Co-founder and director of Talamua Media, Angie Kronfeld Polu, said that Samoa Observer journalists who covered the arrival of the Prime Minister on Saturday should have been beaten to the point where they have “no face.”

The wife of former Journalists Association of Western Samoa (JAWS) president and Talamua Media editor Apulu Lance Polu commented on Radio New Zealand’s official Facebook page in response to a Samoa Observer story about unidentified individuals allegedly assaulting the newspaper’s editor outside Prime Minister Laaulialemalietoa Leuatea Schmidt’s residence in Siusega.

"Shame on them — it was really disrespectful to interrupt the Prime Minister right after he arrived, especially on a Sunday. If they had been beaten badly to the point where they had no face, it would have been better. Who do they think they are?"

Samoa Observer Editor Shalveen Chand was allegedly assaulted by two men, who confronted him on the main road after they exited the property’s gate and accused journalists of being disrespectful; when Chand sought help, police reportedly told him to go to the station to file a complaint, and he has since lodged a formal report.

The comment followed many others that criticised the newspaper for its coverage of Laaulialemalietoa’s arrival on Saturday who had been away for eight weeks in New Zealand for medical care.

Questions sent to JAWS President Lagi Keresoma, as well as phone calls, went unanswered. 

Talamua Media, founded in 1994, is a government-based media company in Samoa that provides news and other media content. The company is owned by Apulu and his wife, who also serves as editor.