Commentary

A ‘scathing’ report on RNZ’s performance obscures the good news – and the challenge of serving many audiences


ANALYSIS: By Peter Thompson, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington
The recent internal report on RNZ’s performance, variously described as “scathing” and “blunt” in news…

Eyes of Fire is an updated Rainbow Warrior classic and must read for environmental activism

REVIEW: By Jenny Nicholls
Author David Robie left his cabin on the Rainbow Warrior three days before it was blown up by the Directorate General for External Security (DGSE), France’s…

Why Israel’s assassination of Al Jazeera’s Anas al-Sharif and crew threatens all journalists

By David Robie, convenor of Pacific Media Watch
I never knew Anas al-Sharif personally. But somehow he seemed to be part of our whānau.
We watched so many of…

Climate justice victory at the ICJ – the student journey from USP lectures to The Hague

By Vahefonua Tupola in Suva
The University of the South Pacific (USP) is at the heart of a global legal victory with the International Court of Justice (ICJ) delivering a…

Phil Twyford: Legends of the Pacific: Stories of a Nuclear-Free Moana 1975-1995

MP Phil Twyford’s speech while opening the APMN-organised Legends of the Pacific: Stories of a Nuclear-Free Moana 1975-1995 exhibition at the Ellen Melville Centre today.

By Phil Twyford
Kia ora…

Fiji coup culture and political meddling in media education given airing


Pacific Media Watch
Taieri MP Ingrid Leary reflected on her years in Fiji as a television journalist and media educator at a Fiji Centre function in Auckland celebrating Fourth Estate…

Motarilavoa Hilda Lini – strong, passionate fighter for decolonisation, nuclear-free Pacific

By Stanley Simpson in Suva
I am saddened by the death of one of the most inspirational Pacific women and leaders I have worked with — Motarilavoa Hilda Lini of…

PNG’s Gorethy Kenneth: 23 years of fearless journalism and unwavering truth

PROFILE: By Alu J Kalinoe
At Papua New Guinea’s Post-Courier, our senior journalists often operate in the shadows, yet their courageous efforts are often overlooked — continuously pushing boundaries…

Too many journalists remain silent over the Gaza genocide, a threat to our media credibility

By David Robie on World Press Freedom Day 2025
I ask you now: Do not stop speaking about Gaza.Do not let the world look away.Keep fighting, keep telling our stories…

Amid Dutton’s ‘hate media’ and Trump’s despotism, press freedom is more vital than ever

COMMENTARY: By Alexandra Wake
Despite all the political machinations and hate towards the media coming from the president of the United States, I always thought the majority of…

How to fight Trump’s cyber dystopia with community, self-determination, care and truth

By Mandy Henk: Address to the APMN 2025 annual general meeting
When the US Embassy knocked on my door in late 2024, I was both pleased and more than a…

Mediawatch: Jailed Australian foreign correspondent’s life spread across the big screen


By Colin Peacock, RNZ Mediawatch presenter
In 1979, Sam Neill appeared in an Australian comedy movie about hacks on a Sydney newspaper.

The Journalist was billed as “a saucy…

Gavin Ellis: Slow death of the newspaper editorial

By GAVIN ELLIS, Knightly Views
Newspaper editorials are disappearing, crushed under an avalanche of opinion from the well-informed, the ill-informed, the misinformed, and the malicious.

It is a slow death…

Bad news – why Australia is losing a generation of journalists

Shrinking budgets and job insecurity means there are fewer opportunities for young journalists, and that’s bad news, especially in regional Australia, reports 360info

ANALYSIS: By Jee Young Lee of the…

Trump’s racist, corrupt agenda – like a bank robbery in broad daylight

EDITORIAL: By Giff Johnson, editor of the Marshall Islands Journal
US President Donald Trump and his team is pursuing a white man’s racist agenda that is corrupt at its core…

With Hasbara failing, Israel placed Hossam Shabat on a kill list

While public opinion of Israel plummets, each day the genocide continues without significant repercussions only reinforces that they can ignore this opinion, writes Alex Foley.

SPECIAL REPORT: By Alex Foley
Israel announced that Hossam Shabat was a “terrorist” alongside six other Palestinian journalists. Hossam predicted they would assassinate him.

He survived several attempts on his life. He wrote a brief obituary for himself at the age of 23, carried on reporting, and…

Gavin Ellis: Forensic detail on NZME but where are the guarantees?

KNIGHTLY VIEWS: By Gavin Ellis
Excoriating is the word that may best describe expat Canadian James Grenon’s 11-page critique of NZME. His forensic examination of the board he hopes to replace and the company’s performance is a sobering read.

You may not have seen the letter. At the time of writing, it was still sitting behind The New Zealand Herald’s Premium paywall. It is, however, available through the New Zealand Stock…

Trump silences Voice of America – end of a propaganda machine or void for China and Russia to fill?


ANALYSIS: By Valerie A. Cooper, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington
Of all the contradictions and ironies of Donald Trump’s second presidency so far, perhaps the most surprising has been his shutting down the US Agency for Global Media (USAGM) for being “radical propaganda”.

Critics have long accused the agency — and its affiliated outlets such as Voice of America, Radio Free Europe and Radio Free Asia…

Marshall Islands: How the Rongelap evacuation changed the course of history

SPECIAL REPORT: By Giff Johnson
The late Member of Parliament Jeton Anjain and the people of the nuclear test-affected Rongelap Atoll changed the course of the history of the Marshall Islands by using Greenpeace’s Rainbow Warrior ship to evacuate their radioactive home islands 40 years ago.

They did this by taking control of their own destiny after decades of being at the mercy of the United States nuclear testing programme and its…