radiofree.asia

Category: Pacific journalism

  • Fijian journalists use talanoa and tradition to find their voice

    By Matilda Yates, Queensland University of Technology

    “From a white perspective it is journalism but for us, it is actually storytelling,” says Fiji student journalist Viliame Tawanakoro.

    “In the Pacific, we call it talanoa, it hasn’t changed the gist of journalism, but it has actually helped journalism as a whole because we have a way of disseminating information.”

    Fijians use storytelling or talanoa to communicate “information or a message from one village to another”, explains Tawanakoro, and that storytelling practices guides how he writes journalistic stories.

    “Storytelling is about having a conversation, so you can have an understanding of what you are trying to pursue,” Tawanakoro says.

    David Robie’s research, conducted while he was Auckland University of Technology’s Pacific Media Centre director and published in his book Don’t Spoil My Beautiful Face: Media, Mayhem and Human Rights in the Pacific, highlights the power of talanoa as a tool for effective reporting of the Pacific region with “context and nuance”.

    However, Dr Robie notes the “dilemmas of cross-cultural reporting” in Fiji.

    Fijian journalists face a cultural and potentially even a moral conflict, according to Fiji journalist Seona Smiles in the foreward to The Pacific Journalist: A Practical Guide.

    ‘Deep-rooted beliefs’
    “Deep-rooted beliefs in South Pacific societies about respect for authority could translate into a lack of accountability and transparency on behalf of the powerful,” Smiles notes.

    Fiji student journalist Brittany Nawaqatabu echoes this internal conflict as a young journalist who was “brought up not to ask too many questions” — especially to elder iTaukei.

    “It’s always that battle between culture and having to get your job done and having to manoeuvre the situation and knowing when to put yourself out there and when to know where culture comes in,” Nawaqatabu says.

    Managers and leaders in Fiji news media need deep awareness of cultural norms and protocols.

    Editor of Islands Business Samantha Magick expresses the importance of hiring a diverse staff so that the correct journalist can be sent to cover what may be a culturally sensitive story.

    “I unwittingly assigned someone to cover a traditional ceremony and I didn’t realise that their status within that community actually made it very difficult for them to do that,” she says.

    In exploring journalism in the Pacific, Dick Rooney and his Divine Word University colleagues found that a Western understanding of journalism cannot be transplanted “into a society which has very different societal needs”.

    ‘More complexity’
    Practising journalism in Fiji is like practising journalism in a small town “but with a lot more complexity”, Magick says.

    She finds “the degree of separation isn’t six it’s like two”, meaning that it is a vital consideration of editors to ensure no conflict exists with the journalists and the community they are being sent to.

    It is “incumbent on an editor to understand” the cultural norms and expectations that may be imposed on a journalist on an assignment and to ensure they have a “diverse newsroom of all ethnicities, not just the iTaukei but also the Indo-Fijian,” Magick says.

    Nawaqatabu expands on one Fijian cultural norm in which “women are expected to not speak”.

    As the Fijian news media and society modernise, and more diverse information becomes available, Fijian women in particular have found a voice through journalism.

    “Pursuing journalism gives us that voice to cover stories that mean a lot to us, and the country as a whole, to communicate that voice that we didn’t initially have in the previous generation,” Nawaqatabu says.

    Tawanakoro concurs with this sentiment. “Women have found a voice and are more vocal about what they want,” he says.

    The intersection of tradition, culture and journalism in Fiji will continue, but Tawanakoro says journalists can operate effectively if they understand culture and protocols.

    “As a journalist, you have to acknowledge there is a tradition, there is a culture if you respect the culture, the tradition, the vanua (earth, region, spot, place-to-be or come from) they will respect you.”

    Matilda Yates is a student journalist from the Queensland University of Technology who travelled to Fiji with the support of the Australian Government’s New Colombo Plan Mobility Programme. This article is republished by Asia Pacific Report in collaboration with the Asia Pacific Media Network (APMN), QUT and The University of the South Pacific.

    This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.

  • Decolonisation, the climate crisis, and improving media education in the Pacific

    Global Voices interviews veteran author, journalist and educator David Robie who discussed the state of Pacific media, journalism education, and the role of the press in addressing decolonisation and the climate crisis.

    INTERVIEW: By Mong Palatino in Manila

    Professor David Robie is among this year’s New Zealand Order of Merit awardees and was on the King’s Birthday Honours list earlier this month for his “services to journalism and Asia-Pacific media education.”

    His career in journalism has spanned five decades. He was the founding editor of the Pacific Journalism Review journal in 1994 and in 1996 he established the Pacific Media Watch, a media rights watchdog group.

    He was head of the journalism department at the University of Papua New Guinea from 1993–1997 and at the University of the South Pacific from 1998–2002. While teaching at Auckland University of Technology, he founded the Pacific Media Centre in 2007.

    He has authored 10 books on Asia-Pacific media and politics. He received the 1985 Media Peace Prize for his coverage of the Rainbow Warrior bombing — which he sailed on and wrote the book Eyes of Fire: The Last Voyage of the Rainbow Warrior — and the French and American nuclear testing.

    In 2015, he was given the Asian Media Information and Communication Centre (AMIC) Asian Communication Award in Dubai. Global Voices interviewed him about the challenges faced by journalists in the Pacific and his career. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

    MONG PALATINO (MP): What are the main challenges faced by the media in the region?

    DAVID ROBIE (DR): Corruption, viability, and credibility — the corruption among politicians and influence on journalists, the viability of weak business models and small media enterprises, and weakening credibility. After many years of developing a reasonably independent Pacific media in many countries in the region with courageous and independent journalists in leadership roles, many media groups are becoming susceptible to growing geopolitical rivalry between powerful players in the region, particularly China, which is steadily increasing its influence on the region’s media — especially in Solomon Islands — not just in development aid.

    However, the United States, Australia and France are also stepping up their Pacific media and journalism training influences in the region as part of “Indo-Pacific” strategies that are really all about countering Chinese influence.

    Indonesia is also becoming an influence in the media in the region, for other reasons. Jakarta is in the middle of a massive “hearts and minds” strategy in the Pacific, mainly through the media and diplomacy, in an attempt to blunt the widespread “people’s” sentiment in support of West Papuan aspirations for self-determination and eventual independence.

    MP: What should be prioritised in improving journalism education in the region?

    DR: The university-based journalism schools, such as at the University of the South Pacific in Fiji, are best placed to improve foundation journalism skills and education, and also to encourage life-long learning for journalists. More funding would be more beneficial channelled through the universities for more advanced courses, and not just through short-course industry training. I can say that because I have been through the mill both ways — 50 years as a journalist starting off in the “school of hard knocks” in many countries, including almost 30 years running journalism courses and pioneering several award-winning student journalist publications. However, it is important to retain media independence and not allow funding NGOs to dictate policies.

    MP: How can Pacific journalists best fulfill their role in highlighting Pacific stories, especially the impact of the climate crisis?

    DR: The best strategy is collaboration with international partners that have resources and expertise in climate crisis, such as the Earth Journalism Network to give a global stage for their issues and concerns. When I was still running the Pacific Media Centre, we had a high profile Pacific climate journalism Bearing Witness project where students made many successful multimedia reports and award-winning commentaries. An example is this one on YouTube: Banabans of Rabi: A Story of Survival

    MP: What should the international community focus on when reporting about the Pacific?

    DR: It is important for media to monitor the Indo-Pacific rivalries, but to also keep them in perspective — so-called ”security” is nowhere as important to Pacific countries as it is to its Western neighbours and China. It is important for the international community to keep an eye on the ball about what is important to the Pacific, which is ‘development’ and ‘climate crisis’ and why China has an edge in some countries at the moment.

    Australia and, to a lesser extent, New Zealand have dropped the ball in recent years, and are tying to regain lost ground, but concentrating too much on “security”. Listen to the Pacific voices.

    There should be more international reporting about the “hidden stories” of the Pacific such as the unresolved decolonisation issues — Kanaky New Caledonia, “French” Polynesia (Mā’ohi Nui), both from France; and West Papua from Indonesia. West Papua, in particular, is virtually ignored by Western media in spite of the ongoing serious human rights violations. This is unconscionable.

    Mong Palatino is regional editor of Global Voices for Southeast Asia. An activist and former two-term member of the Philippine House of Representatives, he has been blogging since 2004 at mongster’s nest. @mongster Republished with permission.


    This content originally appeared on Asia Pacific Report and was authored by Pacific Media Watch.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • 50 years of challenge and change: David Robie reflects on a career in Pacific journalism

    By Moera Tuilaepa-Taylor, manager of RNZ Pacific

    This King’s Birthday, the New Zealand Order of Merit recognises Professor David Robie’s 50 years of service to Pacific journalism.

    He says he is astonished and quite delighted, and feels quite humbled by it all.

    “However, I feel that it’s not just me, I owe an enormous amount to my wife, Del, who is a teacher and designer by profession, but she has given journalism and me enormous support over many years and kept me going through difficult times,” he said.

    “There’s a whole range of people who have contributed over the years so it’s sort of like a recognition of all of us. So, yes, it is a delight and I feel quite privileged,” he said.

    Starting his career at The Dominion in 1965, Dr Robie has been “on the ground” at pivotal events in regional history, including the bombing of the Rainbow Warrior in 1985 (he was on board the Greenpeace ship on the voyage to the Marshall Islands and wrote the book Eyes of Fire about it), the 1997 Sandline mercenary scandal in Papua New Guinea, and the George Speight coup in Fiji in 2000.

    In both PNG and Fiji, Dr Robie and his journalism students covered unfolding events when their safety was far from assured.

    David Robie standing with Kanak pro-independence activists and two Australian journalists at Touho, northern New Caledonia, while on assignment during the FLNKS boycott of the 1984 New Caledonian elections. (David is standing with cameras strung around his back).
    David Robie standing with Kanak pro-independence activists and two Australian journalists at Touho, north-eastern New Caledonia, while on assignment during the FLNKS boycott of the 1984 New Caledonian elections. (Robie is standing with cameras strung around his back). Image: Wiken Books/RNZ

    As an educator, Dr Robie was head of journalism at the University of Papua New Guinea (UPNG) 1993-1997 and then at the University of the South Pacific (USP) in Suva from 1998 to 2002.

    Started Pacific Media Centre
    In 2007 he started the Pacific Media Centre, while working as professor of Pacific journalism and communications at Auckland University of Technology (AUT). He has organised scholarships for Pacific media students, including scholarships to China, Indonesia and the Philippines, with the Asia New Zealand Foundation.

    Running education programmes for journalists was not always easy. While he had a solid programme to follow at UPNG, his start at USP was not as easy.

