Farewell for pioneering media pair
Title -- 4480 PNG: Farewell for pioneering media pair
Date -- 21 August 2004
Byline -- None
Origin -- Pacific Media Watch
Source -- PNG Post-Courier, 20-22/8/2004
Copyright -- PC
Status -- Unabridged
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FOND FAREWELL FOR PIONEERING PNG MEDIA PAIR
http://www.postcourier.com.pg/20040820/news04.htm
PORT MORESBY (Post-Courier Online/Pacific Media Watch): Hundreds of friends, relatives and colleagues gathered in Waigani yesterday to farewell pioneer Papua New Guinean journalist Francis Damien.
Governor-General Sir Paulias Matane and wife Lady Kaludia Matane and Prime Minister Sir Michael Somare and Lady Veronica Somare led the mourners.
At the Don Bosco Catholic Church at Gabutu, hundreds of friends and relatives gathered in the morning to farewell another media colleague, Joko Oberleuter, who died after a long illness on Saturday.
The late Oberleuter was senior advertising representative with Word Publishing, publisher of the Wantok Niuspepa in Port Moresby.
Oberleuter also worked in the Post-Courier advertising department before joining Wantok. He also worked with EMTV.
Francis Damien died on Tuesday after heart failure.
He is survived by wife Rose Damien, three sons Stephen George, John and Daniel and daughters Annette and Loujaya. He is the first born in a family of two.
Friends and colleagues who had known Damien described him as someone who was cheerful and actively participated in all activities of life.
A part of his eulogy stated that he was a thinker, visionary and traditionalist with Christian charisma and rendered his talents, however small it was and his time willingly for service to his family, government and the Petro ToRot Foundation to name a few.
From Vunadidir in the East New Britian Province, the late Damien died at the age of 65 after serving more than 35 years in the public service.
In 1973, he joined ABC as reporter rising to chief of staff of the news and current affairs department.
He became the director of public and current affairs in 1981 until he was posted to the NBC director Karai Services from 1984-1990. Before his death, he was working as media adviser to Public Service Minister Sinai Brown.
PACIFIC MEDIA WATCH is an independent, non-profit, non-government organisation comprising journalists, lawyers, editors and other media workers, dedicated to examining issues of ethics, accountability, censorship, media freedom and media ownership in the Pacific region. Launched in October 1996, it has links with the Journalism Program at the University of the South Pacific, Bushfire Media based in Sydney, Journalism Studies at the University of PNG (UPNG), the Australian Centre for Independent Journalism (ACIJ), Auckland University of Technology in New Zealand, and Community Communications Online (c2o).
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