Welcome news: Lae TV Journalist gets award as she fends off threats and prepares for a court battle
Scott Waide
Posted On May 28, 2023
On September 16th, Lae based TV journalist, Julie Badui Owa, was awarded the second prize of the Russell Hunter Award for outstanding journalism.
Among her colleagues and the Lae community, Julie is best known for her feisty, character and tenacious journalism.
Over the last six years, she has reported on the ongoing medicine shortages, the poorly implemented Tuition Fee Free Education (TFF) policy and instances of corruption in the Morobe Provincial Administration.
She has made a lot of enemies.
Her reporting helped trigger an investigation into the medicine shortages by the Parliamentary Public Accounts Committee (PAC) in 2020. As with most investigations in recent years, very little came out of it and the problems have resurfaced. Two weeks ago, weeks, she resumed coverage of the medicine shortages at Angau hospital, this time with support from other media colleagues.
Julie has a strong sense of community and justice. She doesn’t easily back down. Two years ago, she was assaulted by a Chinese shop owner and his wife after she told them to stop smoking in a shop. The foreign national assaulted Julie and attempted to assault her mother as well.
The incident attracted considerable public and political attention.
She has been threatened numerous times by various people linked to the investigations she has done out of Lae.
Three months ago, after reporting on a story, she was called on her mobile phone and verbally abused and threatened because someone disagreed with her reporting. That was just the latest of many different threats she received over the last six years.
She has come to take it all in her stride. She now laughs it off and wears them all as badges of honor for fighting for her people, the downtrodden and the marginalized.
We continue to have discussions about what needs to be done in the country because we have to. The physiological strain especially on women journalists like Julie who have families has to be managed on a day to day basis.
We’ve accepted that things will always be difficult and people will disagree with the representation we give those who are treated unjustly.
Three months ago Julie was served a summons for defamation by a party unhappy with her ongoing reporting on the National Housing Corporation (NHC) evictions. This was expected and Julie is taking the challenge as it comes.
That case is yet to go for mention before the courts. It is just one part of the story of this brave young woman who has stood up to fight for more than 100 families who were evicted.
To the judges and founders of the Russell Hunter Award, I want to thank you for giving Julie Badui Owa the recognition she deserves for her hard work.