    He described arriving at USP, opening the filing cabinet to discover “…there was nothing there.” It was a “baptism of fire” and he had to rebuild the programme, although he notes that currently UPNG is struggling whereas USP is “bounding ahead.”

    He wrote about his experiences in the 2004 book Mekim Nius: South Pacific media, politics and education.

    Dr Robie recalled the enthusiasm of his Pacific journalism students in the face of significant challenges. Pacific journalists are regularly confronted by threats and pressures from governments, which do not recognise the importance of a free media to a functioning democracy.

    He stated that while resources were being employed to train quality regional journalists, it was really politicians who needed educating about the role of the media, particularly public broadcasters — not just to be a “parrot” for government policy.

    Another challenge Robie noted was the attrition of quality journalists, who only stay in the mainstream media for a year or two before finding better-paying communication roles in NGOs.

    Independence an issue
    He said that while resourcing was an issue the other most significant challenge facing media outlets in the Pacific today was independence — freedom from the influence and control of the power players in the region.

    While he mentioned China, he also suggested that the West also attempted to expand its own influence, and that Pacific media should be able set its own path.

    “The other big challenge facing the Pacific is the climate crisis and consequently that’s the biggest issue for journalists in the region and they deal with this every day, unlike Australia and New Zealand,” he said.

    Dr Robie stated his belief that it was love of the industry that had kept him and other journalists going, that being a journalist was an important role and a service to society, more than just a job.

    He expressed deep gratitude for having been given the opportunity to serve the Pacific in this capacity for so long.

    This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

    The King’s Birthday Honours list:

    To be Officers of the New Zealand Order of Merit:

    • The Very Reverend Taimoanaifakaofo Kaio for services to the Pacific community
    • Anapela Polataivao for services to Pacific performing arts

    To be a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit:

    • Bridget Kauraka for services to the Cook Islands community
    • Frances Oakes for services to mental health and the Pacific community
    • Leitualaalemalietoa Lynn Lolokini Pavihi for services to Pacific education
    • Dr David Robie for services to journalism and Asia-Pacific media education

    The King’s Service Medal (KSM):

    • Mailigi Hetutū for services to the Niuean community
    • Tupuna Kaiaruna for services to the Cook Islands community and performing arts
    • Maituteau Karora for services to the Cook Islands community

     

    This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.

  • TVNZ Pacific correspondent Barbara Dreaver awarded ONZM for investigative journalism

    Pacific Media Watch

    Television New Zealand Pacific correspondent Barbara Dreaver has been made an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to investigative journalism and Pacific communities in a ceremony at Government House, reports 1News.

    She has been the Pacific correspondent for 1News since 2002, breaking many stories uncovering social and economic issues affecting Pacific people living in New Zealand and the Pacific Islands.

    Her investigative journalism has exposed major fraud, drug smuggling, corruption and human trafficking that has led to multiple arrests and government action.

    Dreaver said it was “quite emotional” to receive the honour.

    “I didn’t realise how special it was going to be until it actually happened. I’m so honoured, it’s hard to put it into words which is unlike me.”

    Dreaver received the honour for services to investigative journalism and Pacific communities in a ceremony at Government House today.

    ‘Incredible’ family
    Receiving the honour in front of her family “meant everything”, she said.

    “You don’t get what you get without friends and family. My family are just incredible and my parents right from the beginning have been there for me, and I think that’s a big part of it.”

    When asked what was next, Dreaver told 1News it was “back to work”.

    “Keep doing what we do, telling New Zealand stories, telling Pacific stories is something we have to keep doing, and I will.”

    Republished from 1News.

    This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.

  • USP to host ‘critical issues’ Pacific media conference to shape future

    By Monika Singh

    The University of the South Pacific will host a major Pacific International Media conference in July to address critical issues in the regional news media sector in the aftermath of the covid-19 pandemic and digital disruption.

    The conference, in Suva, Fiji, on July 4-6 is the first of its kind in the region in two decades.

    With the theme “Navigating challenges and shaping futures in Pacific media research and practice”, the event seeks to respond to some entrenched challenges in the small and micro news media systems of the Pacific.

    Associate Professor Shailendra Singh
    Associate Professor Shailendra Singh . . . the Pacific has among the highest attrition rate of journalists in the world. Image: USP

    Organised in partnership with the Pacific Islands News Association (PINA) and the Asia-Pacific Media Network (APMN), the conference is a gathering of academics, media professionals, policymakers and civil society organisation representatives to engage in critical discussions on news media topics.

    Conference chair Associate Professor Shailendra Singh, head of the USP journalism programme, some of these challenges are due to the small population base in many island countries, limited advertising revenue, and marginal profits.

    This makes it difficult for media organisations to reinvest, or pay competitive salaries to retain good staff.

    Dr Singh said their research indicated that the Pacific region had among the highest rate of journalist attrition in the world, with mostly a young, inexperienced and under-qualified journalist cohort in the forefront of reporting complex issues.

    Media rights, free speech important
    He said that issues relating to media rights and freedom of speech were also still important in the region.

    Big power competition between China and the United States playing out in the Pacific was another complexity for the Pacific media sector to negotiate, added Dr Singh.

    PINA president Kora Nou
    PINA president Kora Nou . . . timely as “we consider measures to improve our media landscape post-covid”. Image: NBC

    PINA president and CEO of Papua New Guinea’s national broadcaster NBC Kora Nou said the conference was timely as “we consider measures to improve our media landscape post-covid”.

    Nou said it was important for journalism practitioners, leaders, academia, and key stakeholders to discuss issues that directly impacted on the media industry in the Pacific.

    “Not all Pacific Island countries are the same, nor do we have the same challenges, but by networking and discussing shared challenges in our media industry will help address them meaningfully,” he said.

    Nou added that journalism schools in the Pacific needed more attention in terms of public funding, new and improved curricula that were consistent with technological advances.

    He said that research collaboration between journalism schools and established newsrooms across the region should be encouraged.

    Better learning facilities
    According to Nou, funding and technical assistance for journalism schools like USP in Fiji, and Divine Word and UPNG in Papua New Guinea, would translate into better learning facilities and tools to prepare student journalists for newsrooms in the Pacific.

    Dr Heather Devere
    Dr Heather Devere . . . “the Pacific is having to deal with numerous conflicts where journalists are not only incidental casualties but are even being deliberately targeted.” Image: ResearchGate

    APMN chair Dr Heather Devere believes this is a vital time for journalism, and crucial for academics and media professionals and practitioners to unite to address global and local issues and the specific impacts on the Pacific region.

    “Often neglected on the world stage, the Pacific is itself having to deal with numerous conflicts where journalists are not only incidental casualties but are even being deliberately targeted in vicious attacks,” she said.

    “Humanity, the environment, our living spaces and other species are in imminent danger.

    “APMN supports the initiative presented by the University of the South Pacific for us all to unify, stand firm and uphold the values that characterise the best in our people,” said Dr Devere.

    Critical time for global journalism
    According to Asia Pacific Report editor and founder of the Pacific Media Centre, Professor David Robie, this conference comes at a critical time for the future and viability of journalism globally.

    Professor David Robie
    Professor David Robie . . . “climate crisis reportage . . . is now an urgent existential challenge for Pacific countries.” Image: APMN

    Dr Robie said it was a “tremendous initiative” by USP’s School of Pacific Arts, Communication and Education to partner with the media industry and to help chart new pathways for journalism methodologies and media freedom in the face of growing geopolitical rivalries over Pacific politics and economic resources.

    “We need to examine the role of news media in Pacific democracies today, how to report and analyse conflict independently without being sucked in by major power agendas, and how to improve our climate crisis reportage, given this is now an urgent existential challenge for Pacific countries.

    “In a sense, the Pacific is a laboratory for the entire world, and journalism and media are at the climate crisis frontline.”

    Dr Robie, who was the recipient of the 2015 AMIC Asia Communication Award, highlighted that many human rights issues were at stake, such as the future of West Papua self-determination, that needed media debate and research.

    Organisers are calling for abstracts and conference papers, and panel proposals on the following topics and related themes in the Asia-Pacific:

    • Media, Democracy, Human Rights and Governance:
    • Media and Geopolitics
    • Digital Disruption and Artificial Intelligence (AI)
    • Media Law and Ethics
    • Media, Climate Change and Environmental Journalism
    • Indigenous and Vernacular Media
    • Social Cohesion, Peacebuilding and Conflict-Prevention
    • Covid-19 Pandemic and Health Reporting
    • Media Entrepreneurship and Sustainability

    Abstracts can be submitted to the conference chair, Dr Singh, by April 5, 2024 and panel and full paper submissions by May 5 and July 4 respectively.

    Monika Singh is editor-in-chief of Wansolwara, the online and print publication of the USP Journalism Programme. Republished in partnership with Wansolwara.

    This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.

  • PNG’s Masiu warns USP journalism students to defend free press

    By Monika Singh in Suva

    Freedom of the press is a cornerstone of any vibrant democracy and society’s collective responsibility to safeguard and protect it, says Papua New Guinea’s Minister for Information and Communication Technology Timothy Masiu.

    Masiu was chief guest at the 2023 University of the South Pacific Journalism Student Awards function held in Suva on Friday evening.

    “The USP Journalism Awards not only recognises excellence in reporting, but also the commitment to ethical journalism, unbiased storytelling, and the pursuit of truth,” said Masiu.

    “In an era where information flows abundantly, the responsibility of journalists to uphold these principles has never been more critical.”

    USP cheque presentation
    PINA president Kora Nou (left), PNG’s Minister for Information and Communication Technology Timothy Masiu and USP head of the journalism programme Dr Shailendra Singh during the cheque presentation. Image: Wansolwara News/USP

    While recognising the hard work and dedication put in by the student journalists in their stories, Masiu took the time to acknowledge the challenges that journalists face in the pursuit of truth.

    “Today, we recognise the hard work, dedication, and exemplary storytelling that have emerged from the vibrant and diverse community of journalists who have made their mark within USP.”

    This year 16 students from the USP journalism programme were recognised for their outstanding achievements in journalism.

    Sponsorship media
    The awards this year were sponsored by the Fiji Broadcasting Corporation (FBC), The Fiji Times, Islands Business, FijiLive and Sports World.

    “The journalists we celebrate today have embraced this responsibility with vigour, showcasing the power of words and the impact they can have on shaping our world,” said Masiu.

    Being a former journalist himself, Masiu said the role of journalism as the Fourth Estate could not be understated — “the role of journalism is pivotal in our society, serving as the watchdog, the voice of the voiceless, and the bridge that connects communities”.

    Masiu thanked the journalism school faculty heads and mentors who have guided these aspiring journalists for their dedication in nurturing the next generation of storytellers.

