Neville Choi pledges to strengthen Pacific newsrooms

Neville Choi, the newly appointed president of the Pacific Islands News Association (PINA), has pledged to strengthen newsrooms across the Pacific region. Choi, who also serves as president of Papua New Guinea’s Media Council, identified the PINA Secretariat as a primary focus, stating it requires increased support, accountability, and transparency.

Choi aims to empower national media associations to serve as central contact points for media within their respective countries. He also emphasized the need for larger media organizations to support smaller outlets in island states through mentoring, training, and empowerment.

Addressing technological shifts, Choi noted that artificial intelligence (AI) was a major topic at the recent PINA Media Summit in Fiji. While acknowledging AI as a tool for newsroom workflows, he stressed the necessity of maintaining strong human oversight to protect core journalistic processes.

Additionally, Papua New Guinea’s Media Council and the National Broadcasting Corporation have agreed to host the next Pacific Media Summit in Port Moresby.