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APMN represented at RSF Asia-Pacific media freedom seminar


Pacific Media Watch
Asia-Pacific correspondents and staff of Reporters Without Borders (RSF) made a "grand" statement on the vast staircase of the iconic Grand Hotel of Taipei, Taiwan, last week.

On the seventh anniversary of the assassination of Maltese investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, representatives of RSF gathered in nine cities around the world - including Taipei - in memory and solidarity over her brutal killing on 16 October 2017.

So…

One year of war in Gaza – protect journalists now, says IPI


Pacific Media Watch
This week marked the grim one-year anniversary of the surprise October 7 Hamas attack on Israel and the beginning of the Israeli war on Gaza — a conflict that has taken a devastating toll on journalists and media outlets in Palestine, reports the International Press Institute.

In Gaza, Israeli strikes have killed at least 123 journalists (The Gaza Media Office has recorded 178 killed) — the largest number of…

Google is worth more in Australia than major news outlets. Here’s how it could better fund journalism

ANALYSIS: By Rob Nichols, Cameron McTernan, Scott Fitzgerald and Terry Flew
The Global Media Internet Concentration Project examines the concentration of the communications and media in countries around the world. 

The latest data for Australia have recently been released, and they show just how big Google is in the country. 

Alphabet (Google’s parent company) had 2022 revenue in Australia of A$7.9 billion. 

Murdoch to Musk: how global media power has shifted from the moguls to the big tech bros

ANALYSIS: By Matthew Ricketson, Deakin University and Andrew Dodd, The University of Melbourne
Until recently, Elon Musk was just a wildly successful electric car tycoon and space pioneer. Sure, he was erratic and outspoken, but his global influence was contained and seemingly under control.

But add the ownership of just one media platform, in the form of Twitter — now X — and the maverick has become a mogul, and…

Recent APMN activities - N-free Pacific and West Papua



United Liberation Movement of West Papua (UPMN) vice-president Octovianus Mote has visited the Asia Pacific Media Network at the Whānau Community Hub.

Samoa Observer: A slap across the face of media freedom



EDITORIAL: The Samoa Observer editorial board
The Samoan government’s attempt to control the media for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting is a slap across the face of press freedom, democracy and freedom of speech.

It is a farce and an attempt by a dysfunctional government unit to gag local and overseas media.

No international forum of such importance does this. The United Nations, the Pacific Islands Forum or other CHOGMs never…

West Papua: An evening with Octo Mote



Learn more about West Papua
Kia ora e te whanau! We hope to see you there.
Friday, 6.30pm, 13 September 2024
Māngere Mountain Education Centre
100 Coronation Rd
Māngere Bridge
Tāmaki Makaurau
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100087798308823
Even hosts: West Papua Action Tāmaki Makaurau and Reana Taketake
Octo Mote is a former journalist with Kompas

How Māori media and iwi united during historic news coverage of Kiingi Tuheitia tangihanga

COMMENTARY: By Jessica Tyson
In recent years Kiingi Tuheitia became known as the “king of unity” with his determined drive for kotahitanga involving rangatahi.

So last week, through his tangihanga and the accession of his successor, a unique first took shape as the largest group of Māori broadcasters to ever work together collaborated with iwi in honouring his “wairua wind”.

Every day during the week-long tangihanga, news and radio teams from many…

Mediawatch: Kiingi Tuheitia’s tangihanga – epic broadcast marks new epoch for te ao Māori

RNZ MEDIAWATCH: By Colin Peacock, RNZ Mediawatch presenter
“Anticipation is growing. The warriors are ready. They’re preparing themselves. The paddlers are already on their waka,” Scotty Morrison, alongside veteran journalist Tini Molyneux, told viewers from the banks of the Waikato River.

It was Thursday, and the body of Kiingi Tuheitia was being escorted to the barge to take him to his resting place on Taupiri maunga.

That prompted Morrison — the…

Pacific media academics slam global research journal model, defend regional niche titles


Pacific Media Watch
Pacific media academics have criticised the economics of global research journal publication models and defended independent publications such as Pacific Journalism Review carving out niche markets.

Speaking in a panel titled “Publish or Perish” at the recent Pacific International Media 2024 conference in Suva, Fiji, the academics warned that changes in the international research publishing arena were not necessarily an improvement.

In fact, in some cases the changes threatened…

NZ Herald’s disclosure obligation to readers: Why are we waiting?



