NIUSbeatPACIFIC : Pacific Media Newsletter

Combined issue: September-November 2011

Welcome to the monthly Pacific e-bulletin of happenings, events, information and resources for Pacific journalists and media practitioners. Follow the latest news on media and development trends, people on the move, agency and regional organisation news and more Informed by journalists for journalists, this regional media newsletter helps readers keep up with the ‘Niusbeat’ in our Pacific community. For more information and any queries on the items below, contact the IFJ Pacific project coordinator lisa.lahari@gmail.com

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Pacific media rising: Media ethics, citizen voices, social and online communications, and journalism that probes for solutions look to be a rising trend for Pacific journalists and media watchers in 2012. Outcomes from the 2nd IFJ Pacific Media Human Rights and Democracy Project Regional Roundtable, held in Honiara in October 2011, revealed media freedom challenges are part of a mixed bag of rising issues for the region. Key elements of the Honiara roundtable, which follows on from an inaugural regional media roundtable in Samoa in November 2010, included train the trainers capacity building in a thematic area, a media partners forum for those working with the media, and a final joint session focussing on media freedom and ethics. Follow up in-country national workshops for the trainers at the 2011 roundtable have started- more regional actions are planned. Project support for Pacific media freedom and human rights monitoring from the IFJ, UNESCO and EU rounds up in July 2012. Read the outcomes statement: http://asiapacific.ifj.org/en/articles

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MAV remembers December 2 and creates Pacific history: A new annual campaign to mark the anniversary of the Vanuatu media and public blackout imposed by the Speaker to Parliament on December 2 2010 has been launched by the Media Assosiasen Blong Vanuatu (MAV). Dubbed ‘Right to Know Vanuatu’, the MAV initiative is a historical first for Pacific media networks in terms of an annual campaign marking a local national level event. A program of speakers and entertainment around the theme of the public’s right to know is planned for the inaugural event, stressing to all that the legislative arm of a democracy – its national parliament must be protected from the incident which took place during a noconfidence motion on December 2 last year. The MAV call and a Right to Know theme are a timely reminder to elected leaders that Parliament’s must remain accessible and open to media and the public – and should not be tampered with by those in power. For more information on the new annual event for Vanuatu, contact MAV administrator Cathy Nunn: nunncat@gmail.com

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MAP member updates—online media training gets a boost: Leading the news from regional media networks in this niusbeat, PasiMA, the Pasifika Media Association, has received British funding for a major regional project aimed at providing online media training resources for Pacific journos and media workers. PasiMA Administrator Ana Currie and PasiMA’s founding chair Savea Sano Malifa were part of handover meetings for the fund in Apia this month. The project design and proposal was assisted by Associate Professor Martin Hadlow, formerly of the University of Queensland School of Journalism and Communication.. The new PasiMA project will involve a number of partnerships with existing journalism programmes and media-related organizations in the region and is aimed at developing online teaching modules boosting skills, knowledge and expertise in investigative reporting. The new resources to be launched in October 2012 will also help media owners and managers with business management tools and models for business sustainability. PasiMA Administrative Director Ana Currie, who is based in Hawai‘i, will serve as project manager in support of a 12-member project team. To enquire on the project team members, contact Ana: anacurrie@hawaii.rr

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Understanding C4D : linking media ethics to communications for development: Seek the truth and report it, minimize harm, act independently and be accountable. There words that journos live by are also the catch cry of communications for development, or C4D. As media workers in the Solomon Islands discovered in a special training workshop on C4D, this acronym is more than communicating with target groups to change behaviour, or with leaders to change policy. The link between journalism that lays bare what’s wrong with society, aka investigative journalism, goes a step further under the C4D approach to news – analysing solutions as part of the coverage. The focus group sessions laced in with presentation from visiting expert Amelia Shaw were also memorable for another reason: the workshop was a first for the new media training room based in the Tongs Building which also houses the offices for the Solomon Islands Media Assistance Scheme project team. Asked how they would sum up great reporting, journalists at the introductory session used words like ethics and passion – terms which also apply to the solution-seeking coverage which links journalism to development communications. Shaw, who hails from New York, is the multi-platform content advisor to Papua New Guinea’s Media Development Initiative. She is currently based with PNG’s national broadcaster helping the organisation to reposition itself as an information leader in health, gender and educational campaigns. For more information on the NBC initiative and Shaw’s work in PNG, contact NBC’s Memafu Kapera: m.kapera@nbc.com.pg

