As lawmakers in Washington push to ban TikTok in the United States, angry constituents are lobbing death threats at them. These threats aren’t going to change minds in Washington, and could actually make the situation much worse. Mike Papantonio & Farron Cousins discuss more. Transcript: *This transcript was generated by a third-party transcription software company, so please excuse any […]
America’s Lawyer E94: Democrats in the House have given tons of money to a group that is fighting AGAINST their own agenda – we’ll explain why this is happening. Lawmakers are now receiving death threats from angry constituents over the plan to ban TikTok in the United States, and these threats aren’t helping anything. And […]
Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey issued a civil investigative demand, a form of subpoena, to Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit Media Matters for America on March 25, 2024, for documents related to its reporting about the social platform X. A day later, Bailey filed a lawsuit in Missouri circuit court seeking to enforce his demand, according to court documents reviewed by the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.
On Nov. 16, 2023, Media Matters published a report written by its investigative reporter Eric Hananoki that found advertisements for major brands appeared next to pro-Nazi posts on X. Following the report’s publication and a post on X by owner Elon Musk that appeared to endorse an antisemitic conspiracy theory, several major companies paused their advertising on the platform.
The report touched off a firestorm of response from X and from Republican politicians across the country. X filed a lawsuit on Nov. 20 against both Media Matters and Hananoki, alleging that they had manipulated the platform’s algorithms to produce the report’s findings in order to harm X’s relationship with advertisers. (Media Matters filed a motion to dismiss X’s suit in March 2024.)
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton also cited allegations of algorithm manipulation in a probe he initiated into “potential fraudulent activity,” issuing his own civil investigative demand on Dec. 1, 2023, that Media Matters turn over documents related to its reporting on X. Media Matters sued to block that demand and was granted a preliminary injunction against Paxton in April 2024.
Bailey opened his investigation into Media Matters on Dec. 11, 2023, alleging that it appeared to have used the “coordinated, inauthentic activity” described in X’s lawsuit “to solicit charitable donations from consumers.” He said that his office would look into whether this violated Missouri’s consumer protection laws, “including laws that prohibit nonprofit entities from soliciting funds under false pretenses.” Bailey instructed the nonprofit to preserve all records related to the case.
Three days later, Bailey announced that he and then-Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry (now serving as governor) had sent letters to several major companies that paused their advertising on X, including Apple, Disney, IBM and Sony, informing them of the investigation into Media Matters.
Bailey then issued a civil investigative demand similar to Paxton’s and petitioned a state court to enforce it, arguing that given Media Matters’ response to Paxton, it was unlikely to comply by his April 15 deadline.
Bailey’s demand included requests for Media Matters’ 2023 and 2024 donation records, documents associated with Hananoki’s reporting and materials “related to generating stories or content intended to cancel, deplatform, demonetize, or otherwise interfere with businesses located in Missouri, or utilized by Missouri residents,” among other records.
“My office has reason to believe Media Matters used fraud to solicit donations from Missourians in order to bully advertisers into pulling out of X, the last social media platform dedicated to free speech in America,” Bailey said in a news release. “If there has been any attempt to defraud Missourians in order to trample on their free speech rights, I will root it out and hold bad actors accountable.”
The organization has objected to Bailey’s demand in full. Media Matters President Angelo Carusone told Ars Technica, “This Missouri investigation is the latest in a transparent endeavor to squelch the First Amendment rights of researchers and reporters; it will have a chilling effect on news reporters.”
In a response to Bailey’s announcement of the suit on X, Elon Musk wrote: “Much appreciated! Media Matters is doing everything it can to undermine the First Amendment. Truly an evil organization.”
Carusone, in the Ars Technica article, countered: “Far from the free speech advocate he claims to be, Elon Musk has actually intensified his efforts to undermine free speech by enlisting Republican attorneys general across the country to initiate meritless, expensive, and harassing investigations against Media Matters in an attempt to punish critics.”
The announced closure of Television New Zealand’s last primetime current affairs programme seems to be the final nail in the coffin for New Zealand’s television credibility. Coming a day after the announcement of the closure of Newshub, it shows that Kiwis have the worst television and video media in the Western world.
Let’s compare ourselves with our mates across the ditch. Australia’s ABC TV features a nightly current affairs show called 7.30. The blurb for it reads:
“Sarah Ferguson presents Australia’s premier daily current affairs program, delivering agenda-setting public affairs journalism and interviews that hold the powerful to account. Plus political analysis from Laura Tingle.”
Clearly 7.30 is far more serious than our Seven Sharp with its fluffy stories and advertorials. The ABC also screens six weekly current affairs shows and documentaries this week. Shows like Australian Story, Four Corners and Media Watch.
But Australia has five times as many people as we do so that’s why they can afford it, right?
Ireland has five million people, like NZ, but they still have primetime current affairs. In fact, the Irish enjoy quite a lot of it. The Irish version of TVNZ is RTÉ and features a nightly current affairs show called Nationwide and three weekly current affairs programmes on serious topics.
There are several other human interest factual programmes too, on subjects like history, gardening, dance and more. It’s the same in other countries with similar populations such as Norway, Denmark, Finland and so on.
It’s true that in New Zealand, there’s still the off-peak studio politics programmes like Q+A, and current affairs in te ao Māori are well examined on Whakaata Māori. But what about the rest of NZ?
Some people might say television is dead, and everything is online now. But nearly all online current affairs videos start out as television programmes. The only exceptions are Newsroom’s video investigations with Melanie Reid, and Stuff Circuit which is now disbanded. And for younger audiences there is Re: which TVNZ is also making cuts to.
Death of current affairs TV
The death of New Zealand’s prime-time current affairs television has been a long time coming. At first it was documentaries that dwindled and then disappeared off our screens.
Other genres that are expensive to produce have also become extinct or rarer than a fairy tern — drama, science programmes, kidult, arts programmes, wildlife documentaries, chat shows. Now we can add consumer affairs and prime-time current affairs to the list.
But it doesn’t have to be this way. If other countries can do it, why not NZ?
This suggests either a lack of understanding of her role or a lack of ambition. She also let slip that there was no way she could save Newshub.
The only substantive solution to come from the minister is her promise to review the Broadcasting Act. But that review process was initiated by the Ministry for Culture and Heritage years ago and started under the Labour government.
Moreover, the Broadcasting Act does little more than lay out the rules for broadcasting complaints, election broadcasting, and establish NZ On Air, the BSA and Te Māngai Pāho.
Minister just tweaking
The minister says she is reviewing the Broadcasting Act to create a “more level playing field” and allow media businesses to “innovate”. That doesn’t sound like it will do much for television and video current affairs, which will take much more than just tweaking how NZ On Air and the BSA work.
Perhaps she intends something much more comprehensive, such as a new funding stream for public media, perhaps through a levy, a compulsory subscription, or even a licence fee.
Despite her protestations, there are several options available to the minister. To save TVNZ’s Fair Go and Sunday, she could provide TVNZ with an interim cash injection (which is actually what governments often do in disasters) until the comprehensive long-term funding is sorted out.
To save Newshub she could promise to remove advertising from TVNZ, or partially on weekends only. This would throw Warner Bros Discovery a lifeline in the form of advertisers looking for a television station to advertise on. She does not have to stand by and watch while our media burns.
Sunday is only with us for a few more weeks. Enjoy it while it lasts.
The Western corporate media is failing in its coverage of Israel’s war on Gaza, says Palestinian independent journalist Dalia Hatuqa. “A lot of what’s missing from the bigger portrait … is the Palestinian voice,” says Hatuqa, who applauds local journalists in Gaza for providing the world a crucial window into what’s happening there while international reporters are blocked by Israel from entering…
Warner Bros Discovery chief executive and Stuff publisher Sinead Boucher confirmed the arrangement at a joint news conference today.
Boucher had told her staff the company will “definitely be bringing some Newshub staff” to produce the 6pm bulletins.
She then told reporters she was unsure how many staff would be required, but it would be fewer than “40 to 50” specified in a “stripped back” proposal from Newshub’s own staff.
‘We are digital first’
“We’re not getting into the TV business. We are a digital first multimedia company building a new 6pm product for Warner Brothers,” she said.
Mediawatch understands many media companies approached WBD with proposals to provide news after the company first proposed the cost-saving closure in late February.
However, by the time of the confirmation earlier this month most of those had been rejected by WBD.
Sky TV was also reported to be in the running. It currently runs a Newshub-produced bulletin at 5:30pm each weekday on the free-to-air channel Sky Open and would require a replacement. It also had plenty of TV production facilities.
Sinead Boucher said a Sky bulletin was not included in the deal, but she hoped there would be discussions about that.
Negotiations were carried out in secret both before and after Warner Bros Discovery (WBD) confirmed the complete closure of Newshub on July 5, leaving the company with no news presence.
Stuff refused to comment during the process and Stuff journalists told RNZ Mediawatch on Monday night they were unaware of an impending announcement.
“We didn’t want to raise expectations for Newshub staff when we weren’t sure what would be required,” Boucher told reporters today, explaining that the deal had been done in haste.
Why do the deal – and what’s it worth? The money WBD is putting into the deal is confidential but it is certain to be just a fraction of the current cost of running Newshub, which would run to tens of millions of dollars a year.
WBD was clearly determined to carve that cost off the bottom line of its loss-making local operation. The financial benefit for Stuff may not be great taking the set-up and running costs into account.
WBD’s Glen Kyne said neither company would comment on specific commercial details, but when asked about the possible profit margin for Stuff, Boucher said: “Both parties are satisfied with where we have ended up.”
But while the audience for TV news bulletins is declining — and the ad revenue has fallen accordingly — it is still substantial for TVNZ 1 and Three. The “appointment viewing” time of 6pm creates a viewing peak which the TV broadcasters use to hold viewers for the entertainment or factual programmes that follow.
Former Newshub chief Hal Crawford told Mediawatch the overall audience for Three could collapse without news in the evening.
“There’s still a reason that the 1 and the 3 on remotes around the country are worn down. News is the one programme that runs 365 days a year . . . which the schedule is going to rely on to lead into prime time. So the rest of your schedule is going to dwindle. Ratings are gonna fall off and everything is going to go to pieces,” Crawford told Mediawatch.
“The loss of the newsroom represents the loss of the ability to respond to any event in real time. That is the heart and soul of a traditional TV broadcaster.”
Why Stuff? Stuff has journalists in more places around the country than any other news publisher.
Stuff’s publisher Sinead Boucher recently told a parliamentary committee it had journalists in 19 locations, even after years of cuts and successive retrenchments.
“We have replatformed our business and have new ways of working. We look at this as starting this bulletin afresh rather than using the broadcast-heavy technology of today,” she told reporters at today’s news conference.
It also has audio and video production facilities at some sites and some senior journalists with TV reporting and presenting experience, such as former Newshub political editor Tova O’Brien, former TV3 current affairs reporter Paula Penfold and senior journalist Andrea Vance.
But Stuff video ventures have not endured. It launched its own free online video platformPlay Stuff in mid-2019. It also hired key former TV3 current affairs staff for its own longform video productions but disbanded the Stuff Circuit team earlier this year.
When the Stuff app and website were refreshed recently, short vertical videos were added as a feature, called Stuff Shorts.
Stuff’s weakness has in the past been a dependence on newspaper advertising. It was only last year that Stuff launched its first paywalls for online news for three of its mastheads.
Stuff’s main rival NZME has half the country’s radio networks in addition to newsrooms supplying its newspapers and websites. NZME’s New Zealand Herald has been getting revenue from “premium content” digital subscriptions for four years.
After Boucher acquired Stuff in 2020, Stuff embarked on a digital transition creating more digital audio and video content. It has hired executives from multimedia companies such as Nadia Tolich (ex-NZME now Stuff Digital managing director) and former NZME digital leader Laura Maxwell, now Stuff’s chief executive.
The state of Florida has passed a major new law that limits social media use for children, banning popular apps for anyone under the age of 14. But can this law stand up in court? Mike Papantonio & Farron Cousins discuss more. Transcript: *This transcript was generated by a third-party transcription software company, so please excuse any typos. Mike […]
This week the two biggest TV broadcasters in Aotearoa New Zealand confirmed plans to cut news programmes by midyear – and the jobs of a significant proportion of this country’s journalists.
Many observers said this had been coming but few seemed to have a plan for it, including the government.
Mediawatch looks at what viewers will lose, efforts to resist the cuts and talks to the news chief at Newshub which is set to close completely.
By Colin Peacock, RNZ Mediawatch presenter
On the AM show last Wednesday, newsreader Nicky Styris suffered a frog in the throat at the wrong time.
