Nabire, Jubi – Jubi’s CEO, Victor Mambor, urged Papuan journalists to become key players in covering major issues in Papua, rather than merely being spectators while media from outside Papua dominates.
Mambor conveyed this message during the workshop “Selling Pitch: How to Convince Potential Sponsors” at the 1st Papua Media Festival in Nabire Regency, Central Papua, on Wednesday (14/1/2026).
The workshop, moderated by Roni Hisage, was attended by students, university students, and journalists at a festival initiated by the Papuan Journalists Association (AWP) from January 13 to 15, 2026. Mambor emphasized that Infigenous Papuan journalists should be the main actors in covering the potential of their own region, rather than relying on media from outside Papua.
“We Papuans are actually the main players. The island of New Guinea (Papua and Papua New Guinea) is one of the world’s three largest owners of tropical forests. However, coverage of the forests is never done by the media in Papua, but is dominated by media outside Papua. The media in Papua only scratch the surface. No one has dug deeper yet,” said Mambor.
“Earlier, I mentioned that Papua is one of the top three. But coverage of the forest has never been reported by Papuan media, only by media outlets outside Papua. So we have great potential. How can you take advantage of that? We, Indigenous Papuans must become players in our own land, what people call being masters of our own land. That is the most important point,” he said.
Mambor hopes that the Papua Media Festival will continue to run in order to improve the capacity of Papuan journalists.
“Papua Media Festival must continue. Because it is for us Papuan, not for anyone else. This festival must continue to run so that we can improve our capacity,” he said.
Mambor, a native Papuan who has been a journalist for 30 years and has won several journalism awards explained the “apple to apple” principle in securing sponsors and achieving quality journalistic targets.
“I already mentioned “apple to apple” earlier. If we want to get apples, we have to be apples. If we want to catch big fish, we have to use big bait. How can we catch sharks with breadcrumbs? It’s impossible,” he said, using a simple analogy.
Mambor criticized the “overly spoiled” attitude and ‘easygoing’ spirit that are still found among Indigenous Papuan journalists. He emphasized the importance of solidarity and mutual assistance among indigenous Papuan Journalist.
“We Papuan, are too spoiled, perhaps because of the ‘easygoing’ spirit. So in the work, first we must be united, we must help each other,” he said.
This workshop is part of the Papua Media Festival, which took place from January 13 to 15, 2026. This media festival attended by 149 journalists from six provinces in Papua, with various activities including investigative journalism training, talk shows, photo exhibitions, and the 2026 Papua Journalism Award night. (*)
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