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Internet costs still a barrier to informing Pacific communities: The Pacific’s largest nation and population has just hosted a Pacific first – a national Communications Conference. The high costs of keeping rural populations informed via internet and mobile telephony was amongst the issues raised. PNG Communications professionals have come up with a Declaration on Communications for Social Change in the wake of their inaugural national communications conference. Held in early November by the PNG Communications and Arts Professionals Association (CAPA), the two-day conference brought together communications specialists and public relations practitioners as well as marketing professionals from government departments, the private sector, non-governmental and community-based organizations. The event aimed to help communications professionals to share and better understand rapidly shifting communications trends, develop effective communications strategies, and share best practice and lessons learnt amongst organisations attending. New Zealand-based academic Evangelia Papoutsaki, formerly of Divine Word University in PNG and now with UNITec Auckland’s Faculty of Creative Industries and Business, had a colleague deliver her keynote address. For Papoutsaki the CAPA and its inaugural meet has special significance – those leading it are her former DWU students! Social networking for media spiked in PNG in the last three months making the conference themes especially timely. Check out impressions of being there via http://masalai.wordpress.com/tag/capa/ or contact CAPA lead Jaive Smare at jsmare@gmail.com Meanwhile across the pond from Port Moresby, Australia hosted its Communications Policy & Research Forum (CPRF 2011) and those interested in the papers, which include keynotes on media convergence and insights from ABC’s Media Watch presenter Jonathon Holmes, can go to http://www.networkinsight.org/events/cprf2011.html/group/6

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Media freedom updates: PFF Alerts from September to November were led by Fiji, with statements on West Papua, New Zealand, Tahiti, Vanuatu, and Papua New Guinea. Regionally, the PFF congratulated the Pacific UN Human Rights Commissioner Matilda Bogner for opening up on article 19 rights in an opinion piece on Vanuatu. A note of concern was sounded on plans to host the regional PINA conference in Fiji, which remains the most repressive place to be a Pacific journalist. For details see www.pacificfreedomforum.org Other media freedom alerts on the Pacific are at IFJ Asia-Pacific at http://asiapacific.ifj.org/en/articles PasiMA at www.pacificmedia.org PINA at www.pina.com.fj

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PacMAS launch switches to Tonga along with Pacific AIBD regional meet: Tonga has become the media meeting point for December with the launch of the long-awaited Pacific Media Assistance Scheme (PacMAS), initially timed for Vanuatu in November, now moving to Tonga where it will feature as part of the Asia-Pacific Institute for Broadcast Development (AIBD) Pacific Media Partnership meeting. Aimed at the region’s broadcasters, the ‘Strengthening the voice of the Pacific’ meet is was originally planned for August and then November in Port Moresby, PNG. Now taking place in Nuku’alofa from 19-21 December a round of pre-plenary workshops will cover training for broadcasters in stepping up coverage of HIV/AIDS, broadcasting in emergencies and disasters, and content creation on multimedia platforms.

For more info on the AIBD PMP meet, contact ABU’s Technology director, Sharad Sadhu: Sharad.s@abu.org.my

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Defamation award a record low: In what has to be one of the lowest ever defamation awards for the Pacific region, the Solomon Islands former Press Secretary to ousted Prime Minister Danny Philip has been ordered to pay senior Opposition MP Matthew Wale a ‘nominal’ award of $5000 SBD- about $690 USD. Wale had sought much more when he filed for defamation claiming distress, embarrassment, and damage to his reputation, caused by the leaking of a so-called ‘secret intelligence’ report in February 2011 which alleged he was colluding with RAMSI and the Australia government to overthrow Philips government. The matter sparked a diplomatic fuss between the Solomon Islands Government and RAMSI, and a media row over ethics and outing of confidential sources when the leading daily newspaper decided to name Sasako as the source of a report he ‘leaked’ to them. Sasako had tried to get an order including the Solomon’s Star in the proceedings but this was turned down. In the end, the defamation verdict by the Solomon’s Chief Justice Sir Albert Palmer delivered late November was bittersweet news for Wale. Former Prime Minister Danny Philip and the state, also named as defendants in the claim were dismissed, the court finding no evidence that the former Prime Minister and the State were responsible for the authoring, preparation and/ or the publication of the Report, while ruling Sasako ‘partly responsible.’ Sir Palmer didn’t give reasons for the size of the damages. Read more at: http://www.solomonstarnews.com/news/national/12935-sasako-to-pay-5000-over-intel-report