Host Melissa Chan Green took over her bulletin while Styris quickly recovered. Minutes later Styris had to take the place of no-show panel guest Paula Bennett.
Just before that, viewers saw co-host Lloyd Burr on his knees fixing the studio flat-pack furniture with a drill.
Three hours later they were at an all-staff meeting at which executives from offshore owner Warner Bros Discovery (WBD) confirmed the complete closure of Newshub by midyear.
On TVNZ’s Midday news soon after, reporter Kim Baker-Wilson was live from the scene of the announcement of Newshub’s demise.
The previous day the roles were reversed, with Newshub’s Simon Shepherd outside TVNZ’s building reporting TVNZ’s Midday had been scrapped, along with the late news Tonight and Fair Go.
On Wednesday TVNZ also confirmed flagship current affairs show Sunday will cease next month.
So as things stand, it’s the end of the line for all news bulletins on TVNZ other than 1 News at 6, though the news-like shows Breakfast and Seven Sharp survive because they accommodate lucrative sponsored content (“activations” in the ad business) as well as ads.
And TV channel Three will be entirely news-free for the first time in its 35-year history.
Senior journalists led by investigations editor Michael Morrah presented a proposal for a stripped-back and shortened news bulletin to keep the Newshub name alive (and some jobs) but while WBD took it seriously, it eventually turned the idea down.
Another media player to fill the Newshub void? There have been rumours and reports that other media companies were talking to WBD about filling the Newshub at 6 news void.
Initially light-on-detail reports of lifelines suggested a possible sale of Newshub to another media company. Then there were reports of other media companies pitching to make news for WBD on a much-reduced budget.
Among the names mentioned in media despatches was NZME, which has radio and video studios and journalists around the country, though most of them are north of Taupo.
NZME told Stuff “it was not currently part of the process”.
However when Stuff itself reported on Wednesday that Stuff was “understood to be a likely contender,” a spokesperson for Stuff declined to comment to Stuff’s reporter on whether Stuff had been in talks with WBD — or not.
RNZ said it wasn’t in the frame for this. (It recently killed off the video version of its only daily news show with pictures, Checkpoint).
Sky TV has production facilities galore and its free-to-air TV channel Sky Open currently runs a Newshub-made news bulletin at 5:30 each weekday. Sky has only said it was an “interesting idea” — or words to that effect.
“At this point there is no deal,” WBD local boss Glen Kyne told reporters after confirming the closure of Newshub on Wednesday.
Kyne also said the company’s “door has been open to all internal and external feedback and ideas, and we will continue to be”.
But anyone opening that door clearly isn’t willing to do it in daylight — or tell the rest of the media about it.
Lifelines likely?
Senior journalists led by investigations editor Michael Morrah presented a proposal for a stripped-back and shortened news bulletin to keep the Newshub name alive. Image: RNZ/Marika Khabazi
If there is to be any kind of “Newshub-lite” lifeline, a key question is: what is WBD prepared to pay for the programme?
Presumably not much, given that they said they had no choice but to carve the cost of Newshub — amounting to tens of millions a year — from its bottom line in line with its reducing revenue.
So is it worth any major media company’s while to commit to making news in video for another outlet? And it would have to be done in a hurry because the last Newshub bulletins screen on July 5.
When Newshub’s owners first announced they wanted to get rid of it in late February, its former chief editor Hal Crawford told Mediawatch the problem with finding a buyer was that minimum viable cost for a credible TV news operation was greater than anyone here was prepared to spend.
Longtime TV3 news boss Mark Jennings (now co-editor of Newsroom) said any substitute service on the fraction of the current budget would have another problem — TVNZ’s 1 News.
“You’re up against a sophisticated TVNZ product so viewers will have an immediate comparison. Probably that won’t be favorable for Warner Brothers,” he told RNZ.
TVNZ has its own news production problems after the cuts they confirmed this week.
“We’re proposing to establish a new long-form team within our news operation, which would continue to bring important current affairs and consumer affairs stories to Aotearoa in a different way on our digital platforms.”
TVNZ declined Mediawatch‘s request to speak to TVNZ’s news chief Phil O’Sullivan about that at this time.
Newshub’s news boss responds
Newshub news boss Richard Sutherland . . . “The so-called legacy news operations have almost done too good a job of keeping the lights on and papering over the cracks.” Image: RNZ/Marika Khabazi
One who did though is Newshub news boss Richard Sutherland — appointed as interim senior director of news at Newshub in January.
It was his second spell at Newshub, during a career in broadcast news spanning four decades at almost every significant national news outlet in the country, including RNZ, where he stepped down as head of news a year ago.
In that time he’s experienced many a financial crisis in the business — but did he see this one coming?
“The last couple of weeks has been coming for quite some time. I think that the so-called legacy news operations have almost done too good a job of keeping the lights on and papering over the cracks. And we just got to a point [the industry] couldn’t paper over the cracks any longer.
“But when you look at audience behaviour and the fall off and revenue, particularly in the advertising market, then that doesn’t surprise me that we’ve got to where we’ve got to.”
But if the audience was big, the ad revenue would be too?
“It’s certainly by no means as big as it once was simply because people have other options available to them. The cliche is that you’re not in a war with the other media, but in a war for people’s attention.”
“It’s not so much the audience has changed so much as the dynamics of the advertising market that has really changed over the last sort of 10 to 15 years. The digital advertising — and the big two main players in that space, Facebook and Google — are eating everybody’s lunch.”
TV ad income on the slide Annual advertising stats that came out this very week show media in 2023 attracted $3.36 billion across the whole of the media industry — about the same as in 2022.
But TV advertising revenue of $517 million in 2022 slumped to $443 million last year.
“That’s why what the TV industry has found is that can’t cut its costs fast enough to meet the falloff in the advertising income,” Sutherland told Mediawatch.
Digital-only ad revenue rose by $88 million in 2023 — but it’s Google and Facebook which secures the vast bulk of that.
But if this has been coming for a number of years, as Sutherland says, has there been enough planning for it?
After the closure of Newshub was mooted by its owner last month, seven of Sutherland’s colleagues led by investigations editor Michael Morrah put together a transition plan to keep Newshub on air in a few days.
Shouldn’t this sort of transition planning have been done at high levels over recent years right across the television business?
“Every media company that I’ve worked for or have observed over the last few years has been trying to innovate and get to a more sustainable level. The revenue was just collapsing far faster than anyone ever anticipated.”
“It annoys me when I hear people say older media haven’t innovated enough. We’ve done a lot of innovation. That’s pretty lazy politics to just say: ‘You need to innovate.’
“It’s also lazy politics to say, the government should just come in and bail everyone out. New Zealand Incorporated needs to have a big conversation about what it wants to do with the media and how it wants to fund it.
“For the past few years the industry has been like so many rats in a sack, fighting with each chasing a smaller and smaller amount of ad dollars. We need to get together and work out how we get ourselves collectively out of the sack,” Sutherland told Mediawatch.
Shortly before TVNZ and Newshub announced their cuts, there was a meeting of chief executives including Newshub’s owners Warner Bros Discovery to discuss a shared new service. TVNZ rejected the idea.
“But a lot has changed in the last couple of months. And I would like to think that eventually we’ll get to a point where we can actually have honest and productive conversations about what we can do to help each other as well as maintaining a degree of competition, but also realising that if we just keep fighting with each other, we’re not going to have a sustainable industry,” Sutherland said.
Would Sutherland want to work for a low-budget alternative to Newshub stave off the complete closure? And would Kiwis want such a service?
“There is a segment of the audience that appreciates a very highly produced, well-curated news bulletin every night. And there’s large numbers of people who no longer see that as part of their media diet.
“The trick is to provide options so that people can get what they want when they want it.
“It’s not really for me to say what a possible replacement for Newshub might look like. I’m well away from those negotiations.
“If we reach a stage where the media scene here withers away to nothing, there’ll be no-one to tell the stories. The media uncovers a lot of shady stuff in this country.
“And the fear of media coverage prevents people in positions of power and authority at all levels doing a lot of shady stuff. So it is important to document the ructions of the New Zealand media scene just like we do in other parts of the country.”
Minister in a corner
Broadcasting and Media Minister Melissa Lee . . . “If only I was a magician, if I could actually just snap up a solution, that would be fantastic.” Image: RNZ / Angus Dreaver
The day the axe fell at Newshub and at TVNZ, New Zealand’s screen producers’ guild Spada said “while the newsroom cuts have dominated media coverage to date, it is actually the whole production sector being impacted”.
“While TVNZ and Three aren’t giving definitive numbers at this time, Spada has calculated that we are looking at around $50 million coming out of our sector,” said president Irene Gardiner.
Spada is also asking the government to exempt screen funding agencies from the percent public spending cuts and to force the international streaming platform to support local production.
Spada called for” swift and decisive action” from the government on this.
Should they be holding their breath?
When confronted by reporters for a response to the current TV news crisis, Broadcasting Minister Melissa Lee said: “If only I was a magician, if I could actually just snap up a solution, that would be fantastic.
“But I’m not a magician, and I’m trying to find a solution to modernise the industry . . . there is a process happening.”
But the media are not expecting magic — just a plan rather than assertions of a process with no timeline.
She has repeatedly said she’s preparing policy in a paper to take to cabinet, but refused to give any details.
On RNZ’s Checkpoint, persistent and pointed questions from Lisa Owen yielded few further clues.
Newstalk ZB Drive host Heather du Plessis-Allan told Melissa Lee she was being “weird and shady” and the next morning ZB’s Mike Hosking told her she was using “buzzwords that don’t mean anything” and was doomed to fail.
Stuff’s Tova O’Brien reported that the need to consult coalition allies on policy means it can’t be progressed until after Winston Peters returns from overseas at the end of the month.
The under-wraps media policy is also not in the government’s recently-released quarterly action plan.
Meanwhile this week, our two biggest TV news broadcasters ran out of time.
Ex-minister leading resistance to cuts
E tū union negotiator Michael Wood . . . “There is a bit of a delicate dance which has to happen when media companies themselves are making these decisions. And media need to report on that.” Image: RNZ
After his unenlightening on-air interview with minister Melissa Lee on Thursday morning, Mike Hosking’s ZB listeners told him she reminded them of ministers in the last government.
Coincidentally, one of them was also one of few people who did speak out about the crisis while it was unfolding.
Michael Wood represented TVNZ journalists from the E tū union as its negotiations specialist.
E tū is now taking legal action against TVNZ, claiming it failed to abide by the conditions of their employment agreement.
Could that reverse or wind back any of the cuts TVNZ has announced?
“That does remain to be seen. The collective agreement has very clear processes around what should happen if TVNZ wants to move forward and make changes. It requires [staff members] to be involved throughout the process, and for the company to try and reach agreement with them. Our very strong view is that that hasn’t happened.”
“Staff have said: ‘Look, five years ago, we came to you and said we want to do these things with our shows to make sure they have a sustainable future to make sure that they have a strong online platform.’ And [TVNZ] frankly has not demonstrated strategy and leadership around those things.”
“These are still shows that are very, very popular. Canceling them will reduce costs, but based on TVNZ’s own information that they’ve provided, it will reduce revenue by more.”
It’s been difficult to get any media company executives or even journalists at the two companies affected by these cuts to talk about them, even off-the-record.
Wood is one of the few people who has spoken frankly to broadcasters’ executives, albeit confidentially behind closed doors.
“There is a bit of a delicate dance which has to happen when media companies themselves are making these decisions. And media need to report on that.
“So I have some sympathy, but these aren’t just individual employment issues. This is a public policy issue . . . about whether we have a functioning and vibrant Fourth Estate.”
Wood was until last year a minister in the Labour government which could have averted the TVNZ cuts.
It spent more than $16 million planning a new public media entity to replace TVNZ and RNZ with a not-for-profit public media entity — but then scrapped it weeks before it was due to begin.
“You’ve just identified one of the core things that we’ve got to deal with. TVNZ, in terms of its statutory form, is neither one thing nor the other. It has a commercial imperative and it also has some other obligations in terms of public good.
“News and current affairs should be at the heart of that — and that is something that we should be much clearer about.”
This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.
Security forces reinforcements were sent from France ahead of two rival marches in the capital Nouméa today, at the same time and only two streets away one from the other.
One march, called by Union Calédonienne party (a component of the pro-independence FLNKS umbrella) and its CCAT (field action group), was protesting against planned changes to the French Constitution to “unfreeze” New Caledonia’s electoral roll by allowing any citizen who has resided in New Caledonia for at least 10 years to cast their vote at local elections — for the three Provincial assemblies and the Congress.