    “Your influence goes beyond the classroom; it shapes the future of journalism in the Pacific and beyond,” he said.

    The event included presentation of a $10,000 cheque by the PNG government to the USP journalism programme as part of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between the USP School of Journalism and the PNG National Broadcasting Corporation (NBC) on June 19, 2023.

    The minister described the collaboration as a testament to recognition that the exchange of knowledge, resources, and expertise was essential in nurturing the next generation of journalists who would shape the narrative of the Pacific region.

    Shared training vision
    Signifying more than just a formal agreement, he said the MoU represented a shared vision for the future of journalism training and mentoring in the Pacific.

    “Through this collaboration, students will have the opportunity to engage with seasoned professionals, gaining insights into the ever-evolving landscape of journalism,” he said.

    “I request that the USP School of Journalism or wider USP will have appropriate programmes to upskill or re-train our deserving NBC staff who are non-journalists.”

    Journalism head Associate Professor Dr Shailendra Singh acknowledged the support from the PNG government for the USP Journalism Program.

    Speaking about the USP Journalism Awards, Dr Singh said these were the longest running and most consistent journalism awards in the Pacific in any category.

    He paid tribute to the founder of the awards in 1999, former USP journalism head Professor David Robie, adding that he wished that journalism awards would be revived in Fiji and the region.

    “Journalists carry out a crucial function — sometimes it’s a thankless task. Our best journalists should be recognised and helped in their work,” said Dr Singh.

    Winners of the 2023 USP Journalism Awards
    Winners of the 2023 USP Journalism Awards with PNG’s Minister for Information and Communication Technology Timothy Masiu (seated centre), flanked by PINA president Kora Nou on his left and journalism programme head Associate Professor Shailendra Singh in Suva on Friday. Image: Wansolwara News

    Winners of the 2023 USP Journalism Awards:

    • Most Promising First-Year student: Riya Bhagwan
    • Best News Reporting: Aralai Vosayaco and Nikhil Kumar
    • Best Radio Student: Josepheen Tarianga
    • Best Television Students: Nishat Kanti and Maretta Putri
    • Best Sports Reporting: Sera Navuga
    • Best Feature Reporting: Prerna Priyanka and Viliame Tawanakoro
    • Best Regional Reporting: Lorima Dalituicama
    • Best Online Reporting: Brittany Nawaqatabu
    • Most Outstanding Journalism Student of the Year: Yukta Chand and Viliame Tawanakoro

    Awards sponsored by the Journalism Students Association:

    • Wansolwara Outstanding Reporting Award: Ema Ganivatu
    • Best Inclusive Award, Best Editorial Team, and Best Professional Award: Nikhil Kumar
    • Team player Award: Ivy Mallam
    • Students Choice Award: Andrew Naidu
    • Outstanding Social Service to USP Community: Rhea Kumar

    Monika Singh is a reporter for Wansolwara, the online and print publication of the USP Journalism Programme. Republished in partnership with Wansolwara.

    This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.

  • Pacific journos urged not to let geopolitics ‘skew their narratives’

    RNZ Pacific

    The editor of the Marshall Islands Journal, Giff Johnson, is urging Pacific journalists not to be swayed by geopolitical narratives and to stay true to reporting stories that affect people in their daily lives.

    Held last Friday in Majuro, Johnson, who is also the co-founder of the Pacific Media Institute, hosted Pacific journalists and media trainers for a workshop and summit on democracy.

    Increased competition between the United States and China in the Pacific has dominated headlines and political discourse over the past few years but Johnson said that while it is important to stay on top of such developments they were far removed from the day-to-day realities of island living.

    This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

  • French Polynesia plans journalism study grants to combat disinformation

    Pacific Media Watch

    President Édouard Fritch of French Polynesia says he wants to boost funds to study journalism in French Polynesia in a bid to help strengthen the media industry quality, reports RNZ Pacific.

    According to the local Ministry of Education, the amount given for study grants will vary from US$536 to US$1341 per month, depending on the level of study.

    Fritch told La Première television about the “growing threat of false information” and the importance of reliable news outlets.

    “Those social media pages escape the realm of news outlets, they shy away from all verification and create confusion and worse, they act as the public’s spokesperson,” he said.

    “That is why I think it is a must that the journalism sector must be supported by the country.”

    Meanwhile, public broadcaster France Télévision — La Première — reports that its audience in French overseas territories grew in 2022 and now reaches 42 percent of the 889,000 audience at least once.

    La Première in Tahiti heads the audience share with 36.5 percent. Figures for other territories are: French Guyana 33.4 percent, Mayotte 31.4 percent, New Caledonia 30.2 percent, Gaudeloupe 27.1 percent, Martinique 18.1 percent, and Réunion 14.5 percent.

    This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ. 

    This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.

  • Star Post-Courier ‘frontline’ reporter Miriam Zarriga now new chief-of-staff

    PNG Post-Courier

    Miriam Zarriga, one of Papua New Guinea’s top experienced journalists, has been appointed as the PNG Post-Courier’s new chief-of-staff.

    With more than 10 years working with the Post-Courier, Zarriga has extensive experience in political, security and general news reporting.

    She replaces Lawrence Fong, a fellow stalwart of the Post-Courier who has held the position of chief-of-staff for the last three years.

    Fong welcomed Zarriga’s appointment and issued his unwavering support on behalf of the newsroom as she moves into her new role. He now shifts to become online content editor of the masthead.

    Prior to her appointment, Zarriga played a key role in Post-Courier’s 2022 National General Election coverage alongside senior political journalist Gorethy Kenneth.

    Her involvement provided extensive election coverage on election-related violence around the country, and in some cases facing the brunt of tribal warfare in daring situations.

    ‘No walk in the park’
    Post-Courier’s     editor Matthew Vari congratulated Zarriga on her appointment, saying the role embodied the challenges of running a modern newsroom.

    “The chief-of-staff position is no walk in the park,” Vari said. “But I have every confidence in Ms Zarriga’s capabilities in ensuring we produce the best content for our readers.

    “Her experience over the many years on the frontline of mainstream media provides Ms Zarriga with a wealth of understanding of what’s needed to be produced for our readers.”

    The chief-of-staff role handles the content of the newspaper, and the day-to-day operations of the newsroom and its reporters.

    Republished with permission.

    This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.

  • New USP research paper explores journalism culture in the region

    By Pita Ligaiula in Suva

    What are the views of Pacific journalists on professional ethical issues and what pressures affect their work? What is the age, experience, qualifications and gender breakdown of the Pacific journalist corps?

    These crucial questions are addressed in a recently published research carried out by the University of the South Pacific (USP).

    Published in the latest Pacific Journalism Review, the research investigates the journalism culture in the Pacific Islands, with the findings offering insights into possible remedial methods and future directions.

    “Watchdogs under Pressure: Pacific Islands Journalists’ Demographic Profiles and Professional Views” is based on a comprehensive survey providing an update on the demographic profiles, professional views, role conceptions, and perceived influence of more than 200 Pacific Islands journalists in nine USP member countries — Cook Islands, Fiji, Marshall Islands, Nauru, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu.

    Associate Professor in Pacific Journalism Shailendra Singh at the School of Pacific Arts, Communication, and Education (SPACE) co-authored the paper with Professor Folker Hanusch from the University of Vienna, who is also an international expert on world journalism cultures.

    Dr Singh said that while global scholarship on journalists’ professional views had expanded tremendously in recent decades, the Pacific remained a blind spot. For example, the Pacific was not featured in the Worlds of Journalism Study on 76 countries, perhaps the most ambitious undertaking in the field.

    He said that USP had financed this critical research in its member countries as journalists provide a valuable public service in the region.

    Impact of journalists’ health
    “Journalists’ health has an impact on the health of journalism, and journalism’s health has an impact on the health of the countries in the region. As a result, it is incumbent upon us to conduct due diligence on our journalists, on whom we rely for information in making vital judgments,” Dr Singh added.

    Prof Folker Hanusch
    Professor Folker Hanusch … an authority on world journalism cultures. Image: USP/PINA

    “Through such research, we find out many things including the challenges they face.”

    He discussed how the data could be used to support media organisations and national governments make better policy decisions.

    “Our survey found an improvement in education and experience levels in the current cohort of journalists, compared to 30 years ago, but we are still lagging at the international level. This data may persuade governments, universities, and international donors to provide more fellowships and scholarships to build on the improvements of the last 30 years,” Dr Singh said.

    The study also found a parity in female and male journalists overall. However, male journalists tended to hold senior editorial positions, implying that most females required help in obtaining more senior positions in media organisations.

    He emphasised the report provided an enhanced understanding of the journalism culture in the Pacific Islands to media organisations, governments, civil society organisations, and aid donors.

    “In the face of imminent concerns like climate change, this work can be used to identify future paths and remedial measures,” Dr Singh said.

    Fieldwork team
    “He acknowledged USP’s journalism teaching assistants Geraldine Panapasa and Eliki Drugunalevu for helping out in the fieldwork, as well as the USP Research Office, for sponsoring the study, along with USP as a whole for supporting the journalism programme. He also praised Professor Pal Ahluwalia, USP vice-chancellor and president (VCP), for his vision, which placed a high value on journalism.

    “As well as our co-funders, the US Embassy in Fiji and the Pacific Media Centre in Auckland, New Zealand. Special thanks to Professor David Robie, the former USP journalism coordinator and founding editor of Pacific Journalism Review for publishing our work,” Dr Singh added.

    Professor Ahluwalia praised the team’s joint work in publishing this study and commended them on the study’s “astounding” findings.

    He stressed that journalists played a significant role in the Pacific and that the concerns identified in the report must be addressed.

    “We are required to look after their well-being and look into the issues they are encountering,” the VCP added.

    Acting deputy vice-chancellor education Professor Jito Vanualailai congratulated Dr Singh and the team for the excellent paper.

    He expressed his desire to see more comprehensive studies in the future, which he believed would help the Pacific region.

    Republished with permission.

    This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.

  • Behind scenes probe of Bougainville struggle for independence tops PJR

    Pacific Journalism Review

    A Frontline investigative journalism article on the politics behind the decade-long Bougainville war leading up to the overwhelming vote for independence is among articles in the latest Pacific Journalism Review.

    The report, by investigative journalist and former academic Professor Wendy Bacon and Nicole Gooch, poses questions about the “silence” in Australia over the controversial Bougainville documentary Ophir that has won several international film awards in other countries.

    Published this week, the journal also features a ground-breaking research special report by academics Shailendra Singh and Folker Hanusch on the current state of journalism across the Pacific – the first such region-wide study in almost three decades.

