2007

The Reporters Without Borders annual World Press Freedom Index may be found here.