The other march was called by pro-France parties Rassemblement and Les Loyalistes who support the change and intend to make their voices heard by French MPs.
The constitutional bill was endorsed by the French Senate on April 2.
However, as part of the required process before it is fully endorsed, the constitutional bill must follow the same process before France’s lower House, the National Assembly.
Debates are scheduled on May 13.
Then both the Senate and the National Assembly will be gathered sometime in June to give the final approval.
Making voices heard
Today, both marches also want to make their voices heard in an attempt to impress MPs before the Constitutional Bill goes further.
The pro-France march is scheduled to end at Rue de la Moselle in downtown Nouméa, two streets away from the other pro-independence march, which is planned to stop on the Place des Cocotiers (“Coconut square”).
The pro-independence rally in the heart of Nouméa today. Image: @knky987
At least 20,000 participants were estimated to take part.
Security forces reinforcements have been sent from France, with two additional squads (140) of gendarmes, French High Commissioner Louis Le Franc said yesterday.
While acknowledging the “right to demonstrate as a fundamental right”, Le Franc said it a statement it could only be exercised with “respect for public order and freedom of movement”.
“No outbreak will be tolerated” and if this was not to be the case, then “the reaction will be steadfast and those responsible will be arrested,” he warned.
Le Franc also strongly condemned recent “blockades and violence” and called for everyone’s “calm and responsibility” for a “Pacific dialogue in New Caledonia”.
CCAT spokesman Christian Téin, Arnaud Chollet-Leakava (MOI), Dominique Fochi (UC) and Sylvain Boiguivie (Dus) during a press conference on Thursday at the Union Calédonienne headquarters. Image: LNC
Tight security to avoid a clash New Caledonia’s Southern Province vice-president and member of the pro-France party Les Loyalistes, Philippe Blaise, told Radio Rythme Bleu he had been working with security forces to ensure the two opposing marches would not come close at any stage.
“It will not be a long march, because we are aware that there will be families and old people,” he said.
“But we are not disclosing the itinerary because we don’t want to give bad ideas to people who would like to come close to our march with banners and whatnot.
“There won’t be any speech either. But there will be an important security setup,” he reassured.
Earlier this week, security forces intervened to lift roadblocks set up by pro-independence militants near Nouméa, in the village of Saint-Louis, a historical pro-independence stronghold.
The clash involved about 50 security forces against militants.
Tear gas, and stones Teargas and stones were exchanged and firearm shots were also heard.
On March 28, the two opposing sides also held two marches in downtown Nouméa, with tens of thousands of participants.
No incident was reported.
The UC-revived CCAT (Field Actions Coordination Cell, cellule de coordination des actions de terrain), which is again organising today’s pro-independence march to oppose the French Constitutional change, earlier this month threatened to boycott this year’s planned provincial elections.
CCAT head Christian Tein said they were demanding that the French Constitutional amendment be withdrawn altogether, and that a “dialogue mission” be sent from Paris.
“We want to remind (France) we will be there, we’ll bother them until the end, peacefully”, he said.
“Those MPs have decided to kill the Kanak (Indigenous) people . . . this is a programmed extermination so that Kanaks become like (Australia’s) Aborigines,” he told local media.
“Anyone can cause unrest, but to stop it is another story . . . now we are on a slippery slope,” he added.
War of words, images over MPs Pro-France leader Sonia Backès, during a the March 28 demonstration, had also alluded to “causing unrest” from their side and its ability to “make noise” to ensure their voices are heard back in the French Parliament.
“The unrest, it will come from us if someone tries to step on us,” she lashed out at that rally.
“We have to make noise, because unfortunately, the key is the image,” she said.
“But this little message with the ballot box and Eloi Machoro’s picture, this is provocation.
“I am receiving death threats every day; my children too,” she told Radio Rythme Bleu.
The CCAT movement is placing a hatchet on a ballot box, recalling the Eloi Machoro protest. Image: 1ère TV screenshot APR
Hatchet and ballot box – the ghosts of 1984 During the CCAT’s press conference earlier this month, a ballot box with a hatchet embedded was on show, recalling the famous protest by pro-independence leader Eloi Machoro, who smashed a ballot box with a hatchet to signify the Kanak boycott of the elections on 18 November 1984.
The iconic act was one of the sparks that later plunged New Caledonia in a quasi civil war until the Matignon Accords in 1988. Both pro-France leader Jacques Lafleur and Lanak leader Jean-Marie Tjibaou shook hands to put an end to a stormy period since described as “the events”.
On 12 January 1985, Machoro was shot by French special forces.
The territorial elections day in New Caledonia on 18 November 1984 when Eloi Machoro smashed a ballot box in the small township of Canala. Image: RNZ/File
This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.
This rejected “heartfelt” letter sent to The Press this week criticising its April 6 editorial about a “turning point” in the deadly war on Gaza by Earthwise co-presenter Lois Griffiths is republished here in the public interest.
Historian Howard Zinn stressed the importance of historical background if one wants to understand today’s world. The past cannot be changed. But learning about the past makes it easier to understand the present and how to strive for a better future.
Every Gaza war article, including the [6 April 2024] Press editorial “A turning Point in Gaza”, begins with Hamas attacking Israel last October and then Israel retaliating. No historical background is needed.
Yet UN Secretary-General António Guterres said that “October 07 did not happen in a vacuum”.
Maybe, just maybe, he reads history. Maybe he is thinking of the Nakba of 1948, the regular Israel bombing campaigns with names like “Operation Cast Lead”.
If Israel has the right to retaliate, maybe Palestinians do too?
The same Press article refers to “Western media and its consumers” not being able to identify with “faceless, nameless Palestinians” .
Palestinians aren’t “faceless or nameless”. I’ve read about and seen pictures of some of the Palestinian journalists targeted. Refaat Alareer, a well-loved Gazan academic, writer, and story-teller, was targeted.
Our commitment to humanity challenges us to follow Howard Zinn’s advice and believe that another, kinder, world is possible.
Quoting Bethlehem Lutheran Pastor Munther Isaac, “Gaza today has become the moral compass of the world.”
Facilitated by ABC International Development, and conducted by veteran journalist Scott Waide, the first-of-its-kind training in Papua New Guinea aims to plug the skills gaps identified in the last 10 years, especially with news journalists.
“While we have students graduating from the University of Technology, Divine Word, the Pacific Adventist University and the University of Papua New Guinea, training gaps still remain,” Waide told Lae media after the second day of the weeklong training on Tuesday.
“And some of those gaps are very basic and shouldn’t be that way.
“With the help of ABC, this template was developed and we had to go through the training ourselves.
“A trainer, Chris Kimball, tested it on us and we suggested changes — for local context — and then we took the training and tested it on Chris and all our participants to see if it worked.”
The training includes the definition of public interest journalism, what constitutes public interest, interviewing tips and tools, writing structures, characteristics of a good journalist and the difference between proactive and reactive journalism.
“It seems very basic but if you look at it, the content is very relevant,” said Waide.
“If a person is graduating from another course, another programme in university, and then goes into news journalism; we’ll take him or her through that course and give that person a broad understanding of what news is and what journalism is.
“Particularly in Papua New Guinea, it’s about public interest journalism.
“We can talk about the big things, like politics and economics, but if there’s no understanding of why we’re doing it and why people are important in public interest journalism then that journalism actually becomes useless and worthless.”
Seven Highlands-based NBC presenters and broadcasters are also part of the training, including members of Lae media.
Some colleges in this country have decided to coddle students to the point where they no longer will hand out failing grades. Also, Google was recently forced to halt the rollout of their AI image generator, Gemini, after claims of the software’s bias against white people. Mike Papantonio is joined by Independent newspaper publisher Rick Outzen to discuss. Transcript: […]
On Friday, March 22, a video circulated of TNI (Indonesian military) soldiers torturing a civilian in Papua. In the video, the victim is submerged in a drum filled with water with his hands tied behind his back.
The victim was alternately beaten and kicked by the TNI members. The victim’s back was also slashed with a knife.
The video circulated globally quickly and was widely criticised.
Gustav Kawer from the Papua Association of Human Rights Advocates (PAHAM) condemned the incident and called for the perpetrators to be brought to justice.
This was then followed by National Human Rights Commission (Komnas HAM), Indonesian Human Rights Watch (Imparsial), the Diocese, the church and students.
Meanwhile, Cenderawasih/XVII regional military commander (Pangdam) Major-General Izak Pangemanan tried to cover up the crime by saying it was a hoax and the video was a result of “editing”.
This argument was later refuted by the TNI itself and it was proven that TNI soldiers were the ones who had committed the crime. Thirteen soldiers were arrested and accused over the torture.
The torture occurred on 3 February 2024 in Puncak Regency, Papua.
Accused of being ‘spies’
The victim who was seen in the video was Defianus Kogoya, who had been arrested along with Warinus Murib and Alianus Murib. They were arrested and accused of being “spies” for the West Papua National Liberation Army-Free Papua Organisation (TPNPB-OPM), a cheap accusation which the TNI and police were subsequently unable to prove.
Indonesia human rights: 13 soldiers arrested after torture video. Video: Al Jazeera
The three were arrested when the TNI was conducting a search in Amukia and Gome district. When Warinus was arrested, his legs were tied to a car and he was dragged for one kilometre, before finally being tortured.
Alianus, meanwhile ,was also taken to a TNI post and tortured. After several hours, they were finally handed over to a police post because there was not enough evidence to prove the TNI’s accusations.
Defianus finally fainted, while Warinus died of his injuries. Warinus’ body was cremated by the family the next day on February 4.
Defianus is still suffering and remains seriously ill. This is a TNI crime in Papua.
But that is not all. On 22 February 2022, the TNI also tortured seven children in Sinak district, Puncak. The seven children were Deson Murib, Makilon Tabuni, Pingki Wanimbo, Waiten Murib, Aton Murib, Elison Murib and Murtal Kurua.
Makilon Tabuni died as a result.
Civilians murdered, mutilated
On August 22, the TNI murdered and mutilated four civilians in Timika. They were Arnold Lokbere, Irian Nirigi, Lemaniel Nirigi and Atis Tini.
The bodies of the four were dismembered: the head, body and legs were separated into several parts, put in sacks then thrown into a river.
Six days later, soldiers from the Infantry Raider Battalion 600/Modang tortured four civilians in Mappi regency, Papua. The four were Amsal P Yimsimem, Korbinus Yamin, Lodefius Tikamtahae and Saferius Yame.
They were tortured for three hours and suffered injuries all over their bodies.
Three days later, on August 30, the TNI again tortured two civilians named Bruno Amenim Kimko and Yohanis Kanggun in Edera district, Mappi regency. Bruno Amenim died while Yohanis Kanggun suffered serious injuries.
On October 27, three children under the age of 16 were tortured by the TNI in Keerom regency. They were Rahmat Paisel, Bastian Bate and Laurents Kaung. They were tortured using chains, coils of wire and water hoses.
The atrocity occurred in the Yamanai Village, Arso II, Arso district.
On 22 February 2023, TNI personnel from the Navy post in Lantamal X1 Ilwayap tortured two civilians named Albertus Kaize and Daniel Kaize. Albertus Kaize died of his injuries. This crime occurred in Merauke regency, Papua.
95 civilians tortured
Between 2018 and 2021, Amnesty International recorded that more than 95 civilians had been tortured and killed by the TNI and the police. These crimes target indigenous Papuans, and the curve continues to rise year by year, ever since Indonesia occupied Papua in 1961.
These crimes were committed one after another without a break, and followed the same pattern. So it can be concluded that these were not the acts of rogue individuals or one or two people as the TNI argues to reduce their crimes to individual acts.
Rather, they are structural (systematic) crimes designed to subdue the Papuan nation, to stop all forms of Papuan resistance for the sake of the exploitation and theft of Papua’s natural resources.
The problems in Papua cannot be solved by increasing the number of police or soldiers. The problems in Papua must be resolved democratically.
This democratic solution must include establishing a human rights court for all perpetrators of crimes in Papua since the 1960s, and not just the perpetrators in the field, but also those responsible in the chain of command.
Only this will break the pattern of crimes that are occurring and provide justice for the Papuan people. A human rights court will also mean weakening the anti-democratic forces that exist in Indonesia and Papua — namely military(ism).
Garbage of history
A prerequisite for achieving democratisation is to eliminate the old forces, the garbage of history.
The cleaner the process is carried out, the broader and deeper the democracy that can be achieved. This also includes the demands of the Papuan people to be given the right to determine their own destiny.