    Pacific Journalism Review 27 (1&2) 2021
    The cover of the latest Pacific Journalism Review. Image: PJR

    Griffith University’s journalism coordinator Kasun Ubayasiri has produced a stunning photo essay, “Manus to Meanjin”, critiquing Australian “imperialist” policies and the plight of refugees in the Pacific.

    The main theme of the double edition focuses on a series of articles and commentaries about the major “Pacific crises” — covid-19, climate emergency (including New Zealand aid) and West Papua.

    Unthemed topics include journalism and democracy, the journalists’ global digital toolbox, cellphones and Pacific communication, a PNG local community mediascape, and hate speech in Indonesia.

    This is the first edition of PJR published since it became independent of AUT University last year after previously being published at the University of Papua New Guinea – where it was launched in 1994 – and the University of the South Pacific.

    Lockdowns challenge
    “Publishing our current double edition in the face of continued covid-driven lockdowns and restrictions around the world has not been easy, but we made it,” says editor Dr Philip Cass.

    “From films to photoessays, from digital democracy to dingoes and disease, the multi-disciplinary, multi-national diversity of our coverage remains a strength in an age when too many journals look the same and have the same type of content.”

    “We promise this journal will have a strong focus on Asian media, communication and journalism, as well as our normal focus on the Pacific.”

    Founding editor Dr David Robie is quoted in the editorial as saying the journal is at a “critical crossroads for the future” and he contrasts PJR with the “oppressively bland” nature of many journalism publications.

    “I believe we have a distinctively different sort of journalism and communication research journal – eclectic and refreshing,” he said.

    The next edition of PJR will be linked to the “Change, Adaptation and Culture: Media and Communication in Pandemic Times” online conference of the Asian Congress for Media and Communication (ACMC) being hosted at AUT on November 25-27.

    This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.

  • Pacific ‘voice of the voiceless’ media in renewed post-covid struggle

    By David Robie

    Pacific journalism educators are worried that the global covid pandemic has threatened media development programmes in a vast region of island microstates at a time when expertise in health and climate change reporting has never been greater.

    The news media industry in some countries has recognised this need and is trying to boost resources and human skills.

    New Zealand, for example, earlier this year unveiled a $50 million plan to help the local media after it suffered a huge hit after the start of the pandemic last year with a massive layoff of journalists and a closure of publications, especially magazines.

    One of the innovative features of a new initiative announced by Broadcasting and Media Minister Kris Faafoi, himself a former journalist with Pacific heritage from Tokelau, is a Public Interest Journalism Fund with one of its targets being to assist indigenous Māori, Pasifika and “diverse voices” journalism.

    The fund will finance an ambitious Te Rito programme to train 10 Māori and five Pacific Islander journalists a year in digital, broadcast and print media in an industry partnership established under the umbrella of the Treaty of Waitangi partnership.

    Other programmes in the Pacific also assist journalism development, such as the United States and Philippines-based Internews/Earth Journalism Network, which trains journalists in climate change skills and strategies and publishes their work.

    Ironically, while these developments have been unfolding, Pacific journalism education has gone into retreat since the covid crisis began.

    ‘A cruel irony’
    While New Zealand has the largest metropolitan Pacific Islands population in Oceania with more than 381,642 comprising 8.1 percent of the total 5 million (according to the 2018 census)—matched only by Fiji (890,000) and Papua New Guinea (8.8 million)—none of its six journalism schools cater specifically for Pacific Islands media students.

    A decade ago, the country’s largest media school, Communication Studies at Auckland University of Technology, boasted both a Graduate Diploma in Pacific Journalism catering especially for the country’s independent Pasifika news media industry and a Pacific Media Centre (PMC) research and publication unit.

    But the diploma programme was phased out four years ago and the PMC, which ran an award-winning Bearing Witness climate change journalism and documentary making programme with partners in the Pacific under a “voice of the voiceless” banner, was left in limbo by the school management this year after the founding director retired at the end of last year.

    “It’s a cruel irony that at a time when Pacific journalism is at the crossroads—if not on its knees—and needs to be better understood to be helped and strengthened to face new challenges, specialised Pacific journalism and research programmes in one of the centres of excellence in the region face an uncertain future,” said Fiji journalism educator and Associate Professor Shailendra Singh. “It just feels sad and surreal.”

    Dr Singh’s own institution, the Suva-based 12-nation regional University of the South Pacific has just embarked on an innovative new programme, a BA degree in communication and media with options in business and marketing.

    Media analyst Dr Gavin Ellis, a former editor-in-chief of The New Zealand Herald, argued in his weekly Knightly Views column that the PMC ought to be “re-established as a stand-alone trust”.

    “It should continue its original remit … It may be time, however, to find a new university or industry partner,” he added.

    Urged renewed commitment
    The Australia Asia Pacific Media Initiative (AAPMI) lobby and training group wrote to the AUT university’s vice-chancellor and unsuccessfully urged the institution to renew a commitment “at a time when Pacific journalism is under existential threat and Pacific programmes suffer from under funding”.

    This retreat on campuses has contrasted with renewed energy by the New Zealand media industry to boost Māori and Pacific journalism to provide better cultural “balance” in the legacy media.

    In July, the new $55 million Public Interest Journalism Fund over three years unveiled its first cycle of grants for stories examining a wide range of community issues—such as an in-depth revisiting of a documentary, Inside Child Poverty, made a decade earlier with considerable impact.

    The fund also provided $2.4 million for the setting up of Te Rito, the first comprehensive kaihautū, or journalism cadetship scheme for Māori, Pacific and “other communities traditionally under-represented in media”.

    A significant feature of this scheme is the unprecedented collaboration between Māori Television, a state-funded public broadcaster; Pacific Media Network (PMN); Newshub-Discovery Channel; and New Zealand Media and Entertainment (NZME), the country’s largest print and oneline publisher.

    PMN chief executive Don Mann welcomed the collaboration, saying it aligned with his organisation’s mandate to help train a “pipeline of excellent Pacific broadcasters and multimedia journalists”.

    He added: “Te Rito provides sustainability in provision of best-practice Pasifika multilingual journalism but, more importantly, it allows the network to play our part in rectifying the significant under-representation and imbalance within the journalism sector on behalf of the Pasifika community.”

    Critical shortage
    Māori Television head of news and current affairs Wena Harawira echoed this view, saying the partnership would address the critical shortage of te reo Māori speaking journalists.

    “It’s incredibly important that New Zealand’s journalism landscape is rich with Māori stories created by Māori, in te reo Māori, for everyone,” she said.

    Te reo Māori is one of New Zealand’s three official languages – the others being English and sign language. But while Māori make up 16.5 percent of the population, only 4 percent of the country speaks te reo fluently, although its popularity is growing fast.

    News media carried advertisements this month to recruit a Te Rito project manager who would be given “a unique opportunity to shape the future of journalism” in New Zealand.

    Educators hope that universities take the cue and renew their earlier support for diversity journalism.

    First published by In-Depth News (IDN), the flagship agency of the nonprofit International Press Syndicate. This is published as a collaboration between IDN and Asia Pacific Report. The writer, Dr David Robie, is editor of Asia Pacific Report, founding editor of Pacific Journalism Review and former director of the Pacific Media Centre.

    This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.

  • Pacific ‘voice of the voiceless’ media in renewed post-covid struggle

    By David Robie

    Pacific journalism educators are worried that the global covid pandemic has threatened media development programmes in a vast region of island microstates at a time when expertise in health and climate change reporting has never been greater.

    The news media industry in some countries has recognised this need and is trying to boost resources and human skills.

    New Zealand, for example, earlier this year unveiled a $50 million plan to help the local media after it suffered a huge hit after the start of the pandemic last year with a massive layoff of journalists and a closure of publications, especially magazines.

    One of the innovative features of a new initiative announced by Broadcasting and Media Minister Kris Faafoi, himself a former journalist with Pacific heritage from Tokelau, is a Public Interest Journalism Fund with one of its targets being to assist indigenous Māori, Pasifika and “diverse voices” journalism.

    The fund will finance an ambitious Te Rito programme to train 10 Māori and five Pacific Islander journalists a year in digital, broadcast and print media in an industry partnership established under the umbrella of the Treaty of Waitangi partnership.

    Other programmes in the Pacific also assist journalism development, such as the United States and Philippines-based Internews/Earth Journalism Network, which trains journalists in climate change skills and strategies and publishes their work.

    Ironically, while these developments have been unfolding, Pacific journalism education has gone into retreat since the covid crisis began.

    ‘A cruel irony’
    While New Zealand has the largest metropolitan Pacific Islands population in Oceania with more than 381,642 comprising 8.1 percent of the total 5 million (according to the 2018 census)—matched only by Fiji (890,000) and Papua New Guinea (8.8 million)—none of its six journalism schools cater specifically for Pacific Islands media students.

    A decade ago, the country’s largest media school, Communication Studies at Auckland University of Technology, boasted both a Graduate Diploma in Pacific Journalism catering especially for the country’s independent Pasifika news media industry and a Pacific Media Centre (PMC) research and publication unit.

    But the diploma programme was phased out four years ago and the PMC, which ran an award-winning Bearing Witness climate change journalism and documentary making programme with partners in the Pacific under a “voice of the voiceless” banner, was left in limbo by the school management this year after the founding director retired at the end of last year.

    “It’s a cruel irony that at a time when Pacific journalism is at the crossroads—if not on its knees—and needs to be better understood to be helped and strengthened to face new challenges, specialised Pacific journalism and research programmes in one of the centres of excellence in the region face an uncertain future,” said Fiji journalism educator and Associate Professor Shailendra Singh. “It just feels sad and surreal.”

    Dr Singh’s own institution, the Suva-based 12-nation regional University of the South Pacific has just embarked on an innovative new programme, a BA degree in communication and media with options in business and marketing.

    Media analyst Dr Gavin Ellis, a former editor-in-chief of The New Zealand Herald, argued in his weekly Knightly Views column that the PMC ought to be “re-established as a stand-alone trust”.

    “It should continue its original remit … It may be time, however, to find a new university or industry partner,” he added.

    Urged renewed commitment
    The Australia Asia Pacific Media Initiative (AAPMI) lobby and training group wrote to the AUT university’s vice-chancellor and unsuccessfully urged the institution to renew a commitment “at a time when Pacific journalism is under existential threat and Pacific programmes suffer from under funding”.

    This retreat on campuses has contrasted with renewed energy by the New Zealand media industry to boost Māori and Pacific journalism to provide better cultural “balance” in the legacy media.

    In July, the new $55 million Public Interest Journalism Fund over three years unveiled its first cycle of grants for stories examining a wide range of community issues—such as an in-depth revisiting of a documentary, Inside Child Poverty, made a decade earlier with considerable impact.

