News

NZ media workers call for ‘decisive action’ by Luxon over Gaza journalists

Asia Pacific Report
About 120 journalists, film makers, actors, media workers and academics have today called on Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and two senior cabinet ministers in an open letter

Palestinian journalists treated like ‘robots’ by Western media, says Gaza reporter in wake of latest Israeli killings

Pacific Media Watch
An Al Jazeera journalist who has documented Israel’s trail of atrocities for almost the past two years has condemned Western news agencies covering the war on Gaza…

Nuclear-free Pacific advocates speak out in NZ human rights radio show

Pacific Media Watch
“Speak Up Kōrerotia” — a radio show centred on human rights issues — has featured a nuclear-free Pacific and other issues in this week’s show.

Encouraging discussion…

‘Will I make it back alive?’: Gaza journalists tell of being targeted by Israel

Pacific Media Watch
Palestinian journalists have long known Gaza to be the most dangerous place on earth for media workers, but Israel’s attack on a tent housing journalists in Gaza…

Gaza: Global community must act amid reports of starvation of journalists, says IPI

By Jamie Wiseman, Pacific Media Watch
The International Press Institute (IPI) has joined calls for urgent action to halt the unfolding humanitarian crisis in Gaza as global news organisations warn…

David Robie: New Zealand must do more for Pacific and confront nuclear powers


By Susana Suisuiki, RNZ Pacific Waves presenter/producer, and Lydia Lewis, RNZ Pacific presenter/bulletin editor
The New Zealand government needs to do more for its Pacific Island neighbours and…

Helen Clark warns in new Pacific book renewed nuclear tensions pose ‘existential threat to humanity’


Asia Pacific Report
Former New Zealand prime minister Helen Clark has warned the country needs to maintain its nuclear-free policy as a “fundamental tenet” of its independent foreign policy in…

Gaza plea: RSF, CPJ and 150+ media outlets call on Israel to open Strip to foreign journalists, protect Palestinian reporters

Pacific Media Watch
More than 150 press freedom advocacy groups and international newsrooms have joined Reporters Without Borders (RSF) and the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) in issuing a public…

Radical legal step towards ending impunity for Israel over killing Gaza journalists

Pacific Media Watch
Journalists have been targeted, detained and tortured by the Israeli military in Gaza — and Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has now taken a new approach towards bringing…

Asia Pacific Report editor honoured for contribution to Pacific journalism

Pacific Media Watch
Asia Pacific Report editor David Robie was honoured with Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit (MNZM) at the weekend by the Governor-General, Dame Cindy Kiro…

Punitive criminal libel charge against Samoan journalist draws flurry of criticism


A punitive defamation charge filed against one of Samoa’s most experienced and trusted journalists last week has sparked a flurry of criticism over abuse of power and…

Fiji Indians in NZ ‘not giving up’ on Pasifika classification struggle

By Susana Suisuiki, RNZ Pacific Waves presenter/producer, and Christina Persico, RNZ Pacific bulletin editor

The co-founder of Auckland’s Fiji Centre is concerned that Indo-Fijians are not classified as…

Israeli attack on hospital to kill Gaza journalist condemned as ‘heinous’

Pacific Media Watch
Israel’s military has admitted attacking the Nasser Medical Complex in the city of Khan Younis in southern Gaza, killing Palestinian journalist Hassan Eslaih and another person while…

NZ fares well in latest RSF press freedom index as authoritarian regimes stifle Asia-Pacific media

Pacific Media Watch
While Aotearoa New Zealand improved three places in the latest RSF World Press Freedom Index — up to 16th — and most other Pacific countries surveyed did…

Pacific editor welcomes US court ruling in favour of Radio Free Asia

By Koroi Hawkins, RNZ Pacific editor
The former head of BenarNews’ Pacific bureau says a United States court ruling this week ordering the US Agency for Global Media (USAGM)…

Victory for US press freedom and workers – court grants injunction in VOA media case

Pacific Media Watch
The US District Court for the District of Columbia has granted a preliminary injunction in Widakuswara v Lake, affirming the US Agency for Global Media (USAGM)…

RSF and VOA coalition secure first court victory against Trump administration

REPORTERS WITHOUT BORDERS
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) is encouraged by a media court victory against the , Trump administration and stands ready to proceed with a case on its merits…

Vanuatu mourns loss of iconic Pacific media pioneer Marc Neil-Jones

OBITUARY: By Terence Malapa in Port Vila
Vanuatu’s media community is in mourning following the death on Monday of Marc Neil-Jones, founder of the Trading Post Vanuatu, which later became the Vanuatu Daily Post, and also radio 96BuzzFM. He was 67.

His fearless pursuit of press freedom and dedication to truth have left an indelible mark on the country’s media landscape.

Neil-Jones’s journey began in 1989 when he arrived…

Union wary of Canadian billionaire Jim Grenon’s NZ media influence

By Susan Edmunds, RNZ News money correspondent
The Aotearoa New Zealand union representing many of NZME’s journalists says it is “deeply worried” by a billionaire’s plans to take over its board.

Auckland-based Canadian billionaire Jim Grenon is leading a move to dump the board of media company NZME, owners of The New Zealand Herald and NewsTalk ZB.

He has told the company’s board he wants to remove most of the…

US backing for Pacific disinformation media course casualty of Trump aid ‘freeze’

Pacific Media Watch
A New Zealand-based community education provider, Dark Times Academy, has had a US Embassy grant to deliver a course teaching Pacific Islands journalists about disinformation terminated after the new Trump administration took office.

The new US administration requested a list of course participants and to review the programme material amid controversy over a “freeze” on federal aid policies.

The course presentation team refused and the contract was terminated…