This is not a task for some later day, but is the task of the Papuan people today. Nor is the task of the United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP) political elite or political activists alone, but it is the task of all Papuan people if they want to extract themselves from the crimes of the TNI and police or Indonesian colonialism.
Independence can only be gained by the struggle of the ordinary people themselves. The people must fight, the people must take to the streets, the people must build their own ranks, their own alternative political tool, and fight in an organised and guided manner.
Sharon Muller is a leading member of the Socialist Union (Perserikatan Sosialis, PS) and a member of the Socialist Study Circle (Lingkar Studi Sosialis, LSS). Arah Juang is the newspaper of the Socialist Union.
References
Gemima Harvey’s report The Human Tragedy of West Papua, 15 January 2014. This reports states that more than 500,000 West Papua people have been slaughtered by Indonesia and its actors, the TNI and police since 1961.
Veronica Koman’s chronology of torture of civilians in Papua. Posted on the Veronica Koman Facebook wall, 24 March 2024.
The future of New Zealand’s media landscape is becoming clearer by the day, with confirmation that it will no longer feature one of the country’s big two TV news networks.
Warner Bros. Discovery has revealed that all of Newshub’s operations will be shut down, effective July 5. That includes the flagship 6pm bulletin, The AM Show, and the Newshub website.
294 staff are set to lose their jobs.
It’s also been confirmed that TVNZ’s programme Sunday will be cancelled, following yesterday’s announcement that Fair Go, as well as both 1News at Midday and 1News Tonight, are being canned in their current format.
“The day the news axe fell” – a huge blow to New Zealand’s democracy. Image: Stuff screenshot APR
New Zealand’s media industry has been rocked by the bleeding obvious which is that their failed ratings system for legacy media was always more art than science.
The NZ radio ratings system is a diary that you fill in every 15 minutes — which no one ever fills in properly.
The NZ newspaper ratings are opinion polls and the NZ TV ratings system is a magical 180 boxes that limits choice to whoever had the TV remote.
When the sales rep told the advertiser that 300,000 people would read, see, hear their advert, it was based on ratings systems that were flattering but not real.
With the ruthlessness of online audience measurement, advertisers could see exactly how many people were actually seeing their adverts, and the legacy media never adapted to this new reality.
What we see now is hollowed out journalism competing against social media hate algorithms designed to generate emotional responses rather than Fourth Estate accountability.
New Zealand has NEVER had the audience size to make advertising based broadcasting feasible, that’s why it’s always required a state broadcaster — with no Fourth Estate who will hold this hard right racist climate denying beneficiary bashing government to account?
Minister missing in action
Broadcasting Minister Melissa Lee has refused to support the Fair Digital News Bargaining Bill that Labour’s former minister Willie Jackson put forward that would at least force Google and Facebook to pay for the journalism they take for free.
Lee has been utterly hopeless and missing in action here — if “Democracy dies in darkness”, National are pulling the plug.
This government doesn’t want accountability, does it?
Instagram this year switched on a new filter to smother political debate and we know actual journalism has been smothered by the social media algorithms.
I don’t think that most people who get their information from their social media feeds understand they aren’t seeing the most important journalism but are in fact seeing the most inflammatory rhetoric to keep people outraged and addicted to doom scrolling.
When Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters does his big lie that the entire mainstream media were bribed because of a funding note by NZ on Air in regards to coverage of Māori issues for the Public Interest Journalism fund — which by the way was quickly clarified by NZ on Air as not an editorial demand — he conflates and maliciously spins and NZ’s democracy suffers.
Muddled TVNZ
Television New Zealand has always come across like a muddle. It aspires to be BBC public broadcasting yet has the commercial imperatives of any Crown Owned Enterprise. If Labour had merged TVNZ and RNZ and made TVNZ 1 commercial free so that the advertising revenue could cross over to Newshub, it would have rebuilt the importance of public broadcasting while actually regulating the broken free market.
When will we get a Labour Party that actually gives a damn about public broadcasting rather than pay lip service to it?
Ultimately Newshub’s demise is a story of ruthless transnational interests and geopolitical cultural hegemony.
Corporate Hollywood soft power wants to continue its cultural dominance as the South Pacific friction continues between the United States and China.
New Zealand is an important plank for American hegemony in the South Pacific and as China and American competition heats up, Warners Bros Discovery suddenly buying a large stake in our media was always a geopolitical calculation over a commercial one.
Cultural dominance doesn’t require nor want an active journalism, so they will keep the channel open purely as a means of dominating domestic culture without any of the Fourth Estate obligations.
That bitter angry feeling you have watching Warner Bros Discovery destroy our Fourth Estate is righteous.
Social licence trashed
They bought a media outlet that has had a 35-year history of being a structural part of our media environment and dumping it trashes their social licence in this country.
That feeling of rage you have watching a multibillion transnational vandalise our environment is going to be repeated the millisecond you see the American mining interests lining up to mine conservation land with all their promises to repair anything they break.
Remember — the transnational ain’t your friend regardless of its pronouns.
That person they rolled in with the soft-glazed CEO face to do the sad, sad crying is disingenuous and condescending.
Now Warner Bros has killed Newshub off, we have no option as Kiwis but to boycott whatever is left of TV3 and water down Warner Bros remaining interests altogether.
They’ve burnt their bridges with us in New Zealand by walking away from their social contract, we should have no troubles returning the favour!
The only winners here are rightwing politicians who don’t want their counterproductive and corrupt decisions to be scrutinised.
We are a poorer and weaker democracy after these news cuts.
Why bother having a Minister of Broadcasting if all they do is fiddle while the industry burns?
Welcome to your new media future in Aotearoa New Zealand . . .
America’s Lawyer E93: The company that operated the vessel that recently destroyed a bridge in Baltimore has a history of retaliating against whistleblowers who reported unsafe working conditions aboard their boats. The state of Florida has passed a sweeping new law that restricts social media access to children under the age of 16, but the […]
A grim 48 hours for news media has resulted in many jobs being lost in the sector — as TV3 confirmed the closure of Newshub, and TVNZ announced it was going ahead with axing its current affairs flagship Sunday, consumer affairs Fair Go and two news bulletins.
About 250 jobs are being lost in the shutdown of Three’s national news service, which will close in July.
How the country’s largest daily newspaper, The New Zealand Herald, reported the news and current affairs closure plans today. NZH screenshot APR
He was among seven senior Newshub journalists who pushed back against the company’s proposal and put forward their own plan.
The proposal, led by his colleague Michael Morrah, was “radical”, “aggressive” and would have pared the news operation back to the bone, he said.
It centred on the 6pm bulletin which brought in a lot of advertising revenue, retain the website and would later build up the digital operation.
“Basically it was a cutdown radical proposal to hang on to the 6pm bulletin and find digital solutions out into the future.”
While management gave them access to figures and helped them in other ways they ultimately decided not to go ahead.
Newshub journalist Paddy Gower . . . “It’s gonna be a dark time for news in this country.” Image: RNZ/Nick Monro
He said when the closure was confirmed, there was a feeling of “the weight of history” at the loss of a taonga which Kiwis would miss when it disappeared.
“It’s gonna be a dark time for news in this country,” he said.
Gower said Warner Bros Discovery would have “a helluva time” keeping viewers without Newshub providing news and current affairs.
“We tried. That’s the Kiwi way. That’s the Newshub way.”
He said another media company, such as Stuff or NZME, could now come in and further their own news brand and their reputation by saving part of a significant news operation.
They would oversee the making of a 6pm news bulletin that would be sold to Warner Bros Discovery and in the process be working with one of the world’s leading media companies.
“That has to be a possibility . . . They would be seen to be saving news in New Zealand and that’s a big ups for them . . .
“The company that is able to get that deal done …. is going to get some incredible journalists on board to help them do it,” Gower said.
It would probably save about 40 to 50 jobs, he said.
Warner Brothers Discovery declined to be interviewed by Morning Report.
NZ’s Media and Communications Minister Melissa Lee . . . accused of “having no vision at all” for media. Image: RNZ/Angus Dreaver
Broadcasting Minister accused of lack of vision Former head of news at TV3 Mark Jennings believed Broadcasting Minister Melissa Lee was “all at sea” as the country veered towards a media crisis.
He found her response to the Newshub closure confusing and did not believe the cabinet paper she has been working on would provide anything beneficial.
“I think you’re likely to have three parties, New Zealand First, ACT and National, all with different points of view and I can’t see them agreeing on any forward course of action, particularly not with Melissa Lee who appears to have no vision here at all.”
Jennings said he was notsurprised the Morrah-Gower plan did not succeed, because employers had considered other options and then made up their minds before the consultation period began.
If an offer from an outside organisation did get the go-ahead, it would be a “basic product” and would be “news-light”, he said.
It might be shot on i-Phones and edited by journalists and would not resemble Newshub’s current flagship bulletin.
While both the pandemic and social media had lowered the quality threshold of what viewers might accept, it would still be compared to what TVNZ was screening.
“The challenge will be for them to hold on to their ratings and more importantly, their share. Their share has been decreasing over time and if it gets too much lower, they’ll find themselves back at square one really.”
Minister Lee was unwilling to be interviewed by Morning Report.
She said she was focused on ensuring New Zealand’s media industry was sustainable and modernised, and she was looking at reviewing the Broadcasting Act.
Lee said she had talked to international companies on how they could support and increase New Zealand screen production, but it would not include a quota.
She said it would not have helped the situation at Newshub.
Not much scope for NZ on Air
New Zealand on Air chief executive Cam Harland said the agency had a limited ability to intervene because its remit was to provide funding for a large number of audiences across a range of genres.
He heads the agency responsible for distributing public funds but its budget isn’t nearly enough to address shortfalls.
Daily television news was expensive to produce, so he considered it unlikely NZ on Air would help much, he told Morning Report.
The loss of jobs and talent was “monumental” and NZ on Air bosses intended to meet with TVNZ and Newshub as well as senior journalists, such as Jennings, to get more information before making any decisions.
“We absolutely want to help . . . so I guess our view now is: Can we be more innovative with what we’re funding, can we get more bang for the buck?”
The organisation was also faced with reviewing its spending in line with the government’s requirements for the public sector.
Union files claim against TVNZ
Michael Wood . . . “It’s an urgent matter now . . .” Image: RNZ/Angus Dreaver
The union representing journalists has filed a claim against TVNZ alleging the company breached its own consultation requirements in its job cuts process.
E Tu’s negotiation specialist, Michael Wood, said the broadcaster should have involved its employees before the proposal was presented.
Talks were continuing with the Employment Relations Authority to see if a legal case could be heard as quickly as possible.
“It’s an urgent matter now . . . We’ll be trying to get an outcome there as soon as possible and we want to see an outcome that respects the process.”
He said mediation between the parties might be a part of the process.
While the union and employees had a small victory with a handful of jobs being saved, there was still “a massive loss of capacity” with the axing of several programmes.
This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.
Chinese authorities use drones to monitor and follow foreign journalists as they report from the country, as well as detaining, harassing and threatening them with non-renewal of their work permits if they report on topics deemed sensitive by the government, according to a new report on journalists’ working conditions.
Four out of five members who responded to the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of China annual working conditions survey said they had experienced “interference, harassment or violence” while trying to do their jobs in China during the past year, the FCCC report found.
Local governments are increasingly using technology to keep track of foreign media workers, the report found.
“During a trip to Poyang Lake, where we were reporting on the status of the Yangtze River dolphin, we were followed by multiple cars with plainclothes individuals inside,” the report quoted a journalist with a European media organization as saying.
“At one point, the plainclothes individuals appeared to use a drone when a blocked sandy road prevented them from getting closer by car,” they said.
A cameraman from Hong Kong Cable TV is restrained from photographing the crowd waiting to buy tickets for the 2008 Beijing Olympics, July 25, 2008, in Beijing, China. (Robert F. Bukaty/AP)
Another European journalist reported similar high-tech surveillance when on a reporting trip to two provinces affected by extreme weather events linked to climate change.
“We were followed by multiple carloads of plain clothes officers,” the report quoted them as saying. “Drones were sent out to follow and observe us when we got out of our vehicle to film/collect interviews. When we moved on foot to a spot, the drones would follow us.”
Respondents also told the FCCC they had reason to believe the authorities had “possibly or definitely” compromised their WeChat (81%), their phone (72%), and/or placed audio recording bugs in their office or homes, the report found.
‘Endless cat-and-mouse game’
Another journalist with a European newspaper described reporting in China as “an endless cat-and-mouse game.”