    The fund also provided $2.4 million for the setting up of Te Rito, the first comprehensive kaihautū, or journalism cadetship scheme for Māori, Pacific and “other communities traditionally under-represented in media”.

    A significant feature of this scheme is the unprecedented collaboration between Māori Television, a state-funded public broadcaster; Pacific Media Network (PMN); Newshub-Discovery Channel; and New Zealand Media and Entertainment (NZME), the country’s largest print and oneline publisher.

    PMN chief executive Don Mann welcomed the collaboration, saying it aligned with his organisation’s mandate to help train a “pipeline of excellent Pacific broadcasters and multimedia journalists”.

    He added: “Te Rito provides sustainability in provision of best-practice Pasifika multilingual journalism but, more importantly, it allows the network to play our part in rectifying the significant under-representation and imbalance within the journalism sector on behalf of the Pasifika community.”

    Critical shortage
    Māori Television head of news and current affairs Wena Harawira echoed this view, saying the partnership would address the critical shortage of te reo Māori speaking journalists.

    “It’s incredibly important that New Zealand’s journalism landscape is rich with Māori stories created by Māori, in te reo Māori, for everyone,” she said.

    Te reo Māori is one of New Zealand’s three official languages – the others being English and sign language. But while Māori make up 16.5 percent of the population, only 4 percent of the country speaks te reo fluently, although its popularity is growing fast.

    News media carried advertisements this month to recruit a Te Rito project manager who would be given “a unique opportunity to shape the future of journalism” in New Zealand.

    Educators hope that universities take the cue and renew their earlier support for diversity journalism.

    First published by In-Depth News (IDN), the flagship agency of the nonprofit International Press Syndicate. This is published as a collaboration between IDN and Asia Pacific Report. The writer, Dr David Robie, is editor of Asia Pacific Report, founding editor of Pacific Journalism Review and former director of the Pacific Media Centre.

    This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.

  • Major NZ media networks collaborate to develop talented Pacific journalists

    Pacific Media Network News

    The number and quality of Pacific journalists are expected to rise in a never before seen collaboration between four major New Zealand media organisations.

    NZ on Air has approved $2.4 million to fund 25 fully-paid journalism cadetships, with a minimum of five Pacific trainees and 10 Māori.

    The Te Rito Journalism Project is fronted by Pacific Media Network (PMN), Māori Television, NZME and Newshub.

    TE RITO
    TE RITO

    PMN chief executive Don Mann said this collaboration aligned with his organisation’s mandate to help train a pipeline of excellent Pacific broadcasters and multimedia journalists.

    “Te Rito provides sustainability to PMN in provision of best-practice Pasifika multilingual journalism but, more importantly, it allows the network to play our part in rectifying the significant under-representation and imbalance within the journalism sector on behalf of the Pasifika community.”​

    Māori Television head of news and current affairs Wena Harawira shares the same sentiment, hoping the partnership will address the critical shortage of reo Māori speaking journalists.

    “It’s incredibly important that New Zealand’s journalism landscape is rich with Māori stories created by Māori, in te reo Māori, for everyone,” she said.

    ‘Ability to tell stories’
    “The ability to tell stories and share perspectives is fundamentally shaped by language.”​

    Emphasising how critical it is for journalists to bring their culture into newsrooms is the view of NZME head of cultural partnerships Lois Turei, who says: “Weaving aspects of their culture into their work will result in stories that are rich and multi-layered – that’s a powerful gift to newsrooms.”

    The cadets will work across all four newsrooms for one year developing their skills in digital, audio, radio, video, television and print journalism. However, ​10 cadets will be based with Māori Television, and 15 with NZME.​

    Newshub director of news Sarah Bristow said: “This will break down some of the barriers that are preventing young, diverse voices from being part of our media landscape.”

    Te Rito will soon begin advertising for a kaihautū (programme manager) to begin the development phase of the project.

    Four other trainers and an administrator will also be recruited and applications for cadets will open later this year with the training programme to run for one year from February 2022.​

    NZ On Air head of journalism Raewyn Rasch (Ngāi Tahu/Kai Tahu) said: “Training is a vital part of the media landscape that has suffered through increasing financial pressures and by injecting resources back into this area, the Public Interest Journalism Fund will have a positive and long-lasting impact.”

    This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.

  • Ena Manuireva: AUT can – and should – do better

    COMMENTARY: A postgraduate researcher view by Ena Manuireva

    Year 2020 was the annus horribilis worldwide due to the deadly coronavirus pandemic. Recently the Fiji government expelled University of the South Pacific vice-chancellor Professor Pal Ahluwalia after his claims in 2020 of financial mismanagement of the university by the former administration, close to the government.

    It is still beyond belief that the government should interfere in the matters of an independent academic institution owned by 12 Pacific nations – not just the host country Fiji – and take such draconian and unjustified action against the vice-chancellor.

    In New Zealand, across the road at the University of Auckland the management had its fair share of criticism for the purchase of a new house for vice-chancellor Dawn Freshwater at an exorbitant amount, prompting the auditor-general to write that Auckland University broke own rule in purchase of $5 million house.

    Here, at Auckland University of Technology (AUT), the investigation into allegations of bullying and sexual harassment started in July 2020 and its subsequent Davenport independent review report legitimately highlighted many shortcomings that the first university of the new millennium in 2000 has failed to address in a timely fashion.

    It is clear that the main lesson to be learned was “to be kind” to others, as often heard throughout the covid-19 pandemic by “aunty” Prime Minister Jacinda Arden. The reply from AUT’s vice-chancellor Derek McCormack was even more powerful and along the lines of promising to do better.

    We all hope that the issues will be dealt with as swiftly and as diplomatically as possible in order to reinstate the reputation of our youngest university in the Pacific.

    Those three events are serious setbacks to the academic realm in our part of the world and whether their effects have been felt locally or globally, they have generated seriously unwanted publicity.

    AUT and an on-going saga: the future of the PMC
    Following the Davenport recommendations, a seminar was organised by the Pacific Media Centre about future directions – and to say their goodbyes to Professor David Robie, director of the PMC for 13 years, who retired in December.

    PMC students and staff
    Students and staff at the Pacific Media Centre office – before closure – in AUT’s Sir Paul Reeves building. Image: Asia Pacific Report

    A retired University of the South Pacific development studies emeritus professor, Dr Crosbie Walsh, penned a tribute to David, saying he “has lived in the Pacific, been involved in Pacific human rights and media freedom issues, or taught journalism to Pacific Islanders and others for 40 years. He will be a hard man to replace”.

    But that tribute didn’t dispel apprehensions about lack of a succession plan in the School of Communication Studies and the continued questions over the future of PMC more than three months later.

    A lot has been commented about the issue of the suddenly empty PMC office (Outcry over signs of upheaval at Pacific Media Centre). Comments and questions still pour in on social media from worried students, sympathisers, television presenters, and former colleagues of the PMC about the whereabouts of this vital repository of knowledge, their new “office” and the future of the PMC team.

    Here are sample quotes from two former students:

    John Pulu (Tagata Pasifika anchor, TV1): “I just want to say mālō ‘aupito/thank you to Professor David, Del and team for the last 13 years of service at the Pacific Media Centre, AUT University. I hope the great legacy of PMC will be continued from here to help the next lot of broadcasters, journalists and academics who will cover or have interest in the Pacific region.”

    Matt Scott (a reporter at Newsroom, TV3): “David Robie and the PMC provided me some of my first opportunities to step into the role of a journalist. Without the PMC, I feel that there will be a void not just at AUT but in journalism as a whole in this part of the world. The centre provides a space and platform for journalists covering an under-reported region that is in dire need of people fighting for truth, fairness and transparency. Removing the centre is a big step backwards.”

    We have also seen support and anger at the lack of transparency regarding the future of the centre on Facebook:

    Social media reactions to the PMC office closure
    Social media reactions from Pacific Media Centre stakeholders and colleagues to the centre’s office closure in early February. Image: FB

    Is AUT as a platform for Pacific news broadcasts about to lose its audience?
    An in-depth article from former New Zealand Herald editor-in-chief Gavin Ellis has magnified many of the issues regarding the relationship that the PMC has with the Faculty of Design and Creative Technologies (DCT), or its School of Communication Studies (SCS).

    One of the most salient issues has been the autonomous status of the PMC. Quoting the Australia Asia Pacific Media Initiative (AAPMI) which described the PMC as “the jewel in AUT’s crown”, it should enjoy its own independence, a condition that AUT might not want to ignore if they want to avoid the loss of the centre.

    Or maybe the future of PMC should actually be to break away to survive, as Ellis advocates.

    Similarly, a newly published article from Spinoff by Teuila Fuatai recounts the genesis of the issue from March 2020 to post Professor Robie’s retirement in December, highlighting the lack of transparency in this matter and the long awaited appointment of a new director.

    For my part and based on the students’ outpouring of support, the worrying issues are twofold: First, is the “partnership” issue raised in an answer by Dr Rosser Johnson, head of the SCS, who presented a 100 percent commitment and the exponential work that would now be able to be accomplished in the new era of the partnership PMC-SCS.

    What is missing is the idea of continuity that is being engulfed in what Professor Robie quotes as “regime change” with a determined effort to sideline those who had contributed so much to the development of the centre over the past 13 years.

    In his view, this means “no continuity, no institutional memory or history and zero opportunities for the students”.

    Second, from the students’ perspective: We have witnessed across New Zealand universities carrying out cost-cutting exercises triggered by the pandemic due to the lack of revenue usually brought in by the international students. However, it is not without legitimate suspicion that PMC might be one of those targets of this financial fix.

    It is also the question posed by students who are at the centre of this issue: what about developing our Pacific people in media and journalism? Under representation of Pacific people (and Māori for that matter) who are experts in their communities in media spaces is well documented.

    What the PMC has created is a pool of students and contributors who have an invaluable relationship to and inside knowledge of the geopolitical issues surrounding the Pacific basin and the Asian region.

    This pool of “grassroots” contributors will certainly add a plus value to the overarching entity, be it a university or an independent institution, in terms of reporting facts.

    Ena Manuireva, born in Mangareva (Gambier islands) in Ma’ohi Nui (French Polynesia), is a language revitalisation researcher at Auckland University of Technology and is currently completing his doctorate on the Mangarevan language. He is also a campaigner for nuclear reparations justice from France over the 193 tests staged in Polynesia over three decades.

    Students and staff at the PMC Papua Day seminar
    Students and staff at the 1 December 2020 West Papua day seminar organised by the Pacific Media Centre. Ena Manuireva is in the back row third from the right. Image: Asia Pacific Report

    This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.

