KEY POINTS:
Foreign Minister Winston Peters used a meeting in Samoa yesterday to lash out at the New Zealand media for misreporting him and running a "giant protection racket".
In the middle of a formal lunch at Samoa's Parliament, Mr Peters launched into a tirade about the media's handling of the rules over televising of Parliament.
MPs have voted to loosen the rule about what broadcasters could film in Parliament, but banned the use of those images for satire.
National has joined Act and the Greens in saying another look should be taken at the rules. Mr Peters said a review was fair enough.
"But I just ask you, when was the last time anyone in the media published a criticism about themselves?" Mr Peters asked.
"All they will ever say is he [Mr Peters] criticised the media again, but they haven't said what he said about them."
Satire should go both ways, he said, and alluded to his current trip to three Pacific nations - the Solomons, Samoa and the Marshall Islands - being called a junket.
The lack of inter-media criticism about misreporting of politicians and of journalists themselves in the media was "a giant protection racket".
Mr Peters said the media should be as accountable as politicians, with journalists and editors disclosing their pay rates and revealing who was paying for their trips.
His outburst came as he was praising Samoa for its good governance and transparency.
- NZPA