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Gender in media: NZ media study has Pacific relevance: Leadership training and support may help to address the lack of women leaders in New Zealand newspaper journalism – aspects which are also found in the founding vision of the Pacific WAVE media network for women journalists. A new study by Massey University, New Zealand, focussed on daily newspapers found that women journalists “loved” journalism, but did not stay in the industry very long. Even the few women who became editors, tended to stay in the role for only three years. Former journalist turned academic Dr Catherine Strong says it is not a glass ceiling women journalists face if they want to move into mangement roles, but their own "glass bubble" created to protect them from the male-dominated, aggressive and confrontational newspaper environment. The balance between male and female journalists in the news media has been researched for almost four decades, and shows female journalists lag well behind their male colleagues in jobs, pay, and seniority, she says. “Studies have found that many young women enter newspaper journalism and that overall, there seems more women print journalists than men. However, they are relegated to lower career levels, and are almost invisible at the editorial and executive level. My research has been able to get to the bottom of why.” Dr Strong’s recommendations as a result of her research include recognising managerial talent in young women and grooming and training them for the top jobs in a planned way. “The old management style is for editors to go on gut feeling, recognising qualities in young male journalists that they perhaps see in themselves or admire. There is a reliance on tacit management and they groom these guys from very early on in a tacit way.”

Full story at http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/BU1112/S00093/women-journalists-flee-newspapercareers.htm

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Media on the move: Biggest move this update is the IFJ Pacific project, with Deborah Muir who has served as projects manager and then projects director for almost four years with IFJ Asia Pacific in Sydney moving on, and remembered with thanks by the Pacific networks she helped to strengthen and link back to IFJ with the milestone ‘Courage under fire’ meeting in April 2009. Claire O’Rourke who had been with the IFJ for almost 12 months and managing the IFJ Pacific project amongst others is now a web-based advocacy and campaigns adviser for a Sydney based non-profit. Taking up Claire’s post is Josh Bird, who met the Pacific networks during the second Regional Roundtable in Honiara in Otcober. IFJ has also appointed Katie Richmond as the new projects Director for Asia Pacific. This side of the pond, in Honiara, Robert Iroga, formerly the press adviser at ACP-EU in Brussels, has come home after his contract completion while Tonga’s Josephine Latu moved on from her role in the Government media ministry to take up Iroga’s former post. Koroi Hawkins has moved on from ONE News to take up freelancing and is currently based with the RAMSI Public Affairs and SolMAS project. Over in the Cooks, Trevor Pitt has moved on from his key editorial and training role at CITV to take up the post of Communications Advisor with TeAponga Uira, the national utilities power agency. As well as being the focal point for all media relations he will be heavily involved in policy development for Renewable Energy. A jump away in Suva, Matelita Ragogo, now known as Ariela Zibiah, has moved on from freelancing and newspapers to a UN communications post amongst the Suva agencies. In NZ, Scoop Editor Selwyn Manning moves on after ten years with the Scoop project to focus on new ventures. The online news and information service which also hosts Pacific Scoop has gone from strength to strength under Manning’s editorial leadership and he plans to develop a fun hobby multimedia site called LiveNews.co.nz. Stay tuned for his March 2012 announcement of what is described as a ‘serious brave new venture.’

There's always new moves in Pacific media - let us know by dropping a line to lisa.lahari@gmail.com - our best Niusbeat wishes go out to all of our Pacific media colleagues who are taking their work in new directions .

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Verbatim: “The mere fact that forms of expression are considered to be insulting to a public figure is not sufficient to justify the imposition of penalties and all public figures are legitimately subject to criticism and political opposition. Further, if a criminal case for defamation is taken against a journalist, truth should be a complete defence. That is to say journalists can print truthful information about public figures, whether or not it is flattering”. – UNOCHR
-- Matilda Bogner, Regional Representative of the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Regional Office for the Pacific, in a comment on the relatively light September sentencing of Vanuatu minister Harry Iauko for his role in the group assault of Daily Post publisher Marc Neil Jones, in March 2011.
See full text at: http://archives.pireport.org/archive/2011/September/09-22-cm.htm

Coming in the last Niusbeat for 2011: Got something you want to share with other Pacific newshounds and media workers? Want to guest-edit a NIUSbeat edition? Feel there's something missing or want to contribute under any of the above headings? Drop the NIUSbeatPACIFIC editor a line at lisa.lahari@gmail.com

NIUSbeat is part of the IFJ Asia-Pacific project, Media for Democracy and Human Rights in the Pacific, supported by the European Union and UNESCO IPDC.

The IFJ represents more than 600,000 journalists in 131 countries. Find the IFJ on Twitter: @ifjasiapacific or on Facebook here

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