  • AUT defends its controversial role over PMC, but ‘office’ still a mystery

    The Pacific Newsroom

    Auckland University of Technology has responded to queries from a media aid watchdog about the future of the regional Pacific Media Centre based at the institution, saying that it remained committed to the centre and would not downplay its importance.

    The head of the School of Communication Studies, Dr Rosser Johnson, said in an email to the Australia Asia Pacific Media Centre (AAPMI) on February 26 that “everything that the school is planning will, we believe, enhance its status and increase its visibility”.

    He was replying to a letter addressed to university vice-chancellor Derek McCormack on February 16 and made public by The Pacific Newsroom earlier this month which appealed for action to save PMC, saying recent closure of the centre’s physical office came “at a time when Pacific journalism is under existential threat and Pacific journalism programmes suffer from underfunding”.

    The centre, founded in 2007 and described by AAPMI as a “jewel in the AUT crown”, had worked in its Communication Studies office in the Sir Paul Reeves Building at the AUT’s city campus since it opened eight years ago.

    The office was abruptly emptied in early February of more than a decade of awards, books, files, publications, picture frames and treasures, including a traditional carved Papua New Guinean storyboard marking the opening of the centre by then Pacific Affairs Minister Luamanuvao Winnie Laban in October 2007.

    Dr Johnson replied that the school’s “senior leadership team” had decided that the PMC would be relocated from the tenth floor (WG10) to the twelfth floor (WG12) of the main Sir Paul Reeve’s building to “bring it alongside the Journalism, Radio + Audio, Public Relations, and Critical Media Studies departments, all of which have had staff actively involved in the PMC in recent years”.

    “This move will mean a one hundred percent increase in dedicated PMC office space … and guarantees at least as much space for postgraduate students enrolled in research degrees related to Pacific media topics as there was on WG10,” he wrote.

    Puzzled over ‘new office’
    However, PMC staff challenge this claim and are puzzled where this “new office” is supposed to be located. One staff member who did not wish to be named said: “Four desks have been put together …essentially. There is no notice or signpost to say where PMC is or if that corner is PMC”.

    In the letter, Dr Johnson complimented former director Professor David Robie, who retired in December after leading the centre for 13 years, for his “many years of achievements and unrelenting advocacy of the Pacific within and without AUT”.

    He applauded the “excellent work conducted in recent years by a number of students and staff”, including PMC’s Bearing Witness environmental project leader senior lecturer Jim Marbrook and cross-cultural affairs and international collaborations senior lecturer Khairiah Rahman.

    Professor Robie himself is critical of AUT’s handling of the transition at PMC and the “trashing” of the old office and its taonga and memorabilia.

    He wrote a letter to Dr Rosser in response to the AUT reply to AAPMI on March 5, saying that the school’s approach to the PMC had been “characterised in my experience, by a lack of honesty and transparency”.

    He said the success of the PMC had been founded on its “autonomy and the contribution by its cross-disciplinary stakeholders as established initially under the faculty’s Creative Industries Research Institute (CIRI) and continued in the school rather than being located in a silo discipline”.

    PMC Annual Review 2020
    The PMC Annual Review 2020.

    As outlined in the AUT University Mission Theme 3 directions, he said, the institution had “prioritised social, economic and environmental development” and was especially active in … responding to Pacific communities, and ethnic diversity, and playing our part in its development as a world centre”.

    ‘Excelled with objectives’
    “The PMC has consistently met and excelled with these objectives as demonstrated in the annual reports and research publication metrics,” Dr Robie said.

    He also appealed to the university to ensure that the people “who have worked so hard to make PMC successful” would be given a “rightful place in its future directions – they have earned it.”

    Some of the PMC’s flagship publications, notably the 26-year-old research journal Pacific Journalism Review and Asia Pacific Report current affairs website, have opted to publish independently of the PMC umbrella.

    RNZ Pacific reported on Monday that Dr Johnson had pledged that the “expressions of interest” in the director’s role would be presented to staff this week – three months after Dr Robie’s retirement.

    It will be an internal appointment, not a “global” one, as the AAPMI had urged in its letter to AUT last month.

    Republished from The Pacific Newsroom.

    Print Friendly, PDF & Email

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • AUT defends its controversial role over PMC, but ‘office’ still a mystery

    The Pacific Newsroom

    Auckland University of Technology has responded to queries from a media aid watchdog about the future of the regional Pacific Media Centre based at the institution, saying that it remained committed to the centre and would not downplay its importance.

    The head of the School of Communication Studies, Dr Rosser Johnson, said in an email to the Australia Asia Pacific Media Centre (AAPMI) on February 26 that “everything that the school is planning will, we believe, enhance its status and increase its visibility”.

    He was replying to a letter addressed to university vice-chancellor Derek McCormack on February 16 and made public by The Pacific Newsroom earlier this month which appealed for action to save PMC, saying recent closure of the centre’s physical office came “at a time when Pacific journalism is under existential threat and Pacific journalism programmes suffer from underfunding”.

    The centre, founded in 2007 and described by AAPMI as a “jewel in the AUT crown”, had worked in its Communication Studies office in the Sir Paul Reeves Building at the AUT’s city campus since it opened eight years ago.

    The office was abruptly emptied in early February of more than a decade of awards, books, files, publications, picture frames and treasures, including a traditional carved Papua New Guinean storyboard marking the opening of the centre by then Pacific Affairs Minister Luamanuvao Winnie Laban in October 2007.

    Dr Johnson replied that the school’s “senior leadership team” had decided that the PMC would be relocated from the tenth floor (WG10) to the twelfth floor (WG12) of the main Sir Paul Reeve’s building to “bring it alongside the Journalism, Radio + Audio, Public Relations, and Critical Media Studies departments, all of which have had staff actively involved in the PMC in recent years”.

    “This move will mean a one hundred percent increase in dedicated PMC office space … and guarantees at least as much space for postgraduate students enrolled in research degrees related to Pacific media topics as there was on WG10,” he wrote.

    Puzzled over ‘new office’
    However, PMC staff challenge this claim and are puzzled where this “new office” is supposed to be located. One staff member who did not wish to be named said: “Four desks have been put together …essentially. There is no notice or signpost to say where PMC is or if that corner is PMC”.

    In the letter, Dr Johnson complimented former director Professor David Robie, who retired in December after leading the centre for 13 years, for his “many years of achievements and unrelenting advocacy of the Pacific within and without AUT”.

    He applauded the “excellent work conducted in recent years by a number of students and staff”, including PMC’s Bearing Witness environmental project leader senior lecturer Jim Marbrook and cross-cultural affairs and international collaborations senior lecturer Khairiah Rahman.

    Professor Robie himself is critical of AUT’s handling of the transition at PMC and the “trashing” of the old office and its taonga and memorabilia.

    He wrote a letter to Dr Rosser in response to the AUT reply to AAPMI on March 5, saying that the school’s approach to the PMC had been “characterised in my experience, by a lack of honesty and transparency”.

    He said the success of the PMC had been founded on its “autonomy and the contribution by its cross-disciplinary stakeholders as established initially under the faculty’s Creative Industries Research Institute (CIRI) and continued in the school rather than being located in a silo discipline”.

    PMC Annual Review 2020
    The PMC Annual Review 2020.

    As outlined in the AUT University Mission Theme 3 directions, he said, the institution had “prioritised social, economic and environmental development” and was especially active in … responding to Pacific communities, and ethnic diversity, and playing our part in its development as a world centre”.

    ‘Excelled with objectives’
    “The PMC has consistently met and excelled with these objectives as demonstrated in the annual reports and research publication metrics,” Dr Robie said.

    He also appealed to the university to ensure that the people “who have worked so hard to make PMC successful” would be given a “rightful place in its future directions – they have earned it.”

    Some of the PMC’s flagship publications, notably the 26-year-old research journal Pacific Journalism Review and Asia Pacific Report current affairs website, have opted to publish independently of the PMC umbrella.

    RNZ Pacific reported on Monday that Dr Johnson had pledged that the “expressions of interest” in the director’s role would be presented to staff this week – three months after Dr Robie’s retirement.

    It will be an internal appointment, not a “global” one, as the AAPMI had urged in its letter to AUT last month.

    Republished from The Pacific Newsroom.

    This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.

  • Who is killing off top Pacific journalism – and why?

    By Michael Field in Auckland

    Without much in the way of a credible explanation about why, Aotearoa New Zealand education authorities are killing off one of the Pacific’s leading journalism programmes.

    The fate of the Auckland University of Technology’s Pacific Media Centre (PMC) coincides with the Fiji government assault of the University of the South Pacific, raising serious questions about the future of academic freedom and excellence.

    The Australia Asia Pacific Media Initiative (AAPMI) has appealed for action to save PMC, saying closure comes “at a time when Pacific journalism is under existential threat and Pacific journalism programmes suffer from underfunding”.

    The centre, founded in 2007 and described by AAPMI as a “jewel in the AUT crown”, had worked in its current Communication Studies office in the Sir Paul Reeves Building at the AUT’s city campus since it opened eight years ago.

    It was abruptly emptied last month of more than a decade of awards, books, files, publications, picture frames and treasures, including a traditional carved Papua New Guinean storyboard marking the opening of the centre by then Pacific Affairs Minister Luamanuvau Winnie Laban in October 2007.

    AUT claims the centre is going to new accommodation, but they had not said where or even shown it to those asking.

    Professor David Robie at PMC
    Professor David Robie at the “future of PMC” seminar at AUT in December 2020. Image: APR

    Founding director Professor David Robie, whose retirement at the end of last year seemed to signal AUT’s action, was critical of the “unconscionable” closure/relocation.

    Lack of explanation
    What has been striking over the closure has been the lack of a coherent explanation from AUT.

    Empty PMC 1
    The Pacific Media Centre emptied out in three photos. Images: Facebook

    Empty PMC 2

    Empty PMC 3

    When Dr Robie came to retire on December 18, he found there was no one to hand over to.

    Two of the more likely colleagues were sidelined as word came down that the School of Communication Studies management at AUT were planning on taking the “Asia-Pacific” out of PMC and creating a new focus on Māori issues instead.

    This is despite AUT already having a Māori studies department, Te Ara Poutama, which has a Māori Media Development programme.

    AAPMI last month wrote to AUT’s vice-chancellor, Derek McCormack, urging they “continue to play the globally pre-eminent role in supporting media, communication and journalism education, research and collaboration.

    Calling it the jewel in AUT’s crown, the letter said “the PMC is the world’s leading Pacific journalism programme and is looked to by media professionals and academics from around the world, including in the Pacific and here in Australia.

    “The centre’s research publications and staff and postgraduate student journalism websites (such as PMC Online www.pmc.aut.ac.nz) are valued highly by Australian media professionals and they are frequent contributors.”

    The full letter is published below.

