Radio remains an important broadcast medium, especially to residents of isolated communities, while television service is available and watched avidly in urban areas. There are two domestic television channels that broadcast to larger urban areas. The state-owned channel provides documentary and educational programming, news, and coverage of Parliament, and the privately owned channel carries mostly Australian content, with heavy emphasis on sports.

In contrast to the wide reach of the electronic media, circulation is relatively low for both the foreign-owned English-language newspapers (which are also published on the Internet) and the Tok Pisin weekly Wantok, owned by a domestic consortium of Christian denominations. Papua New Guinea’s press has taken an active part in reporting on political life without direct government censorship, although journalists sometimes find themselves under acute pressure from politicians if they have published critical articles.

Book publishing in Papua New Guinea remains in its infancy, although since 2000 a new crop of fiction writers and academics has emerged. There are also a few publishers of religious materials.