COMMENTARY: By Gavin Ellis
The New Zealand Herald and its publisher are failing to follow a golden rule: Engage with readers when they question your actions.

The Herald is currently confronted by two controversies. The first is its decision to use artificial intelligence to write editorials. The second is its decision to publish a highly divisive advertising wrap-around paid for by the lobby group Hobson’s Pledge.

In neither case has the newspaper…

Report from the chair, APMN/ Te Koakoa


Report from the Chair Dr Heather Devere
Asia Pacific Media Network APMN/ Te Koakoa
Third AGM, Friday, 19 April 2024

Ngā mihi nui kia koutou katoa,

Introduction:
The Asia Pacific Media Network is now well-established as an incorporated society in Aotearoa New Zealand. A community-based network of academics, journalists, and activists, our membership spans Australia, Fiji, Indonesia and the Philippines. APMN also has links to the Manila-based AMIC, Asia-Pacific’s largest communication research…

Kim Williams is right to criticise how the ABC covers news, but he needs to fix it

ANALYSIS: By Denis Muller, The University of Melbourne
ABC chair Kim Williams has attracted considerable attention with his criticism of the broadcaster’s online news choices. Williams has taken issue with what he sees as the ABC prioritising lifestyle stories over hard news.

In the process, he has raised an important issue of principle.

Is it right for the chair to insert himself into editorial decision-making, even at the level of broad…

Pacific Island news outlets 'vulnerable' to geopolitical influence, Singh tells ABC

ABC Pacific Beat
Diplomacy and geopolitics often dominates the media coverage of the Pacific region, but what impact is the geopolitical competition between China, the US, Australia and others having on the media itself?

Veteran media academic Associate Professor Shailendra Singh (APMN member), head of journalism at The University of the South Pacific, says that like Pacific governments, regional news outlets are also grappling with increased aid and attention.

"What we are…

Pacific Journalism Review in the news

Asia Pacific Media Network
Our article by David Robie about 30 years of Pacific Journalism Review published by DevPolicy Blog of Australian National University's Development Policy Centre was widely picked up by news media in the region.

After initially being republished by the Fiji-based regional Pacnews service, it was also published at least three national dailies -- the PNG Post-Courier, The Fiji Times and the Fiji Sun.

Ironically, it…

AI-created editorials: What in HAL’s name was the Herald thinking?


COMMENTARY: By Dr Gavin Ellis in Knightly Views
Integrity is the most valued element of a news organisation’s reputation. Without it, it cannot expect its audience to lend credence to what it publishes or broadcasts. So, The New Zealand Herald has dealt itself an awful blow.

Its admission that it used generative AI to scrape content and then create an editorial about the All Blacks came only after it was caught out…

Pacific Journalism Review at 30 – a strong media legacy

COMMENTARY: By David Robie in Devpolicy Blog
Pacific Journalism Review (PJR) began life three decades ago in Papua New Guinea and recently celebrated a remarkable milestone in Fiji with its 30th anniversary edition and its 47th issue.

Remarkable because it is the longest surviving Antipodean media, journalism and development journal published in the Global South. It is also remarkable because at its birthday event held in early July at the…

Navigating challenges and shaping futures - Call for submissions

NAVIGATING CHALLENGES AND SHAPING FUTURES: Call for submissions
Pacific Media is calling for papers and panel presentations for a special edition to be published in late 2024 drawing on the submissions at the recent Pacific International Media Conference with the theme “Navigating Challenges and Shaping Futures in Pacific Media Research and Practice” in Suva, Fiji, on 4-6 July.

We are seeking submissions covering journalism, media and communication issues in the Asia Pacific…

US election: 5 ways to manage your news consumption to reduce anxiety

By Mark Pearson, Journlaw
As I started to disappear into the vortex of 24/7 media coverage of the US election, I recalled the news anxiety I experienced in 2020 at the start of the covid-19 pandemic which prompted me to write an article for The Conversation titled “Coronavirus: 5 ways to manage your news consumption in times of crisis“.

I republish an edited version here …

Following events in the…

Report of the Pacific International Media Conference, Suva, Fiji, 2024

By Dr Adam Brown
The Pacific International Media conference was held 4–6 July 2024 at the Holiday Inn, Suva, Fiji. The organising partners were the The University of the South Pacific (USP), the Pacific Islands News Association (PINA), and the Asia Pacific Media Network (APMN).  Main sponsors were the US Embassy in Fiji and the International Fund for Public Interest Media (IFPIM), with several other supporting bodies.

Dignitaries who attended came from…