This article looks at the Australian press cover of Papua New Guinea. It argues that the coverage is negative and inadequate and contributes to the country‟s negative image in Australia. No previous study has been carried out on this topic in this context. The research was based on a content analysis of randomly selected articles from the Australian Press over a period of three months in 2004 and a survey of four groups (foreign correspondents to PNG, journalists from the PNG mainstream media, PNG government media information services and political analysts). This study is based on the argument of Western media‟s negative coverage of developing countries and involves some of the old arguments that have been debated between the developed and the developing world. People depend on the mass media for information about international affairs (Brewer, Graf & Wilnat, 2003). In that capacity, media play an important role in shaping mass perceptions of other nations. Developing countries have been arguing for decades that the exclusive use of western news values, by developed nation‟s media when reporting on them, has resulted in a negative and biased coverage, focusing mostly on conflict and disaster (Hurst, 1988). The overall image of a nation has proved to be vital for its place in the international stage. Having limited promotional resources of their own, Pacific islands depend heavily on the image of them portrayed by others (Crocombe, 2001, p 279). Therefore, they are vocal about whether they are accurately and adequately portrayed by their bigger neighbours, Australia and NZ. Reflecting this, the South Pacific Forum governments complained, in a 1990 media workshop in Rarotonga, that foreign journalists were uninformed about the region, culturally insensitive, overbearing and showing little respect for the traditions or customs of the Pacific nations, hence the negative coverage (Sasako, 1992, pp100-101; Solomon, 1992, p124). Successive PNG governments have claimed that the Australian media coverage of PNG is negative, resulting in some cases of the government expelling foreign correspondents from the country. This article is looking at Australian press representations of PNG as a developing country and as a weaker island neighbour in a dependency relationship with Australia. According to the 2006 Morgan „End of Year‟ survey, newspapers are the first place Australians look when seeking „important news from the Asia Pacific region‟ (Mogan, 2006). Newspapers, therefore, are instrumental in shaping Australian public opinion on their pacific neighbours. I. PNG, Australia & the Media This research reflects to a large extent the sensitive relationship between PNG and Australia. The latter has consistently been Papua New Guinea‟s largest development partner and has delivered budget aid for more than two decades following independence (Windybank & Manning, 2002, p10). AusAID currently directs development assistance to projects and programs agreed on by both countries, in specific sectors such as infrastructure, health and education.