Pacific Journalism Review (Pacific Media Centre, School of Communication Studies, Auckland University of Technology)
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REVIEW: Māori and Pākehā newspapers vied for audience in colonial New Zealand
No full textLasting Impressions: The Story of New Zealand’s Newspapers, 1840-1920, by Ian F. Grant. Masterton, New Zealand: Fraser Books, 2018. 676 pages. ISBN 978-0-9941360-4-6IAN F. GRANT’S Lasting Impressions is a magisterial history of New Zealand’s early newspapers and is the culmination of many years of research as well as a life-long fascination with this country’s print media. The Alexander Turnbull Library’s first adjunct scholar has produced more than just the definitive account of how this industry rose and developed between 1840 and 1920; he has also written an enthralling tale of the making of New Zealand
Investigative journalism: Discovering the HIGHlands: 1996 PACIFIC INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALISM AWARD 4
No full textCommended: The Fiji Times team of reporter Ilaitia Turagabeci and photographer Asaeli Lave were commended for their report uncovering a drug farm in the Rakiraki highlands where cash-starved villagers thrive on income from 'grass'.
 
The sword of Damocles in the South Pacific: Two media regulatory case studies: Free Speech
No full textConstitutional guarantees of free speech and media freedom are well established 'on paper' in most South Pacific nations. How these gurantees are interpreted is constantly a source of tension between policitans, media practicioners and constitutional advocates. Recent attempts by two countries in the region, Fiji and Tonga, to introduce draconian legislation have partially successful, provoking international condemnation. In Feburary 2003, a series of five bans on the Auckland-published Taimi 'o Tonga newspaper led to conflict between the island kingdom's Supreme Court and the Privy Council. This eventually provoked controversial consitutional changes that were adopted on October 16 in spite of unprecedented protests. These changes, in the form of the Media Operators Act 2003, Newspaper Act 2003, and Act of Constitution of Tonga (Amendment) Act 2003, are expected to effectively ban the paper for good and, according to some legal analysts, may end the rule of law. In Fiji a draft Media Council of Fiji Bill was made public in May 2003 and submissions were invited. However, the proposed law stirred a strong reaction from the media and civil society groups as being 'unconstitutional'. This article examines and analyses the debate over self-regulation and public accountability of the media versus state control in the South Pacific. 
Mostly 'men in suits': The ASEAN summit and integration as news in Southeast Asia
Get PDFThis article is a preliminary examination of how Southeast Asian media frame the regional integration of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) as a news topic. Without grassroots engagement, the ASEAN integration will inevitably fall short of its grand objectives, and crucial to building grassroots engagement is media coverage capable of building audience interest and appreciation. Based on articles published during the major ASEAN summit events in 2018, the authors identified resonant themes in the reportage and discussed these vis-a-vis the documented character of the different media environments in the region. It was found that the axis of the reportage is the declarations and actions of the heads of state, with very few human interest and context-building stories that would have built audience engagement in what is otherwise an affair revolving around ‘men in suits’. Moreover, the journalistic emphasis on consensus and state initiatives reflects continuing adherence to the tenets of the development journalism framework, but this can also be interpreted as the dominance of ‘prominence’ as a news value (i.e. stories are framed according to the gestures of prominent individuals). These findings call attention to the need for re-thinking reportage on potentially high-stake phenomena such as the ASEAN integration
REVIEW: Noted: A window into a displaced Pacific community
No full textBanabans of Rabi: A Story of Survival, a documentary by Blessen Tom and Hele Ikimotu. 10 minutes. Pacific Media Centre, Auckland University of Technology.ONE thought in particular is likely to linger in the mind of anyone who watches Bababans of Rabi—how can people who have endured such hardship remain so happy? Produced by Auckland University of Technology students Hele Ikimotu and Blessen Tom as part of the Pacific Media Centre’s 2018 Bearing Witness climate project, the documentary provides a window into the houses of the smiling people whose ancestors were forcibly displaced from their home island of Banaba in the 1940s
