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…

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…

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.

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.

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
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…

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…

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…

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…

Pacific Media, our new APMN publication is underway, since the 30th anniversary of Pacific Journalism Review.

The Pacific Media publication series offers journalists, journalism academics and community activists and researchers an outlet for quality research and analysis in a long-form article of up to 15,000-25,000 words, or a series of papers, and more opportunities for community collaborative publishing.

While associated with Pacific Journalism Review and modelled on an earlier title…

Congratulations Heather!
Our chair, Dr Heather Devere, has just received word that her new book, Making Connections: Friendship and Politics, has been published by Palgrave Macmillan. 

This book is a historical review of literature and ideas that make the connections between friendship and politics. Using pertinent quotations from a wide variety of sources, the book is divided into three main parts. Firstly, it explores interpretations of the concept of friendship, tracing…

The Commonwealth Heads of Government adopted the Commonwealth Principles on Freedom of Expression and the Role of the Media in Good Governance at their summit meeting in Apia, Samoa, last week.

These Principles highlight the importance of freedom of expression and media freedom to democracy.  They state that Commonwealth governments “should consider repealing or amending laws which unduly restrict the right to freedom of expression”.

The Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

By Kaneta Naimatau in Suva
In a democracy, citizens must critically evaluate issues based on facts. However in a very polarised society, people focus more on who is speaking than what is being said.

This was highlighted by journalism Professor Cherian George of the Hong Kong Baptist University as he delivered his keynote address during the recent 2024 Pacific International Media Conference at the Holiday Inn, Suva.

According to Professor George when…

Facebook has reportedly temporarily blocked posts published by an independent online news outlet in Solomon Islands after incorrectly labelling its content as “spam”.

In-Depth Solomons, a member centre of the non-profit OCCRP (Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project), was informed by the platform that more than 80 posts had been removed from its official page.

According to OCCRP, the outlet believes opponents of independent journalism in the country could…

By Justin Latif in Suva
Despite the many challenges faced by Pacific journalists in recent years, the recent Pacific International Media Conference highlighted the incredible strength and courage of the region’s reporters.

The three-day event in Suva, Fiji, earlier this month co-hosted by the University of South Pacific, Pacific Islands News Association (PINA) and the Asia Pacific Media Network (APMN), was the first of its kind for Fiji in the last…