Asia Pacific Media Network | Te Koakoa

Asia Pacific Media Network | Te Koakoa

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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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’

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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…

Trump’s foreign aid freeze throws independent journalism into chaos

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President Donald Trump has frozen billions of dollars around the world in aid projects, including more than $268 million allocated by Congress to support independent media and the free flow of information.

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has denounced this decision, which has plunged NGOs, media outlets, and journalists doing vital work into chaotic uncertainty — including in the Pacific.

In a statement published on its website, RSF…

Trump’s ‘free speech’ vision comes at expense of press freedom

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Pacific Media Watch
Among his first official acts on returning to the White House, President Donald Trump issued an executive order “restoring freedom of speech and ending federal censorship”.
Implicit in this vaguely written document: the United States is done fighting mis- and disinformation online, reports the Paris-based global media watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF).

Meanwhile, far from living up to the letter or spirit of his own order, Trump is…

PNG media policy ‘new era journalism’ draft law ready, says Masiu

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NBC News in Port Moresby
Papua New Guinea’s cabinet has officially given the green light to the PNG media policy, which will soon be presented to Parliament for formal enactment.

Minister for Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Timothy Masiu believes this policy will address ongoing concerns about sensationalism, ethical standards, and the portrayal of violence in the media.

In an interview with NBC News in Port Moresby, Masiu outlined the urgent need…

APMN's Christmas message for peace

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Kia ora tatou, Kia orana, Ni sa bula / Namaste / Noaˈia ˈe mạuri, Ko na mauri, Ekamowir Omo,  Gude / Hai, Talofa lava, Fakafeiloaki, Malo e lelei, Talofa, Halo, and warm Pacific greetings from us here at the Asia Pacific Media Network.

We are sharing below the Christmas card designed and contributed by committee member Del Abcede with some quotes from the much loved sermon from Bethlehem's Lutheran Christmas Church…

Kai and Kōrero with the APMN

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Asia Pacific Media Network
Members and supporters of the Asia Pacific Media Network (APMN) held a pre-Christmas “Kai and Kōrero” networking lunch at the Whanau Community Centre and Hub today.
 
Plenty of laughter and fresh ideas for 2025 were shared by about 25 community advocates, academics, activists, journalists and broadcasters from a host of action groups that share the hub along with some diverse media organisations, including the Fiji Centre and…

RSF says global attacks on journalists ‘alarming’, Gaza ‘most dangerous’ and seeks ‘urgent action’

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Pacific Media Watch
The global media freedom watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has revealed an “alarming intensification of attacks on journalists” in its 2024 annual roundup — especially in conflict zones such as Gaza.

Gaza stands out as the “most dangerous” region in the world, with the highest number of journalists murdered in connection with their work in the past five years.

Since October 2023, the Israeli military have killed more than…

How media could help social cohesion and unite people – a Fiji journalism educator’s view

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By Alifereti Sakiasi in Suva
Social cohesion is a national responsibility, and everyone, including the media, should support government’s efforts, according to Dr Shailendra Singh, associate professor in Pacific Journalism at the University of the South Pacific.

While the news media are often accused of exacerbating conflict by amplifying ethnic tensions through biased narratives, media could also assist social cohesion and unite people by promoting dialogue and mutual understanding, said Dr Singh.

RSF condemns assassination of Cambodian environmental journalist

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Pacific Media Watch
The Paris-based global media freedom watchdog Reporters Without Borders has condemned the assassination of Cambodian investigative environmental journalist Chhoeung Chheng who has died from his wounds.

He was shot by an illegal logger last week while investigating unlawful deforestation in the country’s northwest.

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has urged the Cambodian government make sure this crime does not go unpunished, and to take concrete measures to protect journalists.

New course planned to help Pacific media professionals counter disinformation

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Pacific Media Watch
An Aotearoa New Zealand-based community education provider is preparing a new course aimed to help media professionals in the Pacific region understand and respond to the complex issue of disinformation.

The eight-week course “A Bit Sus (Pacific)”, developed by the Dark Times Academy, will be offered free to journalists, editors, programme directors and others involved in running media organisations across the Pacific, beginning in February 2025.

“Our course will…

APMN contingent at the 2024 ACMC conference in Vietnam

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APMN
The 2024 Asian Congress for Media and Communication (ACMC) Conference with the theme “Media Construct and Constructive media” was held from 31 October to 2 November at the Vietnam National University in Ho Chi Minh City.

Vice-president, University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vietnam National University, Dr Lê Hoàng Dũng, welcomed participants to the event which was jointly hosted by ACMC and the University of Social Sciences and Humanities at Vietnam…

Protest photographer John Miller records Hīkoi mō te Tiriti with his historic lens

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For almost six decades photographer John Miller (Ngāpuhi) has been a protest photographer in Aotearoa New Zealand.

From his first photographs of an anti-Vietnam War protest on Auckland’s Albert Street as a high school student in 1967, to Hīkoi mō te Tiriti last week, Miller has focused much of his work on the faces of dissent.

He spoke of his experiences over the years in an interview broadcast at the…

Fiji’s mainstream media fight for survival in social media era

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By Georgia Brown: Queensland University of Technology
Fijian newsrooms are under pressure to adapt as audiences shift away from traditional media such as newspapers, radio, and television, in favour of Facebook and other social media platforms.

Asia Foundation research showed that Fijians ranked Facebook as their third most significant source of information about covid-19 during the pandemic, surpassing newspapers and “word of mouth”, despite recognising social media as their least trusted…

NZ Media Council upholds complaint about Islamic 'terrorist' description by NZ Herald

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NEW ZEALAND HERALD
"In the Media Council’s view, the NZ Herald has erred in describing aspects of Muslim dress as that of a terrorist."

The NZ Media Council has ruled that it was inaccurate to describe wearing traditional Islamic dress as being dressed as an Islamic terrorist.

The Herald published a story on 10 September 2024 headed “Avondale College student dresses up as Islamic terrorist, does fake bomb attack stunt on culture…