REVIEW: A possible new path to Māori-Pākehā understanding
No full textListening to the People of the Land: Christianity, Colonisation & the Path to Redemption, edited by Susan Healy. Auckland: Pax Christi, Aotearoa New Zealand, 2019, with support from the New Zealand Dominican Sisters. 332 pages. ISBN 978-0-473-45957-4.Praying for Peace: A Selection of Prayers and Reflections, edited by Kevin McBride. Auckland: Pax Christi, Aotearoa New Zealand, in association with the Pacific Media Centre, 2018. 152 pages. ISBN 978-0-473-43798-5.THE STRENGTH of this series of essays in Listening to the People of the Land is the varying perspectives given on the brutal losses forced on Māori by white and Christian colonisation. In fact, if New Zealand was a truly just society, the teachings here would be a significant part of our school curriculum. Editor Susan Healy draws the outline in the first 95 pages. Her chapter raises the occasional quibble and sometimes seems to downplay how inextricably interwoven were the settler culture and the Christian church in 1800s New Zealand
Investigative journalism: Giant logger linked to Posai's housing: 1996 PACIFIC INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALISM AWARD 3
No full textCommended: Dominic Kakas, editor of The Independent. Disgraced PNG Forests Minister Andrew Posai was found guilty by a leadership Tribunal on 26 counts of misconduct in office as Minister of Home Affairs and Youth in 1992-1993. This report was published shortly after
PHOTOESSAY: Gangsters in Paradise: The Deportees of Tonga
Get PDFThis photoessay is based around photographs taken during the making of the documentary Gangsters in Paradise: The Deportees of Tonga. As a documentary photographer with a tendency to focus on social issues and subcultures, the author was interested in documenting the lives of deportees in Tonga. Through the film, he hoped to highlight the various complexities of identity, belonging and adaptation in relation to the deportee community of Tonga. More importantly, he wanted to start a conversation in Tonga itself regarding how this growing community can be better supported and understood by the wider Tongan public. 
Malaysia’s Anti-Fake News Act: A cog in an arsenal of anti-free speech laws and a bold promise of reforms
Get PDFMalaysia’s surprising fourteenth general election result in May 2018 was widely hailed as the advent of a seismic shift for press freedom in the country. The country’s draconian media control armoury was often wantonly and oppressively applied over six decades under previous rule. Key actors from that era are now presiding over bold reforms that have been promised by the new government. In keeping with its election promises, the new government sought to repeal the hastily and badly drafted Anti-Fake News Act 2018 (AFNA). The Attorney-General Tommy Thomas wrote scathingly before the Act was passed and before taking office as the new A-G:The draconian effect of the entire bill renders it unconstitutional…This is a disgraceful piece of legislation drafted by a desperate government determined to crush dissent and silence critics. The bill is so hastily and poorly drafted that it cannot under any circumstances be improved by amendment. Instead, it must be rejected outright. (Thomas, 2018)The repeal effort, however, failed and the Act remains technically on the books. This article examines the Act against a backdrop of global responses to the ‘fake news’ phenomenon; provides an overview of Malaysia’s draconian armoury of laws that impinge on freedom of expression; discusses the fading optimism for proper media regulation reform in Malaysia; and concludes that meaningful media regulation reform must go beyond repealing AFNA
Social media and Fiji’s 2018 national election
Get PDFPolitical campaigning on social media in Fiji was first witnessed in the 2014 national election. In the Fiji 2018 general election, social media political campaigning had evolved with greater complexity and a wider variety of implications. This research examines and highlights the use of social media by political parties and candidates in the 2018 national elections. This examination provides comparative social media discussions between the two elections; 2014 and 2018. The research uses digital ethnography as a methodology to examine and highlight social media use, by political parties and candidates in Fiji’s 2018 national elections. The research found that FijiFirst, as the ruling government, had significant advantage in Fiji’s social media landscape. However, opposition social media efforts and growing Facebook ‘reactions’ were beginning to challenge FijiFirst’s social media dominance