“Whatever strategy you try, the Chinese surveillance and security system adapts and closes the gap,” the report quoted them as saying. “Whatever strategies you use, the space for reporting keeps getting smaller and smaller.”
A foreign reporter of many years’ experience in China who gave only the surname Lok for fear of reprisals told RFA Cantonese that she expects her communications apps to be monitored at all times.
“I was talking about an issue with a friend here [in mainland China] … and may have mentioned it on WeChat,” Lok said. “Later, he was called in by the police to ‘drink tea’” – a euphemism for being called in for questioning.
Journalists crowd a National People’s Congress press conference a day before the opening of the annual session of China’s parliament, in Beijing’s Great Hall of the People on March 4, 2019. (Greg Baker/AFP)
“It turned out that the problem wasn’t him, but the conversation he had with me,” she said. “We have to be careful, because a lot of trouble has come from talking to people on WeChat.”
A second Hong Kong journalist who gave only the surname Wong for fear of reprisals said it used to be easier for journalists to evade official surveillance than it is now.
“The Chinese government’s digital surveillance methods are comprehensive,” Wong said. “You could describe them as a dragnet, in which every move the target makes is visible to them.”
Online surveillance
Huang Chao-nien, an assistant professor at the National Development Institute of Taiwan’s National Chengchi University, agreed, adding that the government has used online surveillance to target journalists for years.
The government has long used an internet development model that intervenes in the market to control tech companies … forcing them to cooperate with the government in carrying out political surveillance and controls on public speech, he said.
More than half of the journalists who took part in the FCCC annual survey said they had been “obstructed” at least once by police or other officials, while 45% encountered obstruction by unidentified persons, the report said.
Some had been warned not to join the club as it was deemed an “illegal organization,” while others were threatened with non-renewal of their visas and work permits if they didn’t toe the line, the report said.
Areas deemed particularly sensitive by Chinese officials were even harder to work in, it said, adding that 85% of journalists who tried to report from the far western region of Xinjiang in 2023 experienced problems.
“In Xinjiang we were followed the entire time,” the report quoted a European journalist as saying. “It was particularly unpleasant in Hotan, where we counted about half a dozen plainclothes following us by car or on foot.”
“In Korla, we at some point had six cars following us. When we did a U-turn and then a detour over an abandoned construction site and dust road, they all faithfully followed us,” the journalist said.
Chinese policemen manhandle a photographer, center, as he photographs a news event near the No. 1 Intermediate People’s Court, in Beijing Sunday, Jan. 26, 2014. (Andy Wong/AP)
And the definition of “sensitive” areas appears to be expanding.
“An increasing number of journalists encountered issues in regions bordering Russia (79%), Southeast Asian nations (43%) or in ethnically diverse regions like Inner Mongolia (68%),” the report said.
More than 80% said potential sources and interviewees had declined to be interviewed because they didn’t have prior permission from their superiors to speak to foreign media. Fear of reprisals is even being felt among experts, pundits and commentators, the report said.
“Academic sources, think tank employees and analysts either decline interviews, request anonymity, or don’t respond at all,” it quoted respondents as saying.
Translated with additional reporting by Luisetta Mudie. Edited by Malcolm Foster.
This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by By Lee Heung Yeung and Alice Yam for RFA Cantonese.
Media commentators and Liberal ministers are angry a father filmed himself challenging Canada’s foreign minister on the street for enabling genocide. The outrage exposes the media/political establishment’s anti-democratic ethos.
Ten days ago, a man biking with his two kids saw Melanie Joly on Laurier Avenue in Montreal and asked the foreign minister to “lift the cap on the number of Palestinian refugees”. In response, Joly hit his phone and grabbed his jacket. Antoine (sole identification of the man) then told the minister to calm down and after she mentions the children with him says he’s trying to instill “good values” in them by opposing Israel’s killing. After the minister says she’s trying to have a relaxing walk Antoine says she doesn’t have that right while enabling a genocide in Gaza. Antoine then says it’s his job to harass her for promoting genocide.
Two weeks before the incident Joly made what she called a “solidarity” trip to a state the International Court of Justice found to plausibly committing genocide. In response to its mass killings in Gaza, Joly’s Global Affairs sped up the approval of weapons permits to Israel, okaying $28.5 million in arms in the two months after its onslaught on Gaza began.
A slew of commentators condemned Antoine, not Joly who may have assaulted him. They seem to believe Canada’s foreign minister can enable mass slaughter and not expect to be challenged about it. A number of the commentators demanded greater police protection for the minister even though an RCMP agent was with Joly. Radio Canada’s flagship weekly program Tout Le Monde en Parle (everyone is talking about it) played the video and had the minister on to discuss how difficult it’s been for her during the past six months.
According to the commentariat, people filming themselves challenging politicians on the street is a threat to democracy. Of course, this is an inversion of reality. While sometimes messy and unpleasant, common people questioning politicians and sharing it on social media subverts our society’s political passivity and the dominant media’s power to ‘manufacture consent’ for imperialism. Journalists with regular access to politicians rarely ask tough questions on international affairs, prioritizing ‘access’ over holding power accountable. Beyond their cozy relations with politicians, the commentariat don’t support this type of social media activism because it subverts the establishment media’s power. Over one million viewed Antoine’s interaction with Joly on my X account and hundreds of thousands more on others’ social media platforms.
Alongside media commentators, Liberal ministers came to Joly’s defence. Heritage Minister Pascale St-Onge posted on X, “As MPs, we’re here to listen to the public. It’s part of our job. There are many ways to reach us, to express yourself. But no one deserves to be harassed, followed and filmed without their consent in their private life. My heart goes out to my colleague and friend, Melanie Joly.”
Leaving aside her “my heart goes out” hyperbole, St-Onge is a hypocrite. Three days later St-Onge and her staff cancelled a press conference, hid in a room for half an hour, called the police and ultimately fled out a backdoor to avoid a simple question about her government backing a holocaust in Gaza. When I arrived a few minutes late to a press conference with St-Onge a TVA cameraman was waiting in the room and the minister was touring a public housing project. The press people asked my name and then what I was planning to ask the minister about (which was the Heritage Minister’s silence on Israel destroying 40 UNESCO sites and killing 100 journalists in Gaza). Five minutes later they asked me to leave. I refused. Subsequently, they said the minister would not return to conclude the press conference so I found St-Onge. To avoid appearing on camera she hid inside an apartment for nearly half an hour while her attaché called the police and the manager of the facility to ask me to leave. As the police talked to me, the minister fled out a side door.
Hours after releasing a sanctimonious statement about the appropriate place to ask politicians questions, St-Onge went to embarrassing lengths to avoid taking my question at a press conference!
I already knew St-Onge’s ‘there’s a right time to communicate with politicians’ rhetoric was hogwash. A year ago I attended a press event with St-Onge and asked the then sports minister, who was pushing to bar Russian and Belarusian athletes from sports competitions, whether she felt the same way about US athletes after they invaded Iraq? She smirked and walked away.
As she left the room and waited for an elevator I asked the same question regarding Canadian athletes after the Canadian led bombing of Libya or Israeli athletes. Multiple millions viewed the clip on social media and the embarrassing encounter was picked up by a slew of major international media.
A bid to avoid a similar clip may explain why she went to such absurd lengths to elude my questioning her on camera (though after a run Media commentators and Liberal ministers are angry a father filmed himself challenging Canada’s foreign minister on the street for enabling genocide. The outrage exposes the media/political establishment’s anti-democratic ethos.
Ten days ago, a man biking with his two kids saw Melanie Joly on Laurier Avenue in Montreal and asked the foreign minister to “lift the cap on the number of Palestinian refugees”. In response, Joly hit his phone and grabbed his jacket. Antoine (sole identification of the man) then told the minister to calm down and after she mentions the children with him says he’s trying to instill “good values” in them by opposing Israel’s killing. After the minister says she’s trying to have a relaxing walk Antoine says she doesn’t have that right while enabling a genocide in Gaza. Antoine then says it’s his job to harass her for promoting genocide.
Two weeks before the incident Joly made what she called a “solidarity” trip to a state the International Court of Justice found to plausibly committing genocide. In response to its mass killings in Gaza, Joly’s Global Affairs sped up the approval of weapons permits to Israel, okaying $28.5 million in arms in the two months after its onslaught on Gaza began.
A slew of commentators condemned Antoine, not Joly who may have assaulted him. They seem to believe Canada’s foreign minister can enable mass slaughter and not expect to be challenged about it. A number of the commentators demanded greater police protection for the minister even though an RCMP agent was with Joly. Radio Canada’s flagship weekly program Tout Le Monde en Parle (everyone is talking about it) played the video and had the minister on to discuss how difficult it’s been for her during the past six months.
According to the commentariat, people filming themselves challenging politicians on the street is a threat to democracy. Of course, this is an inversion of reality. While sometimes messy and unpleasant, common people questioning politicians and sharing it on social media subverts our society’s political passivity and the dominant media’s power to ‘manufacture consent’ for imperialism. Journalists with regular access to politicians rarely ask tough questions on international affairs, prioritizing ‘access’ over holding power accountable. Beyond their cozy relations with politicians, the commentariat don’t support this type of social media activism because it subverts the establishment media’s power. Over one million viewed Antoine’s interaction with Joly on my X account and hundreds of thousands more on others’ social media platforms.
Alongside media commentators, Liberal ministers came to Joly’s defence. Heritage Minister Pascale St-Onge posted on X, “As MPs, we’re here to listen to the public. It’s part of our job. There are many ways to reach us, to express yourself. But no one deserves to be harassed, followed and filmed without their consent in their private life. My heart goes out to my colleague and friend, Melanie Joly.”
Leaving aside her “my heart goes out” hyperbole, St-Onge is a hypocrite. Three days later St-Onge and her staff cancelled a press conference, hid in a room for half an hour, called the police and ultimately fled out a backdoor to avoid a simple question about her government backing a holocaust in Gaza. When I arrived a few minutes late to a press conference with St-Onge a TVA cameraman was waiting in the room and the minister was touring a public housing project. The press people asked my name and then what I was planning to ask the minister about (which was the Heritage Minister’s silence on Israel destroying 40 UNESCO sites and killing 100 journalists in Gaza). Five minutes later they asked me to leave. I refused. Subsequently, they said the minister would not return to conclude the press conference so I found St-Onge. To avoid appearing on camera she hid inside an apartment for nearly half an hour while her attaché called the police and the manager of the facility to ask me to leave. As the police talked to me, the minister fled out a side door.
Hours after releasing a sanctimonious statement about the appropriate place to ask politicians questions, St-Onge went to embarrassing lengths to avoid taking my question at a press conference!
I already knew St-Onge’s ‘there’s a right time to communicate with politicians’ rhetoric was hogwash. A year ago I attended a press event with St-Onge and asked the then sports minister, who was pushing to bar Russian and Belarusian athletes from sports competitions, whether she felt the same way about US athletes after they invaded Iraq? She smirked and walked away.
As she left the room and waited for an elevator I asked the same question regarding Canadian athletes after the Canadian led bombing of Libya or Israeli athletes. Multiple millions viewed the clip on social media and the embarrassing encounter was picked up by a slew of major international media.
A bid to avoid a similar Media commentators and Liberal ministers are angry a father filmed himself challenging Canada’s foreign minister on the street for enabling genocide. The outrage exposes the media/political establishment’s anti-democratic ethos.
Ten days ago, a man biking with his two kids saw Melanie Joly on Laurier Avenue in Montreal and asked the foreign minister to “lift the cap on the number of Palestinian refugees”. In response, Joly hit his phone and grabbed his jacket. Antoine (sole identification of the man) then told the minister to calm down and after she mentions the children with him says he’s trying to instill “good values” in them by opposing Israel’s killing. After the minister says she’s trying to have a relaxing walk Antoine says she doesn’t have that right while enabling a genocide in Gaza. Antoine then says it’s his job to harass her for promoting genocide.
Two weeks before the incident Joly made what she called a “solidarity” trip to a state the International Court of Justice found to plausibly committing genocide. In response to its mass killings in Gaza, Joly’s Global Affairs sped up the approval of weapons permits to Israel, okaying $28.5 million in arms in the two months after its onslaught on Gaza began.
A slew of commentators condemned Antoine, not Joly who may have assaulted him. They seem to believe Canada’s foreign minister can enable mass slaughter and not expect to be challenged about it. A number of the commentators demanded greater police protection for the minister even though an RCMP agent was with Joly. Radio Canada’s flagship weekly program Tout Le Monde en Parle (everyone is talking about it) played the video and had the minister on to discuss how difficult it’s been for her during the past six months.