    ‘Outsized’ share of awards
    AAPMI said AUT had a reputation for taking an “outsized” share of the Student Journalism Awards – the Ozzies.”

    “The valuable supportive role the PMC and its staff have played for the leading Pacific journalism programmes – especially for the University of the South Pacific programme led by formidable thought-leader Dr Shailendra Singh – is also acknowledged.”

    AAPMI said PMC’s role in providing skills, research, support and collaboration on practical projects and a pipeline of qualified professionals was now more vital to the future of media in the region than ever.

    “It is not going too far to say that the PMC has a key role to play in the survival of public interest journalism and media in the region. It will only be able to do this if the PMC is supported and expanded.”

    Last month, Dr Robie posted an item on the office closure on Facebook. It drew 150 responses and more than 80 negative comments, most of them from Pacific journalists, media personalities and current or former project students, some describing it as “academic vandalism”.

    Relocated to ‘new space’
    Particularly concerning was the taking of PMC materials which drew a response from AUT that they had been relocated to a “new space”.

    Television New Zealand Pacific affairs correspondent Barbara Dreaver responded by asking: “Do you want to show us all a photo of this new space you speak of?”

    Tongan’s journalist Kalafi Moala said:“That’s unbelievable … We are still trying to get over the Gestapo-style deportation of the USP vice-chancellor from Fiji, and now this? How shameful!”

    Leading Vanuatu-based photojournalist Ben Bohane said: “Outrageous example of a disposable mentality, but your legacy will remain …”

    Director of the Toda Peace Institute in Tokyo Professor Kevin Clements said:“This is terrible … but typical of NZ universities at the moment.”

    Australian columnist Keith Jackson, a retired academic, journalist and former administrator in Papua New Guinea, said: “That’s the kind of behaviour that happens in the worst organisations … Damn shame … But you and I and hundreds of others know you are a consummate pro who built a terrific organisation that affected and informed thousands of people. Sori tru.”

    Dr Jason MacLeod, an academic affiliated with the West Papua Project of the University of Sydney, said: “So sad. Another uni with no soul or sense of purpose beyond bottom lines.”

    Seini Taumoepeau, an Oceanic creative consultant and former presenter at ABC Australia, said: “Oh, so sorry for the loss – this is heartbreaking.”

    Ena Manureva, a Tahitian doctoral candidate, said: “This is shameful given the recommendations of the [recent harassment policies] “review” and AUT promising to do better and this is what you get – an utter failure and shame!

    Ami Dhabuwala, a onetime Gujarat Guardian reporter and former PMC Bearing Witness climate project student, said: “This is heartbreaking! PMC was the only thing that got me through my time in AUT! PMC was the best thing that happened to me. Thank you so much for all the support and the work you do.”

    Republished with permission from The Pacific Newsroom.

    The full AAPMI letter

    AAPMI letter to AUT
    The AAPMI letter.

    Australia Asia Pacific Media Initiative (AAPMI)

    16 February 2021

    Mr Derek McCormack
    Vice Chancellor
    Auckland University of Technology

    Dear Mr McCormack,

    We are writing to you to congratulate the Auckland University of Technology on its contribution to Pacific media and journalism and – at a time when Pacific journalism is under existential threat and Pacific journalism programmes suffer from underfunding – to urge you to ensure your university continues to play the globally pre-eminent role in supporting media, communication and journalism education, research and collaboration.

    AUT’s Pacific Media Centre (including its associated projects in audio, video and online production and its engagement with Asia and Pacific academic institutions and communities within New Zealand) is the jewel in AUT’s crown. As you know, the PMC is the world’s leading Pacific journalism programme is looked to by media professionals and academics from around the world, including in the Pacific and here in Australia. The centre’s research publications and staff and postgraduate student journalism websites (such as PMC Online www.pmc.aut.ac.nz) are valued highly by Australian media professionals and they are frequent contributors.

    The Pacific monograph series is an exciting development that could play a constructive role as the environment for media and journalism in the region deteriorates. We note that AUT has a reputation for taking an outsized share of the Student Journalism Awards – the Ozzies. We would also like to congratulate AUT for the work of senior lecturer Khairiah Rahman in cross-cultural work with the Muslim community in New Zealand and PMC colleagues, Jim Marbrook and his sister Anna, for winning the Grand Prix at the weekend’s Oceania International Film Festival (FIFO) in Tahiti for their film Loimata. The calibre of both people has contributed enormously to the success of AUT students. The valuable supportive role the PMC and its staff have played for the leading Pacific journalism programmes – especially for the University of the South Pacific programme led by formidable thought-leader Dr Shailendra Singh – is also acknowledged.

    Last year was a watershed year for Pacific media. At the beginning of 2020, most media houses were only in the early or middle stages of their transition to digital, a transition which around the world has left organisations with fewer resources to produce original and investigative reports that are a crucial part of the media’s remit as a vital accountability institution in our democracies. Even before the digital transition Pacific media houses were struggling to obtain the skills and financial resources needed to adequately fulfil their role as the Fourth Estate. This has only been made worse by the loss of revenue, skills and staff as a result of the economic impact of COVID on the Pacific. The PMC’s role in providing skills, research, support and collaboration on practical projects and a pipeline of qualified professionals is now more vital to the future of media in the region than ever. It is not going too far to say that the PMC has a key role to play in the survival of public interest journalism and media in the region. It will only be able to do this if the PMC is supported and expanded.

    We understand universities are under pressure but were sorry to see the demise of AUT’s postgraduate Asia-Pacific Journalism course in 2019. We congratulate and thank Professor David Robie, the multicultural and cross-disciplinary PMC Advisory Board, and volunteers for their pioneering work in developing the Pacific Media Centre. Since Professor Robie’s long-expected retirement (at age 75) we are concerned to see the Centre without a director and its office relocated without adequate consultation with its stakeholders. To continue to play its cutting-edge role we believe the Pacific Media Centre needs a world-class director and urge you to advertise the role globally.

    We also ask that you ensure the PMC and its associated activities and connections with the Pasifika and Māori communities in New Zealand as well as its connections with the Asia-Pacific global journalism research community and profession continue to be developed. Given that the PMC began as an autonomous media umbrella and outlet for Pacific students to carry out journalism, documentary, social justice and development communication projects it is essential that the centre continues to have an office where these students can be supported by staff for their media initiatives. Perhaps the best way to ensure the PMC’s future would be to establish it as an independent centre since its work involves multidisciplinary media and communication areas.

    We would appreciate your letting us know your plans to fill the role of PMC director and for the PMC itself, including its valuable archive and taonga. If materials collected by the PMC are not to be easily accessible, perhaps they should be donated to the University of the South Pacific Journalism Programme or other stakeholders who have played a close partnership role with PMC over many years.

    The Australia Asia Pacific Media Initiative is a voluntary group of current and former journalists, media executives and technologists with wide experience across the Pacific and Asia. Our number also includes Pacific and Asia experts and members of Asia and Pacific diaspora communities in Australia. We came together in 2018 in response to a number of Australian enquiries. We advocate for more Australian media engagement in the region, for support for quality public interest media and for Pacific voices to be heard in media in the Pacific, Australia and globally. We have members in most Australian states and territories and supporters in 10 countries in our region. Our members established the Sean Dorney Grant for Pacific Journalism in association with the Walkley Foundation and the The Pacific Newsroom on Facebook.

    We stand ready to be of assistance to AUT.

    Warm regards,

    Signed on behalf of AAPMI:
    Jemima Garrett, Co-convenor of AAPMI, journalism training/media and development consultant, former ABC Pacific Correspondent, foundation member of the Melanesian Media Freedom Forum

    Sue Ahearn, Co-convenor of AAPMI, Journalist and international media and development consultant, former Editor ABC International, Editor of The Pacific Newsroom

    Sean Dorney, AO, former ABC PNG and Pacific Correspondent, non-resident fellow Lowy Institute for International Policy

    Annmaree O’Keefe, AM, non-resident fellow, Lowy Institute for International Policy and chair of the Foundation for Development Cooperation. Formerly, Ambassador to Nepal, Deputy-Director General of AusAID, chair of Australia’s national commission for UNESCO

    Dr Jane Munro, AM, Adjunct Professor, Griffith University, Queensland, Honorary Principal Fellow, Asia Instiute, Melbourne University, former Chair ABC Advisory Council

    Bruce Dover, International media consultant, formerly a senior executive with News Corp (Australia and China), CNN (Asia) and the Australian Broadcasting Corporation

    Kalafi Moala, journalist/media consultant, founder and former owner Times of Tonga

    Kevin McQuillan, journalist, media consultant and founder of RNZ International news service

    Kean Wong, Editor and journalist, ex-BBC, the Economist, AFR, co-founder, Malaysia’s Centre of Independent Journalism

    Graeme Dobell, Journalist Fellow with the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, former ABC foreign, defence and foreign affairs correspondent

    Emelda Davis, President, Australian South Sea Islanders (Port Jackson), Producer (film, television and audio)

    Geoff Heriot, consultant and PhD candidate (UTas), former ABC editorial and corporate governance executive and foreign correspondent

    Vivien Altman, freelance journalist, television producer/writer, formerly executive producer SBS and producer, ABC Foreign Correspondent

    Richard Dinnen, freelance journalist, including former ABC PNG and Pacific correspondent

    Jan Forrester, former journalist and international media consultant

    Nigel Holmes, former technology manager ABC International AAPMI

    This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.

  • Who is killing off top Pacific journalism – and why?

    By Michael Field in Auckland

    Without much in the way of a credible explanation about why, Aotearoa New Zealand education authorities are killing off one of the Pacific’s leading journalism programmes.

    The fate of the Auckland University of Technology’s Pacific Media Centre (PMC) coincides with the Fiji government assault of the University of the South Pacific, raising serious questions about the future of academic freedom and excellence.

    The Australia Asia Pacific Media Initiative (AAPMI) has appealed for action to save PMC, saying closure comes “at a time when Pacific journalism is under existential threat and Pacific journalism programmes suffer from underfunding”.

    The centre, founded in 2007 and described by AAPMI as a “jewel in the AUT crown”, had worked in its current Communication Studies office in the Sir Paul Reeves Building at the AUT’s city campus since it opened eight years ago.

    It was abruptly emptied last month of more than a decade of awards, books, files, publications, picture frames and treasures, including a traditional carved Papua New Guinean storyboard marking the opening of the centre by then Pacific Affairs Minister Luamanuvau Winnie Laban in October 2007.

    AUT claims the centre is going to new accommodation, but they had not said where or even shown it to those asking.

    Professor David Robie at PMCProfessor David Robie at the “future of PMC” seminar at AUT in December 2020. Image: APR

    Founding director Professor David Robie, whose retirement at the end of last year seemed to signal AUT’s action, was critical of the “unconscionable” closure/relocation.

