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A veteran TV cameraman on assignment for current affairs show The Project has described Papau New Guinea rioters as ‘savages’.
The unnamed freelance cameraman was interviewed in Brisbane for a social media campaign promoting hospitality and retail jobs app Getahead, and asked about his craziest work experience.
“I was in New Guinea and there was civil unrest and we got a phone call from the network to leave the country,” he replied.
A cameraman shooting vox pops for The Project has described Papua New Guineans as ‘savages’
‘There were 1,000 savages running at us with knives.
‘We packed our clothes, the airport was shut down in New Guinea and we actually had to break out of the airport, steal our plane and fly away.’
The label ‘savage’ immediately attracted calls to remove the Instagram video.
“This is so offensive,” one person wrote.
“You seriously want to leave it alone?”
Some saw the term ‘wild’ as characteristic of the cameraman’s age after he told the interviewer he was 62 and a 44-year veteran of television and film work.
“This man is a product of his generation and ‘savage’ is a dated colonial term,” one person wrote.
“Historically, Savages was a derogatory word used to describe native Papua New Guineans,” commented another.
Not everyone agreed that “wild” taken in context was offensive.
‘It means brutal, aggressive or violent person. Sounds like an accurate description of the crowd running towards them, doesn’t it?’ wrote a person.
“He was getting chopped up, the term fits,” said another.
Another thought the description was ‘absolutely right’.
The cameraman told the interviewer that he was recording responses from members of the public to some questions about stories that Channel 10’s The Project was running.
He said the pay for camera work and cinematography ranged from about $90,00 up to $160,000.
Channel 10 shows the current affairs show The project has often been called left-wing or woke
The project has often been called vigilante or leftist.
Former Channel 10 director Rob McKnight, who runs industry website TV Blackbox, told Daily Mail Australia in 2021 that The project is ‘very awake and it doesn’t connect with mainstream Australia’.