According to the commentariat, people filming themselves challenging politicians on the street is a threat to democracy. Of course, this is an inversion of reality. While sometimes messy and unpleasant, common people questioning politicians and sharing it on social media subverts our society’s political passivity and the dominant media’s power to ‘manufacture consent’ for imperialism. Journalists with regular access to politicians rarely ask tough questions on international affairs, prioritizing ‘access’ over holding power accountable. Beyond their cozy relations with politicians, the commentariat don’t support this type of social media activism because it subverts the establishment media’s power. Over one million viewed Antoine’s interaction with Joly on my X account and hundreds of thousands more on others’ social media platforms.
Alongside media commentators, Liberal ministers came to Joly’s defence. Heritage Minister Pascale St-Onge posted on X, “As MPs, we’re here to listen to the public. It’s part of our job. There are many ways to reach us, to express yourself. But no one deserves to be harassed, followed and filmed without their consent in their private life. My heart goes out to my colleague and friend, Melanie Joly.”
Leaving aside her “my heart goes out” hyperbole, St-Onge is a hypocrite. Three days later St-Onge and her staff cancelled a press conference, hid in a room for half an hour, called the police and ultimately fled out a backdoor to avoid a simple question about her government backing a holocaust in Gaza. When I arrived a few minutes late to a press conference with St-Onge a TVA cameraman was waiting in the room and the minister was touring a public housing project. The press people asked my name and then what I was planning to ask the minister about (which was the Heritage Minister’s silence on Israel destroying 40 UNESCO sites and killing 100 journalists in Gaza). Five minutes later they asked me to leave. I refused. Subsequently, they said the minister would not return to conclude the press conference so I found St-Onge. To avoid appearing on camera she hid inside an apartment for nearly half an hour while her attaché called the police and the manager of the facility to ask me to leave. As the police talked to me, the minister fled out a side door.
Hours after releasing a sanctimonious statement about the appropriate place to ask politicians questions, St-Onge went to embarrassing lengths to avoid taking my question at a press conference!
I already knew St-Onge’s ‘there’s a right time to communicate with politicians’ rhetoric was hogwash. A year ago I attended a press event with St-Onge and asked the then sports minister, who was pushing to bar Russian and Belarusian athletes from sports competitions, whether she felt the same way about US athletes after they invaded Iraq? She smirked and walked away.
As she left the room and waited for an elevator I asked the same question regarding Canadian athletes after the Canadian led bombing of Libya or Israeli athletes. Multiple millions viewed the clip on social media and the embarrassing encounter was picked up by a slew of major international media.
A bid to avoid a similar clip may explain why she went to such absurd lengths to elude my questioning her on camera (though after a run across a parking lot I opened the heritage minister’s door to question her before she drove off). Politicians controlling questions and scripting public events is a far bigger threat to democracy than common people rudely filming them on the street. So is a Montreal media sphere which devoted more attention to criticizing a father for challenging the foreign minister on the street then to 20 weeks in a row of mass marches in the city against Canada’s complicity in Israel’s genocide (from week 5 to 26 the media all but stopped covering the protests even though thousands came out each weekend).
Joly, St-Onge, Justin Trudeau and others should be questioned on video whenever possible. We need to give the decision-makers a bit of a headache and inspire like-minded individuals to act. With the dominant media largely refusing to cover critical perspectives on important international issues, we need to find other ways to put forward our message and push back against government policies.
Shame on all the commentators and politicians who denigrated a father for challenging Canada’s foreign affairs minister for promoting genocide. We need more people with Antoine’s convictions and a willingness to act.clip may explain why she went to such absurd lengths to elude my questioning her on camera (though after a run across a parking lot I opened the heritage minister’s door to question her before she drove off). Politicians controlling questions and scripting public events is a far bigger threat to democracy than common people rudely filming them on the street. So is a Montreal media sphere which devoted more attention to criticizing a father for challenging the foreign minister on the street then to 20 weeks in a row of mass marches in the city against Canada’s complicity in Israel’s genocide (from week 5 to 26 the media all but stopped covering the protests even though thousands came out each weekend).
Joly, St-Onge, Justin Trudeau and others should be questioned on video whenever possible. We need to give the decision-makers a bit of a headache and inspire like-minded individuals to act. With the dominant media largely refusing to cover critical perspectives on important international issues, we need to find other ways to put forward our message and push back against government policies.
Shame on all the commentators and politicians who denigrated a father for challenging Canada’s foreign affairs minister for promoting genocide. We need more people with Antoine’s convictions and a willingness to act.across a parking lot I opened the heritage minister’s door to question her before she drove off). Politicians controlling questions and scripting public events is a far bigger threat to democracy than common people rudely filming them on the street. So is a Montreal media sphere which devoted more attention to criticizing a father for challenging the foreign minister on the street then to 20 weeks in a row of mass marches in the city against Canada’s complicity in Israel’s genocide (from week 5 to 26 the media all but stopped covering the protests even though thousands came out each weekend).
Joly, St-Onge, Justin Trudeau and others should be questioned on video whenever possible. We need to give the decision-makers a bit of a headache and inspire like-minded individuals to act. With the dominant media largely refusing to cover critical perspectives on important international issues, we need to find other ways to put forward our message and push back against government policies.
Shame on all the commentators and politicians who denigrated a father for challenging Canada’s foreign affairs minister for promoting genocide. We need more people with Antoine’s convictions and a willingness to act.
Warner Bros Discovery has confirmed its plans to shut down Newshub in Aotearoa New Zealand, including its website and all TV news shows by July 5 — 294 staff will lose their jobs.
The company says no deal is in place yet with any third party to supply daily news.
Newshub staff learned of the company’s decision at a meeting fronted by Warner Bros Discovery’s Australia and New Zealand chief Glenn Kyne and its Asia-Pacific president James Gibbons today.
In a statement, Gibbons said there was “nothing anyone in our New Zealand networks business could have done better” to avoid the closure.
“It was a combination of very strong economic headwinds both in New Zealand and the global market,” he said.
“The downturn has been severe, and the bounce-back has not materialised as expected.”
Warner Bros Discovery first revealed its proposal to close Newshub on February 28. Newshub Michael Morrah told RNZ’s Midday Report many staff saw today’s decision as inevitable.
‘Many resigned themselves’
“The confirmation was still very upsetting and disappointing, but nothing like the shock of six weeks ago. Many had resigned themselves to the closure,” he said.
“I have worked here for 18 years. We believe in what we do. And know it is important to the people who watch — 900,000 every week. What happens to those people who relied on us to present key news and current affairs?
“And to the investigations that are being worked on?”
Gibbons said $74 million disappeared from broadcast TV advertising in New Zealand in 2023 alone. That was the single largest year-on-year drop over the last three decades outside of the Global Financial Crisis in 2007-8.
“Every business in its own market has to be financially sustainable, and we simply could not continue in our current form.”
Fresh annual figures released yesterday showed total TV advertising revenue in New Zealand TV fell from $517 million in 2022 to $443 million last year. Digital advertising revenue is increasing but the vast bulk of that goes to offshore tech companies Google and Facebook.
Kyne said free-to-air and news operations were too expensive to run as they were. He was concerned that the move would leave TVNZ as the only service running free-to-air broadcast news, but said there was no other choice.
TVNZ’s Sunday also for the chop . . . “We are deeply aware of the effect this is likely to have on the plurality of media voices in New Zealand. Having just one TV news operation in New Zealand — that is state-owned — will be an ongoing issue until it is solved,” says Warner Bros Discovery’s NZ chief Glenn Kyne. Image: TVNZ screenshot APR
Impact on plurality
“We are deeply aware of the effect this is likely to have on the plurality of media voices in New Zealand. Having just one TV news operation in New Zealand — that is state-owned — will be an ongoing issue until it is solved.
“But as we noted on the day, it is simply impossible to continue operating in our current form.”
The final day for staff who have been made redundant will be on July 5, and that will also be the final day for the Newshub bulletin, the statement said.
“Myself and six colleagues suggested a stripped back Newshub live at 6 and retention of the Newshub (website) to transition from linear TV to a fully-digital model. We thought we had a profitable way forward.
‘We were told the option would be problematic for WBD and produce a downward trajectory for the business,“ Newshub’s investigations editor Michael Morrah told RNZ’s Midday Report.
Other alternative proposals to replace or continue Newshub were also considered amid heavy secrecy, bolstered by the use of non-disclosure agreements.
Considering proposals
In recent days media reports have indicated WBD has been considering proposals from other media companies to create a news service for the company’s channels.
New Zealand Herald media commentator Shayne Currie yesterday reported that Stuff was a leading contender for taking on the organisation’s 6pm news. Some have speculated that NZME, which owns the Herald and Newstalk ZB, could also have an interest.
WBD said today no arrangement with any third party was in place but Mediawatch understands the company has already rebuffed several and is only pursuing projects with one or two players.
Stuff reported yesterday that Stuff was “understood to be a likely contender” but a spokesperson for Stuff declined to comment on whether it had been in talks with Warner Bros Discovery.
“The main thing is Newshub needs a lifeline. These people deserve a lifeline. Those people who are looking to do these deals, get on and get them done and save some of these people and save some news for Kiwis,” Newshub presenter Patrick Gower told reporters after today’s announcement.
Kyne said the company’s “door has been open to listening to all internal and external feedback and ideas, and we will continue to do so”.
“However, as of now, no deal regarding news output has been made.”
Warner Bros Discovery is also looking to work with Nga Taonga to preserve its 30-year news archives. Image: TVNZ screenshot APR
News archives
Kyne said the company was also looking to work with Nga Taonga to preserve its 30-year news archives.
Mediawatch understands that several staff made submissions calling on the company to preserve those archives, with fears that years of work — and New Zealand history — could be lost if they were deleted.
Newshub’s shutdown is the biggest and most far-reaching news closure in the post-covid era.
“Every time we think we’ve landed on stable footing, something comes along and makes it unstable again, forcing us to look at ways of further reducing costs,” Kyne said in a statement when the closure was first proposed.
“We’ve now reached a stage where any further reduction in costs means . . . proposing to shut down the newsroom and the Newshub website.”
“Everyone can see that the media sector, here in New Zealand, and around the world is facing some very tough circumstances. While Warner Bros Discovery is a large global media company, each business is managed on its ability to sustain itself within the market it operates in.
“Subsidising losses for ongoing years indefinitely is not sustainable,” said Gibbons.
At the time, Warner Bros Discovery said its proposal was is to make the ThreeNow online app “the core of the model, supported by free-to-air linear channels” such as Three, Bravo, Eden, Rush and HGTV.
This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.
All of Newshub operations — part of New Zealand’s second largest television news network channel Three — are to be shut down and 250 people will lose their jobs. The shutdown includes the company’s website, Warner Bros Discovery announced today.
The last 6pm news bulletin will air on July 5.
Warner Bros Discovery said talks were ongoing with third parties to provide a pared-back news service — such as a 6pm bulletin for the Three channel. However, no deals have been reached yet.
Head of networks Glen Kyne said Warner Bros Discovery had been clear it would listen to all feedback both internal and external over the five-week consultation period.
“Our door has been open and some conversations have taken place. They’re continuing to take place in confidence but there is no deal,” he said.
He promised to let staff know immediately if any new deals could be finalised.
The shutdown news as reported on Newshub’s website today. Image” Newshub screenshot APR
He thanked staff for their feedback.
Definite shutdown
The announcement of the definite shutdown came at an all-staff meeting at a hall close to Newshub’s office in Auckland’s Eden Terrace this morning.
The newsroom was losing too much money, staff were told.
Here is all the full information – devastated for my pals, colleagues and everyone who gives 110% there, NZ is a worse off place today with this news. https://t.co/q8HurxwV5g
New York, April 9, 2024—The Committee to Protect Journalists on Friday condemned Russia’s latest series of attacks on Ukraine that injured at least four Ukrainian journalists reporting on the war.
On April 4, two early morning drone strikes hit Kharkiv in northeast Ukraine injuring Yuliya Boyko, a correspondent with the Ukrainian news site Novini.Live and a freelancer with Poland-based independent broadcaster Belsat TV. Viktor Pichugin, a reporter with the Nakipelo news media project covering the Kharkiv region, was also injured in the attacks, according to the local trade group National Union of Journalists of Ukraine (NUJU), the local Institute of Mass Information(IMI) press freedom group, and Pichugin, who spoke to CPJ.
On April 5, Russian forces shelled the southeast region of Zaporizhzhia, injuring Olha Zvonaryova, a reporter with Ukrainian state news agency Ukrinform, and Kira Oves, a reporter with privately owned broadcaster 1+1, according to the NUJU, mediareports, and IMI head Oksana Romaniuk, who spoke to CPJ.