    Lack of explanation
    What has been striking over the closure has been the lack of a coherent explanation from AUT.

    The Pacific Media Centre emptied out in three photos. Images: Facebook

    Empty PMC 2

    Empty PMC 3

    When Dr Robie came to retire on December 18, he found there was no one to hand over to.

    Two of the more likely colleagues were sidelined as word came down that the School of Communication Studies management at AUT were planning on taking the “Asia-Pacific” out of PMC and creating a new focus on Māori issues instead.

    This is despite AUT already having a Māori studies department, Te Ara Poutama, which has a Māori Media Development programme.

    AAPMI last month wrote to AUT’s vice-chancellor, Derek McCormack, urging they “continue to play the globally pre-eminent role in supporting media, communication and journalism education, research and collaboration.

    Calling it the jewel in AUT’s crown, the letter said “the PMC is the world’s leading Pacific journalism programme and is looked to by media professionals and academics from around the world, including in the Pacific and here in Australia.

    “The centre’s research publications and staff and postgraduate student journalism websites (such as PMC Online www.pmc.aut.ac.nz) are valued highly by Australian media professionals and they are frequent contributors.”

    The full letter is published below.

    ‘Outsized’ share of awards
    AAPMI said AUT had a reputation for taking an “outsized” share of the Student Journalism Awards – the Ozzies.”

    “The valuable supportive role the PMC and its staff have played for the leading Pacific journalism programmes – especially for the University of the South Pacific programme led by formidable thought-leader Dr Shailendra Singh – is also acknowledged.”

    AAPMI said PMC’s role in providing skills, research, support and collaboration on practical projects and a pipeline of qualified professionals was now more vital to the future of media in the region than ever.

    “It is not going too far to say that the PMC has a key role to play in the survival of public interest journalism and media in the region. It will only be able to do this if the PMC is supported and expanded.”

    Last month, Dr Robie posted an item on the office closure on Facebook. It drew 150 responses and more than 80 negative comments, most of them from Pacific journalists, media personalities and current or former project students, some describing it as “academic vandalism”.

    Relocated to ‘new space’
    Particularly concerning was the taking of PMC materials which drew a response from AUT that they had been relocated to a “new space”.

    Television New Zealand Pacific affairs correspondent Barbara Dreaver responded by asking: “Do you want to show us all a photo of this new space you speak of?”

    Tongan’s journalist Kalafi Moala said:“That’s unbelievable … We are still trying to get over the Gestapo-style deportation of the USP vice-chancellor from Fiji, and now this? How shameful!”

    Leading Vanuatu-based photojournalist Ben Bohane said: “Outrageous example of a disposable mentality, but your legacy will remain …”

    Director of the Toda Peace Institute in Tokyo Professor Kevin Clements said:“This is terrible … but typical of NZ universities at the moment.”

    Australian columnist Keith Jackson, a retired academic, journalist and former administrator in Papua New Guinea, said: “That’s the kind of behaviour that happens in the worst organisations … Damn shame … But you and I and hundreds of others know you are a consummate pro who built a terrific organisation that affected and informed thousands of people. Sori tru.”

    Dr Jason MacLeod, an academic affiliated with the West Papua Project of the University of Sydney, said: “So sad. Another uni with no soul or sense of purpose beyond bottom lines.”

    Seini Taumoepeau, an Oceanic creative consultant and former presenter at ABC Australia, said: “Oh, so sorry for the loss – this is heartbreaking.”

    Ena Manureva, a Tahitian doctoral candidate, said: “This is shameful given the recommendations of the [recent harassment policies] “review” and AUT promising to do better and this is what you get – an utter failure and shame!

    Ami Dhabuwala, a onetime Gujarat Guardian reporter and former PMC Bearing Witness climate project student, said: “This is heartbreaking! PMC was the only thing that got me through my time in AUT! PMC was the best thing that happened to me. Thank you so much for all the support and the work you do.”

    Republished with permission from The Pacific Newsroom.

    The full AAPMI letter

    AAPMI letter to AUTThe AAPMI letter.

    Australia Asia Pacific Media Initiative (AAPMI)

    16 February 2021

    Mr Derek McCormack
    Vice Chancellor
    Auckland University of Technology

    Dear Mr McCormack,

    We are writing to you to congratulate the Auckland University of Technology on its contribution to Pacific media and journalism and – at a time when Pacific journalism is under existential threat and Pacific journalism programmes suffer from underfunding – to urge you to ensure your university continues to play the globally pre-eminent role in supporting media, communication and journalism education, research and collaboration.

    AUT’s Pacific Media Centre (including its associated projects in audio, video and online production and its engagement with Asia and Pacific academic institutions and communities within New Zealand) is the jewel in AUT’s crown. As you know, the PMC is the world’s leading Pacific journalism programme is looked to by media professionals and academics from around the world, including in the Pacific and here in Australia. The centre’s research publications and staff and postgraduate student journalism websites (such as PMC Online www.pmc.aut.ac.nz) are valued highly by Australian media professionals and they are frequent contributors.

    The Pacific monograph series is an exciting development that could play a constructive role as the environment for media and journalism in the region deteriorates. We note that AUT has a reputation for taking an outsized share of the Student Journalism Awards – the Ozzies. We would also like to congratulate AUT for the work of senior lecturer Khairiah Rahman in cross-cultural work with the Muslim community in New Zealand and PMC colleagues, Jim Marbrook and his sister Anna, for winning the Grand Prix at the weekend’s Oceania International Film Festival (FIFO) in Tahiti for their film Loimata. The calibre of both people has contributed enormously to the success of AUT students. The valuable supportive role the PMC and its staff have played for the leading Pacific journalism programmes – especially for the University of the South Pacific programme led by formidable thought-leader Dr Shailendra Singh – is also acknowledged.

    Last year was a watershed year for Pacific media. At the beginning of 2020, most media houses were only in the early or middle stages of their transition to digital, a transition which around the world has left organisations with fewer resources to produce original and investigative reports that are a crucial part of the media’s remit as a vital accountability institution in our democracies. Even before the digital transition Pacific media houses were struggling to obtain the skills and financial resources needed to adequately fulfil their role as the Fourth Estate. This has only been made worse by the loss of revenue, skills and staff as a result of the economic impact of COVID on the Pacific. The PMC’s role in providing skills, research, support and collaboration on practical projects and a pipeline of qualified professionals is now more vital to the future of media in the region than ever. It is not going too far to say that the PMC has a key role to play in the survival of public interest journalism and media in the region. It will only be able to do this if the PMC is supported and expanded.

    We understand universities are under pressure but were sorry to see the demise of AUT’s postgraduate Asia-Pacific Journalism course in 2019. We congratulate and thank Professor David Robie, the multicultural and cross-disciplinary PMC Advisory Board, and volunteers for their pioneering work in developing the Pacific Media Centre. Since Professor Robie’s long-expected retirement (at age 75) we are concerned to see the Centre without a director and its office relocated without adequate consultation with its stakeholders. To continue to play its cutting-edge role we believe the Pacific Media Centre needs a world-class director and urge you to advertise the role globally.

    We also ask that you ensure the PMC and its associated activities and connections with the Pasifika and Māori communities in New Zealand as well as its connections with the Asia-Pacific global journalism research community and profession continue to be developed. Given that the PMC began as an autonomous media umbrella and outlet for Pacific students to carry out journalism, documentary, social justice and development communication projects it is essential that the centre continues to have an office where these students can be supported by staff for their media initiatives. Perhaps the best way to ensure the PMC’s future would be to establish it as an independent centre since its work involves multidisciplinary media and communication areas.

    We would appreciate your letting us know your plans to fill the role of PMC director and for the PMC itself, including its valuable archive and taonga. If materials collected by the PMC are not to be easily accessible, perhaps they should be donated to the University of the South Pacific Journalism Programme or other stakeholders who have played a close partnership role with PMC over many years.

    The Australia Asia Pacific Media Initiative is a voluntary group of current and former journalists, media executives and technologists with wide experience across the Pacific and Asia. Our number also includes Pacific and Asia experts and members of Asia and Pacific diaspora communities in Australia. We came together in 2018 in response to a number of Australian enquiries. We advocate for more Australian media engagement in the region, for support for quality public interest media and for Pacific voices to be heard in media in the Pacific, Australia and globally. We have members in most Australian states and territories and supporters in 10 countries in our region. Our members established the Sean Dorney Grant for Pacific Journalism in association with the Walkley Foundation and the The Pacific Newsroom on Facebook.

    We stand ready to be of assistance to AUT.

    Warm regards,

    Signed on behalf of AAPMI:
    Jemima Garrett, Co-convenor of AAPMI, journalism training/media and development consultant, former ABC Pacific Correspondent, foundation member of the Melanesian Media Freedom Forum

    Sue Ahearn, Co-convenor of AAPMI, Journalist and international media and development consultant, former Editor ABC International, Editor of The Pacific Newsroom

    Sean Dorney, AO, former ABC PNG and Pacific Correspondent, non-resident fellow Lowy Institute for International Policy

    Annmaree O’Keefe, AM, non-resident fellow, Lowy Institute for International Policy and chair of the Foundation for Development Cooperation. Formerly, Ambassador to Nepal, Deputy-Director General of AusAID, chair of Australia’s national commission for UNESCO

    Dr Jane Munro, AM, Adjunct Professor, Griffith University, Queensland, Honorary Principal Fellow, Asia Instiute, Melbourne University, former Chair ABC Advisory Council

    Bruce Dover, International media consultant, formerly a senior executive with News Corp (Australia and China), CNN (Asia) and the Australian Broadcasting Corporation

    Kalafi Moala, journalist/media consultant, founder and former owner Times of Tonga

    Kevin McQuillan, journalist, media consultant and founder of RNZ International news service

    Kean Wong, Editor and journalist, ex-BBC, the Economist, AFR, co-founder, Malaysia’s Centre of Independent Journalism

    Graeme Dobell, Journalist Fellow with the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, former ABC foreign, defence and foreign affairs correspondent

    Emelda Davis, President, Australian South Sea Islanders (Port Jackson), Producer (film, television and audio)

    Geoff Heriot, consultant and PhD candidate (UTas), former ABC editorial and corporate governance executive and foreign correspondent

    Vivien Altman, freelance journalist, television producer/writer, formerly executive producer SBS and producer, ABC Foreign Correspondent

    Richard Dinnen, freelance journalist, including former ABC PNG and Pacific correspondent

    Jan Forrester, former journalist and international media consultant

    Nigel Holmes, former technology manager ABC International AAPMI

    Print Friendly, PDF & Email

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.