Asia Pacific Media Network | Te Koakoa

Asia Pacific Media Network | Te Koakoa

Commentary

Pacific Media Conference to celebrate 30th birthday of Pacific Journalism Review

COMMENTARY: By Mark Pearson
Journalists, publishers, academics, diplomats and NGO representatives from throughout the Asia-Pacific region will gather for the 2024 Pacific International Media Conference hosted by The University of the South Pacific in Suva, Fiji, next month.

A notable part of the conference on July 4-6 will be the celebration of the 30th anniversary of the journal Pacific Journalism Review — founded by the energetic pioneer of journalism studies in the…

Fiji coup culture - here we go again. More instability?

COMMENTARY: By Graham Davis, investigative journalist and publisher of Grubsheet.
The Fiji Times totally crosses the line today by using a convicted felon who took part in the 2000 coup to call for the release of the coup frontman George Speight. 

Journalist Josefa Nata spent 23 years in prison for his part in the rebellion. He has served his time and deserves his freedom.

But he does not deserve…

The pen might be mighty, but in war it isn’t much protection

By Tira Shubart, for News Decoder, a global educational service
With the 156,000 allied troops who came ashore at Normandy on D-Day were 500 news reporters armed only with pens, paper, cameras and recording equipment.

On 6 June 1944, the biggest seabourne invasion in history was launched across the English Channel towards the French coast to establish a base and retake occupied Europe from Nazi Germany.

Known as D-Day — and…

50 years of challenge and change: David Robie reflects on a career in Pacific journalism

By Moera Tuilaepa-Taylor, manager of RNZ Pacific
This King’s Birthday today, the New Zealand Order of Merit recognises Professor David Robie’s 50 years of service to Pacific journalism.

He says he is astonished and quite delighted, and feels quite humbled by it all.

“However, I feel that it’s not just me, I owe an enormous amount to my wife, Del, who is a teacher and designer by profession, but she has…

New Zealand’s role in helping bring peace to Kanaky New Caledonia

COMMENTARY: By Teanau Tuiono
There is an important story to be told behind the story Aotearoa New Zealand’s mainstream media has been reporting on in Kanaky New Caledonia. Beyond the efforts to evacuate New Zealanders lies a struggle for indigenous sovereignty and self-determination we here in Aotearoa can relate to.

Aotearoa is part of a whānau of Pacific nations, interconnected by Te Moana-nui-a-Kiwa. The history of Aotearoa is intricately woven into the…

French repressive policies in New Caledonia have ‘betrayed’ Kanak hopes

Green Left Show
Indigenous Kanaks in Kanaky (New Caledonia) have sprung into revolt in the last two weeks in response to moves by the colonial power France to undermine moves towards independence in the Pacific territory.

Journalist David Robie from Aotearoa New Zealand spoke to the Green Left Show in Sydney yesterday about the issues involved.

We acknowledge that this video was produced on stolen Aboriginal land. We express solidarity with ongoing…

How an Irish entrepreneur took the NZ Herald into a new era

By Michael Horton
In a guest column on the Gavin Ellis website Knightly Views, Michael Horton recalls how a former Irish rugby international entered the history of news media in New Zealand and closed an illustrious chapter during which the Wilson and Horton families had been at the forefront of the country’s newspaper production and the flagship New Zealand Herald.
 
Sir Anthony O’Reilly, who died on May 18 aged…

Kanaky in flames: Five takeaways from the New Caledonia independence riots

ANALYSIS: By David Robie, editor of Asia Pacific Report (Published APR, 17 May 2024)
Jean-Marie Tjibaou, a revered Kanak visionary, was inspirational to indigenous Pacific political activists across Oceania, just like Tongan anthropologist and writer Epeli Hao’ofa was to cultural advocates.

Tragically, he was assassinated in 1989 by an opponent within the independence movement during the so-called “les événements” in New Caledonia, the last time the “French” Pacific territory…

Newshub, TVNZ job cuts: NZ now has the worst TV in the Western world

COMMENTARY: By Myles Thomas, Better Public Media Trust
The announced closure of Television New Zealand’s last primetime current affairs programme seems to be the final nail in the coffin for New Zealand’s television credibility. Coming a day after the announcement of the closure of Newshub, it shows that Kiwis have the worst television and video media in the Western world.

Let’s compare ourselves with our mates across the ditch. Australia’s ABC…

Silent majority must speak out to save vital journalism

COMMENTARY: By Gavin Ellis, Knightly Views 
In the wake of the announcements on Newshub’s closure and TVNZ’s cuts, I received an email from Pat, who lives in the Auckland suburb of Orakei. The email asked a simple question: “Is there anything a member of the public can do to register shock and horror at the loss of current affairs programmes and the talented people who make and present those programmes?”

RNZ Mediawatch: End of the news in NZ as we know it?

COMMENTARY: By Colin Peacock, RNZ Mediawatch presenter
This week the two biggest TV broadcasters in Aotearoa New Zealand confirmed plans to cut news programmes by midyear – and the jobs of a significant proportion of this country’s journalists. 

Many observers said this had been coming but few seemed to have a plan for it, including the government.  

Mediawatch looks at what viewers will lose, efforts to resist the cuts and…

NZ media's lab test results spell bad news

COMMENTARY: By Gavin Ellis, Knightly Views publisher
Three primary indicators of the health of New Zealand news media are being published this week and, if the first is anything to go by, the industry needs to be moved to the Intensive Care Unit.

AUT’s JM&D Trust in News Survey, the Acumen Edelman Trust Barometer, and the annual breakdown of advertising spend by the Advertising Standards Authority are all due this week.

ABC 2024: Battle of wills over ideologies

COMMENTARY: By Lee Duffield
Dr Lee Duffield, a veteran of ABC journalism, former journalism academic and APMN member, has been appraising the organisation and its work. He has described one old ideology fast disappearing, a conservative aversion to new ideas and any airing of conflict in society; and two main ideologies currently in force: one a professional ideal saying the ABC must stick to instructions to be a broad church for…

Indonesian military apologies fail to mask the harassment, gagging of Papuan leaders

COMMENTARY: By Ronny Kareni
Since the atrocious footage of the suffering of an indigenous Papuan man reverberates in the heart of Puncak by the brute force of Indonesia’s army in early February, shocking tactics deployed by those in power to silence critics has been unfolding.

Nowhere is this more evident than in the plight of the leaders of the United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP), Markus Haluk and Menase Tabuni. Their…

West Papuan wounds of suffering – diplomatic pressure on Indonesia needed urgently

COMMENTARY: By Ronny Kareni
Recent videos depicting the barbaric torture of an indigenous Papuan man by Indonesian soldiers have opened the wounds of West Papua’s suffering, laying bare the horrifying reality faced by its people.

We must confront this grim truth — what we witness is not an isolated incident but a glaring demonstation of the deep-seated racism and systematic persecution ravaging West Papuans every single day.

Human rights defenders that the…