“That journalists come under fire while covering the aftermath of previous attacks shows the extent of the risks they are taking and their commitment to documenting Russia’s war in Ukraine,” said Gulnoza Said, CPJ’s Europe and Central Asia program coordinator. “Russian and Ukrainian authorities should investigate the recent attacks that injured Ukrainian journalists in Kharkiv and Zaporizhzhia, and Russia must stop targeting civilian infrastructure in Ukraine.”
Boyko was reporting at the site of a previous drone strike on her home in Kharkiv when another attack hit “5-6 meters” away from her, she told the NUJU and IMI. IMI reported that Boyko did not have time to take cover, and she suffered contusions and a mild concussion from the attack.
Pichugin was reporting on the damage caused by the drone strike on Boyko’s building and on the work of volunteers providing first aid, when the second strike came “very close to him,” he told IMI and local news outlet Gwara Media.
“At some point, the ‘air raid’ cry rang out, and the medics gave the command, ‘Everyone by cars!’” Pichugin told CPJ. As he was taking refuge in the back seat of a car with medics, Pichugin said he heard the drone flying toward them.
“When that last medic closed the trunk lid, the drone exploded. We were thrown by an explosive wave across the cabin,” Pichugin told CPJ, adding that his helmet was knocked off his head from the explosion.
“I have symptoms that might be signs of concussion, but it is still not the medical diagnosis because a number of medical examinations must be conducted beforehand,” Pichugin told CPJ on April 9.
Pichugin told IMI that he believes these repeated strikes are targeting journalists documenting the Russian-Ukraine War and the rescue workers helping civilians. “It’s a common practice,” he told CPJ.
Zvonaryova and Oves were reporting on the aftermath of three previous missile strikes when they were caught in a fourth attack, according to reports.
“Everyone heard the fourth rocket and started running, but it came so fast that I fell down near a car that was standing next to me. I fell on my side. The side I was lying on was unharmed, but the side on top was cut,” Zvonaryova told her outlet.
Zvonaryova was hit by a splinter in the leg, the stomach and the hand, and underwent an emergency surgery for several leg fractures, Romaniuk told CPJ, adding that Oves “was slightly injured, her temple was stitched.”
“The patient’s [Zvonaryova’s] condition was quite serious, associated with a massive injury and blood loss,” a hospital representative told her outlet. As of April 9, Zvonaryova was still hospitalized in Zaporizhzhia, but in stable condition, Romanyuk told CPJ.
State news agency RIA Novosti reported that Russian strikes on Kharkiv and Zaporizhzhia targeted “foreign tanks and trainers” and a plant repairing Ukrainian armed forces equipment. The attacks killed at least four civilians in Kharkiv and four in Zaporizhzhia, reportssaid.
CPJ’s emails to Russian and Ukrainian defense ministries did not receive any reply.
It has been 60 years since Indonesia has been refused humanitarian agencies and international media access to enter West Papua, says a leading West Papuan leader and advocate.
Speaking with the Vanuatu Daily Post on Friday in response to claims by the Indonesia ambassador Dr Siswo Pramono last Thursday, Wenda said organisations such as the Red Cross, International Peace Brigades, human rights agencies, and even the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) had been banned from West Papua for 60 years.
“Indonesia claims to be a democratic country. Then why does Indonesia refuse to allow, in line with calls from the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) and the Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG), a visit from the United Nations (UN) Commissioner to examine the human rights situation?” he said.
“It has been 60 years, yet Indonesia has not heeded this call, while the killings continue.
“If Indonesia truly upholds democracy, then it should allow a visit by the UN Commissioner.
Indonesia ‘must respect UN visit’
“This is why we, as Melanesians and Pacific Islanders, are demanding such a visit. Even 85 countries have called for the UN Commissioner’s visit, and Indonesia must respect this as it is a member of the UN.”
The ULMWP also issued a statement stating that more than 100,000 West Papuans were internally displaced between December 2018 and March 2022 as a result of an escalation in Indonesian militarisation.
Indonesian Ambassador Dr Siswo Pramono’s controversial and historically wrong “no colonisation” claims over West Papua published in the Vanuatu Daily Post last Thursday have stirred widespread criticism. Image: VDP screenshot APR
It was reported that as of October 2023, 76,228 Papuans had remained internally displaced, and more than 1300 Papuans were killed between 2018 and 2023.
Also a video of Indonesian soldiers torturing a West Papuan man in Puncak has made international news.
In response to the disturbing video footage about the incident in Papua, Indonesia stated that the 13 Indonesian Military (TNI) soldiers allegedly involved had been detained.
“The Embassy emphasised that torture is not the policy of the Government of Indonesia nor its National Armed Forces or Indonesian National Police,” the statement relayed.
“Therefore, such actions cannot be tolerated. Indonesia reaffirms its unwavering commitment to upholding human rights, including in Papua, in accordance with international standards.”
Indonesia lobbying Pacific
The ULMWP said Indonesia was lobbying in Vanuatu and the Pacific, “presenting themselves as friends”, while allegedly murdering and torturing Melanesians.
“This claim is flatly untrue: for one thing, the Ambassador claimed that ‘West Papua has never been on the UN Special Committee on Decolonisation (C-24)’ — but in fact, West Papua was added to the list of ‘Non-Self Governing Territories’ as the Dutch decolonised in the 1960s,” the movement stated.
“According to the 1962 New York Agreement, West Papua was transferred to Indonesia on the condition of a free and fair vote on independence.
“However, in 1969, a handpicked group of 1022 West Papuans (of an estimated population of 800,000) was forced to vote for integration with Indonesia, under conditions of widespread coercion, military violence and intimidation.
“Therefore, the right to self-determination in West Papua remains unfulfilled and decolonisation in West Papua is incomplete under international law. The facts could not be clearer — West Papua is a colonised territory.”
The Vanuatu Daily Post also asked some similar questions that had been posed to Indonesia on March 28, 2024, to which Wenda responded adeptly.
Insights into West Papua
Additionally, he provided insightful commentary on the current geopolitical landscape:
What do you believe Indonesia’s intention is in seeking membership in the MSG? Indonesia’s intention to join MSG is to prevent West Papua from becoming a full member. Their aim is to obstruct West Papua’s membership because Indonesia, being Asian, does not belong to Melanesia.
While they have their own forum called the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), we, as Melanesians, have the PIF, representing our regional bloc. Indonesia’s attempt to become an associate member is not in line with our Melanesian identity.
Melanesians span from Fiji to West Papua, and we are linguistically, geographically, and culturally distinct. We are entitled to our Melanesian identity.
Currently, West Papua is not represented in MSG; only Indonesia is recognised. We have long been denied representation, and Indonesia’s intention to become an associate member is solely to impede West Papua’s inclusion is evident.
Is Indonesia supporting West Papua’s efforts to become a full member of the MSG? I don’t think their intention is to support; rather, they seek to exert influence within Melanesia to obstruct and prevent it. This explains their significant investment over the last 10 years. Previously, they showed no interest in Melanesian affairs, so why the sudden change?
What aid is Indonesia offering Vanuatu and for what purpose? What are Indonesia’s intentions and goals in its foreign relations with Vanuatu? I understand that Indonesia is an associate member of the MSG and contributes to its annual budget, which is acceptable. However, if Indonesia is investing heavily here, why aren’t they focusing on addressing the needs of their own people?
I haven’t observed any ni-Vanuatu begging on the streets from the airport to here [Port Vila]. In contrast, in Jakarta, there are people sleeping under bridges begging for assistance.
Why not invest in improving the lives of your own citizens? People in Jakarta endure hardships, living in slum settlements and under bridges, whereas I have never witnessed any Melanesians from West Papua to Fiji begging.
So, why the sudden heavy investment here, and why now?
Republished from the Vanuatu Daily Post with permission.
Just a third of New Zealanders now say they trust the news. That is the major finding of Auckland University of Technology’s research centre for Journalism, Media and Democracy (JMAD)’s fifth annual Trust in News in Aotearoa New Zealand report, reports RNZ News.
Trust in news in general fell from 42 percent last year to 33 percent in this year’s report — but it is a whopping 20 percentage points down from the first report in 2020 when it was at 53 percent.
All 16 news brands that were part of this survey suffered declines in trust.
The independent Dunedin daily newspaper Otago Daily Times(ODT) had the highest trust score, with public broadcaster RNZ and the National Business Review (NBR) tied in second place, with TVNZ, Newsroom, BusinessDesk and “other commercial radio” tied for third.
Other findings from this year’s survey: Fewer people believed the news media was independent of political influence and more said they actively avoid the news to some degree.
Founded at the University of Papua New Guinea in 1994, PJR also published for five years at the University of the South Pacific in Fiji before moving on to AUT’s Pacific Media Centre (PMC). It is currently being published by the Auckland-based Asia Pacific Media Network (APMN).
Founding editor Dr David Robie, formerly director of the PMC before he retired from academic life three years ago, said: “This is a huge milestone — three decades of Pacific media research, more than 1000 peer-reviewed articles and an open access database thanks to Tuwhera.
“These days the global research publishing model often denies people access to research if they don’t have access to libraries, so open access is critically important in a Pacific context.”
Current editor Dr Philip Cass told Asia Pacific Report: “For us to return to USP will be like coming home.
“For 30 years PJR has been the only journal focusing exclusively on media and journalism in the Pacific region.
“Our next edition will feature articles on the Pacific, New Zealand, Australia and Southeast Asia.
“We are maintaining our commitment to the Islands while expanding our coverage of the region.”
Both Dr Cass and Dr Robie are former academic staff at USP; Dr Cass was one of the founding lecturers of the degree journalism programme and launched the student journalist newspaper Wansolwara and Dr Robie was head of journalism 1998-2002.
The 20th anniversary of the journal was celebrated with a conference at AUT University. At the time, an Indonesian-New Zealand television student, Sasya Wreksono, made a short documentary about PJR and Dr Lee Duffield of Queensland University of Technology wrote an article about the journal’s history.
The Life of Pacific Journalism Review. Video: PMC/Sasya Wreksono
Many journalism researchers from the Journalism Education and Research Association of Australia (JERAA) and other networks have been strong contributors to PJR, including professors Chris Nash and Wendy Bacon, who pioneered the Frontline section devoted to investigative journalism and innovative research.
The launch of the 30th anniversary edition of PJR will be held at the conference on July 4-6 with Professor Vijay Naidu, who is adjunct professor in the disciplines of development studies and governance at USP’s School of Law and Social Sciences.
Several of the PJR team will be present at USP, including longtime designer Del Abcede.
A panel on research journalism publication will also be held at the conference with several editors and former editors taking part, including former editor Professor Mark Pearson of the Australian Journalism Review. This is being sponsored by the APMN, one of the conference partners.
Conference chair Associate Professor Shailendra Singh, head of journalism at USP, is also on the editorial board of PJR and a key contributor.
Three PJR covers and three countries . . . volume 4 (1997, PNG), volume 8 (2002, Fiji), and volume 29 (2023, NZ). Montage: PJR
MDMK general secretary Vaiyapuri Gopalsamy alias Vaiko on April 3 spoke to the media about the ongoing controversy surrounding the Katchatheevu island in Sri Lanka. Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK) is an ally of the ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) in Tamil Nadu, which is a part of the Congress-led INDIA bloc.
Katchatheevu is an uninhabited island located northeast of India’s Rameswaram town in Tamil Nadu and southwest of Sri Lanka’s Jaffna city. This island was ceded by India in 1974 to Sri Lanka, and the former subsequently relinquished its claim to fishing rights in the water surrounding Katchatheevu. The issue resurfaced after the BJP revealed details about government discussions concerning this issue. Prime Minister Narendra Modi accused the then government of ‘callously’ ceding the islands to Sri Lanka. The opposition leaders have charged the BJP with exploiting this sensitive issue to garner votes in the upcoming elections.
In this regard, ANI tweeted a 10-second clip on April 3 of Vaiko’s interaction with the media where he is heard saying, “Congress betrayed Tamil Nadu on every front at the time…”. (Archive)
#WATCH | On the Katchatheevu issue, MDMK founder Vaiko says “Congress betrayed Tamil Nadu on every front at the time…” pic.twitter.com/fIfweuyPvG
— Piyush Goyal (मोदी का परिवार) (@PiyushGoyal) April 3, 2024
Several mainstream media outlets ran this news with the purported quote from Vaiko as the headline. Hindustan Times published a report titled, “‘Cong betrayed Tamil Nadu on every front’, says Vaiko”. Nowhere in the article do they mention what Vaiko said beyond the 10 seconds seen in the ANI video. CNN News 18 also published a similar report titled, “Congress Has Always Betrayed Tamil Nadu, Says DMK-Cong Ally Vaiko On Katchatheevu Issue”. The report only mentions the 10 seconds seen in the viral video tweeted by ANI. News Nine also tweeted a similar report titled “‘Betrayed Tamil Nadu on every front’: DMK- Congress ally slams Congress on Katchatheevu issue” calling it ‘a scathing attack on the Congress’.
