(Credit: Solomon Star, screenshot)

Solomon Islands prime minister Gordon Darcy Lilo challenged a mid-April Solomon Star story on him, called it “unsubstantiated, unfounded and unbalanced,” the Solomon Star reported.  In response to the claims, Lilo called for journalists to work with “responsibility” and “ethics.”

The mid-April Solomon Star story in question reported that he “meddled with the appointment of the new police commissioner.”  See here the April 20 report, “PM’s Failed Intervention,” which reports its claims based on anonymous “reliable sources” and  notes that “Lilo denies meddling with police chief appointment.”

We wrote in February when Lilo questioned the Solomon Star’s reporting on him “residing in a hotel” despite saying months earlier he would “move to the Red House, the traditional home of our prime minister.”  Lilo claimed the Solomon Star wasn’t reporting the “whole story” and called for Solomon Islands media outlets to “be responsible in their reporting.”