Solomon Islands Prime Minister Gordon Darcy Lilo called on media outlets to follow journalism ethics and “be responsible in their reporting,” the Solomon Star reported.
The Solomon Islands are east of Papua New Guinea.
The Solomon Star noted that it published articles “questioning why he was still residing in a hotel” recently, and Lilo argued the newspaper’s reports “covered only a fraction of the whole story.”
For example, on Feb. 23, the Solomon Star published an editorial arguing that “Lilo’s hotel stay contradicts his cost cutting policy.”
According to the Solomon Star, Lilo said in November he would “move to the Red House, the traditional home of our prime minister, from his hotel room at the Honiara Hotel.” But Lilo “still lives in his hotel room.”
We wrote in February 2011 when the Solomon Star burned its anonymous source, press secretary for Danny Philip, the prime minister at the time and Lilo’s predecessor. Philip gave the newspaper a six-page document claiming Australia tried to bribe Solomon Islands’ parliament members.