Journalist Rahul Shivshankar also quote-tweeted the ANI video and questioned why the MDMK was fighting the elections as part of the INDIA bloc. “Politics of convenience knows no bounds?” he asked. (Archive)
But then why are they even fighting the election together? Politics of convenience knows no bounds? https://t.co/gl0cIaZx1O
Verified X user Kanchan Gupta also tweeted the ANI video with the same claim. (Archive)
MDMK, ally of DMK-Congress alliance, has a sharp view on giving away Katchatheevu to a Sri Lanka. Vaiko says “Congress betrayed Tamil Nadu on every front … at the time.” pic.twitter.com/fPcOhFwSTX
— Kanchan Gupta (Hindu Bengali Refugee) (@KanchanGupta) April 3, 2024
Several other users, including BJP national spokesperson C R Kesavan, amplified the viral ANI clip with the same claim. (Archives- 1, 2, 3, 4)
Alt News found a longer clip tweeted by Sun News. The 37-second clip has Vaiko’s entire statement. He said, “Congress betrayed Tamil Nadu in every front at the time. After that… these ten years, this was a testing time for Narendra Modi. He is a traitor, he betrayed Tamil Nadu, he betrayed India, he betrayed Sri Lanka..,” he stated.
From this, It becomes clear that ANI ran a clipped statement where the part in which Vaiko had accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of ‘betraying the country’ was cut out. This clipped video and statement were later amplified by mainstream news outlets, ministers and BJP leaders.
Vaiko addressed an election meeting while canvassing for DMK candidate Thamizhachi Thangapandian on Wednesday, April 3. During his speech too, he criticized the BJP, stating, “The Hindutva forces need to be defeated, and a huge wave is set to sweep the INDIA alliance at the Centre.” He added, “The BJP leader had announced that he would end Dravidian government in Tamil Nadu. People have to take a vow to defeat the BJP in this election”.
It is worth noting that Congress leader Supriya Shrinate tweeted only the latter part of Vaiko’s statement where he is heard slamming the Modi government. ““These 10 years were a testing time for Narendra Modi. He is a traitor. He betrayed Tamil Nadu, he betrayed India, he betrayed Sri Lanka” : MDMK founder Vaiko”, Shrinate’s caption read. This tweet, too, is misleading since the first part of the statement, where Vaiko criticised Congress, has been left out. (Archive)
“These 10 years were a testing time for Narendra Modi. He is a traitor.
He betrayed Tamil Nadu, he betrayed India, he betrayed Sri Lanka”
Pacific media commentator and Asia Pacific Report editor David Robie has criticised New Zealand media coverage of Israel’s war on Gaza, describing it as “lopsided” in favour of Tel Aviv.
He said New Zealand media was too dependent on American and British news services, which were based in two of the countries most committed to Israel and in denial of the genocide that was happening.
New Zealand media were tending to treat the conflict as “just another war” instead of the reality of a “horrendous” series of massacres with a long-lasting impact on Western credibility and commitment to a global rules-based order.
Lois asked: “What is happening to Gaza now is a nightmare, very disturbing, or should be, and yet are we, the public, in New Zealand and other countries, are we getting the true picture from journalists?”
Dr Robie replied, “No, we are getting a very sanitised version through our media, particularly in New Zealand, less so in Australia, but it’s pretty bad there . . .”
He explained the reasons for his criticism.
Praise for AJ and TRT coverage
During the half-hour interview, Dr Robie praised television coverage of the “real war” by independent news services such as the Qatar-based Al Jazeera and Turkey-based TRT World News, which have had Arabic-speaking Palestinian journalists on the ground in Gaza throughout the six-month-old war.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu threatened Al Jazeera this week with closure of the network’s operations in Israel — under the powers of a new law — because of its graphic and uncensored coverage from the besieged enclave.
Al Jazeera called Netanyahu’s attack “slanderous” and managing editor Mohamed Moawad said: “What we are doing is trying to give voice to the voiceless and try and make sure that the suffering of civilians on the ground is heard by the entire world.”
Almost 33,000 Palestinians and more than 75,000 others have been wounded as outrage grows globally following Israel’s strike and killing of aid workers in Gaza this week.
An Australian West Papuan solidarity group has condemned a brutal crackdown by Indonesian police against student protesters demonstrating against torture by the security forces.
A video of the cruel torture of a West Papuan man, Defianus Kogoya, by Indonesian troops in West Papua in early February, went viral last week with students and civil society groups staging several protest rallies and meetings over the past two days.
Indonesian security forces violently crushed these protests with tear gas and water cannon and arrested 62 people at one demonstration.
“Yet again we have peaceful demonstrators being arrested, beaten and tear gassed by the Indonesian security forces,” Joe Collins, spokesperson of the Australian West Papua Association (AWPA), said in a statement.
“Do they really believe West Papuans will be so intimidated that they’ll stop protesting against the injustices they suffer under Indonesian rule?
“The West Papuan people will continue to protest until the international community and the United Nations start to bring Jakarta to account for the actions of its military in West Papua.
“The issue isn’t going away.”
University crackdown
In Jayapura, a rally was held yesterday at Perumnas 3 Waena and the Jayapura University of Science and Technology (JUST) by civil society groups, including by the Papuan Student and People’s Front Against Militarism (FMRPAM).
The local news outlet Jubi reported that the police had cracked down on the rally, assaulting demonstrators and firing tear gas.
The demonstrators were demanding that an independent investigation team be formed into the case of torture of Puncak regency residents by Indonesian military (TNI) soldiers and asked that the perpetrators be tried at the III-19 Jayapura Military Court.
Although the demonstrators tried to negotiate with the police, it ended in frustration. The police then dispersed the crowd by hitting the demonstrators and firing tear gas.
“Disperse, disperse, this is a public street,” shouted the Commander of Battalion A Pioneer of the Papua Mobile Brigade in Kotaraja Jayapura, Police Commissioner Clief Duwit.
The police then dispersed the crowd by beating them and firing tear gas.
Demonstrators ran for their lives towards the JUST campus.
In Sentani, at the red light junction where protesters began giving speeches and criticise the behaviour of the military in West Papua, security forces arrived quickly with two water canon vehicles.
Jubi reported that the field coordinator of the FMRPAM action, Kenias Payage, said that his party was taken away by a combination of TNI/Polri security forces while carrying out a peaceful speech at the Sentani red light.
Sixty two people were reportedly arrested.
Reverend Benny Giay . . . “Those who are arrested or killed are often referred to as ‘armed groups’, ‘separatists’, ‘terrorists’, and with other accusations.” Image: Jubi/CR-8
‘Third party’ probe call
Meanwhile, Reverend Benny Giay, the moderator of the Papuan Church Council, has called for a “third party” to investigate allegations of violence by the security forces in Papua, reports Jubi News.
The third party should examine the facts, including allegations that the victims were members of the pro-independence West Papua National Liberation Army (TPNPB).
“Those who are arrested or killed are often referred to as ‘armed groups’, ‘separatists’, ‘terrorists’, and with other accusations,” Reverend Giay said.
“It’s necessary to have a third party to clarify this. There is a lot of violence in Papua now but the media doesn’t classify it, so we suspect everything,” he said earlier this month.
An online group of thugs calling themselves 7-6-4 has been blackmailing children and teenagers into committing acts of self harm and then forcing them to post the videos online. Mike Papantonio & Farron Cousins discuss more. Transcript: *This transcript was generated by a third-party transcription software company, so please excuse any typos. Mike Papantonio: An online group of thugs calling […]
The New York-based media watchdog Committee to Protect Journalists says the announcement by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of his intention to ban Al Jazeera follows a similar pattern of media interference, including the killing of media workers.
“We’ve seen this kind of language before from Netanyahu and Israeli officials in which they try to paint journalists as ‘terrorists’, as ‘criminals’. This is nothing new,” Jodie Ginsberg told Al Jazeera.
“It’s another example of the tightening of the free press and the stranglehold the Israeli government would like to exercise. It’s an incredibly worrying move by the government.”
Netanyahu wrote on X on Monday that “Al Jazeera harmed Israel’s security, actively participated in the October 7 massacre, and incited against Israeli soldiers.
“The terrorist channel Al Jazeera will no longer broadcast from Israel. I intend to act immediately in accordance with the new law to stop the channel’s activity.’
The Israeli parliament approved a law granting the government authority to ban foreign news networks, including Al Jazeera. PM Netanyahu pledged to “act immediately” to close the network’s local office pic.twitter.com/L2RXOzVi5t
The Qatar-based network rejected what it described as “slanderous accusations” and accused Netanyahu of “incitement”.
“Al Jazeera holds the Israeli Prime Minister responsible for the safety of its staff and network premises around the world, following his incitement and this false accusation in a disgraceful manner,” it said in a statement.
‘Slanderous accusations’
“Al Jazeera reiterates that such slanderous accusations will not deter us from continuing our bold and professional coverage, and reserves the right to pursue every legal step.”
Netanyahu has long sought to shut down broadcasts from Al Jazeera, alleging anti-Israel bias, the network reports on its website.
The law, which passed in a 71-10 vote in the Knesset, gives the prime minister and communications minister the authority to order the closure of foreign networks operating in Israel and confiscate their equipment if it is believed they pose “harm to the state’s security”.
White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre said that an Israeli move to shut down Al Jazeera would be “concerning”.
“The United States supports the critically important work of journalists around the world and that includes those who are reporting in the conflict in Gaza,” Jean-Pierre told reporters.
“So we believe that work is important. The freedom of the press is important. And if those reports are true, it is concerning to us.”
The legislation’s passage comes nearly five months after Israel said it would block Lebanese outlet Al Mayadeen. It refrained from shutting Al Jazeera at the same time.
Move with closure
After the vote on Monday, Israel’s Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi said he intended to move forward with the closure. He said Al Jazeera had been acting as a “propaganda arm of Hamas” by “encouraging armed struggle against Israel”.
“It is impossible to tolerate a media outlet, with press credentials from the Government Press Office and offices in Israel, acting from within against us, certainly during wartime,” he said.
According to news agencies, his office said the order would seek to block the channel’s broadcasts in Israel and prevent it from operating in the country. The order would not apply to the occupied West Bank or Gaza.
Israel has often lashed out at Al Jazeera, which has offices in the occupied West Bank and Gaza.
In May 2022, Israeli forces shot dead senior Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh while she was covering an Israeli military raid in the West Bank town of Jenin.
A UN-commissioned report concluded that Israeli forces used “lethal force without justification” in the killing, violating her “right to life”.
During the war in Gaza, several of the channel’s journalists and their family members have been killed by Israeli bombardments.
On October 25, an air raid killed the family of Gaza bureau chief Wael Dahdouh, including his wife, son, daughter, grandson and at least eight other relatives.
Israel’s war on Gaza has killed at least 32,782 people, mostly women and children, according to Palestinian authorities.
Indonesia’s military regional command in Papua has denied claims made by a pro-independence West Papuan group that abducted New Zealand pilot Phillip Mehrtens more than a year ago that the army had staged a bombing attack, The Jakarta Post reports.
Responding to a claim by the West Papua National Liberation Army (TPNPB) that aerial bombing had taken place in an area in Nduga regency where Mehrtens had been taken hostage on February 7 last year, the Indonesian Military (TNI) said it had deployed only flyby operations there.
Lieutenant Colonel Candra Kurniawan, a spokesperson for the Cendrawasih Regional Military Command in Papua province, denied that any military operation involving aerial bombs had taken place.
“This [patrol] was conducted together with the local community. There has been nothing like an air strike,” Candra told the Bahasa-language Tempo on Saturday.
He also rebuffed TPNPB’s claim that TNI soldiers had engaged in a firefight with members of pro-independence group.
“Many [TNI] members are in the field serving the community, the situation is also conducive,” Colonel Candra said.
On March 30, TPNPB spokesperson Sebby Sambom said in a statement received by Tempo that the military had deployed aerial attacks using “military aircraft, helicopters and drones” and destroyed four of the group’s posts in Nduga.
(@KanchanGupta) 
