Pacific Journalism Review (Pacific Media Centre, School of Communication Studies, Auckland University of Technology)
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Social media ecology in an influencer group: Intersection between Fiji's media and social media
No full textSocial media use in Fiji has expanded in recent years and has become a ubiquitous feature in wider society. Social media ecology focusses and examines the dimensions of an online environment and its interplay with human experiences in user engagement. These dimensions with human experiences in user engagement, can provide an insight into how influential social media groups can become in shaping discourses and views. To examine and discuss the social media ecology of an influencer group, the article details one of Fiji’s largest and most influential online groups. To do this, the article uses digital ethnography, supplemented with social media analytics. This study provides key findings in the social media ecology of influencer groups and online behavior. These findings may have implications for further research in media, citizen journalism, viral content creation and online political campaigning
Media fuss over stranded tourists, but Kanaks face existential struggle
Full text linkCommentary: For two weeks in May 2024, protests by pro-independence indigenous Kanaks in the French Pacific territory of New Caledonia erupted into a wave of rioting; erection of barricades; and burning of factories, shops and homes with the deaths of seven people – five Melanesians and two gendarmes. Since the late 1980s the Kanak independence movement had been consistently engaging with the 1988 Matignon then 1998 Nouméa Accords with Paris in an evolving process as part of their struggle for self-determination. The Nouméa Accord set out a framework for transferring power to the people of New Caledonia, through a series of three referenda. However, after France moved to unilaterally break with the Accords and declare independence as being off the table that the country returned to a state of unrest. This article recalls the influence of one of the leaders of the 1980s upheaval, Éloi Machoro.
EDITORIAL NOTE: The "Kanaky Palestine - Même Combat" photograph on page 164 attributed to Solidarity is actually a photo taken by PhD candidate Anaïs Duong-Pedica of her handmade sign for a Palestine solidarity march at Chambéry, France, in January 2024. It is a slogan used by the USTKE union in Kanaky New Caledonia
After the killing fields: Post-pandemic changes in journalism employment in Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand
Full text linkThis article continues a longitudinal national study of journalism employment in Australia and contributes to new understandings of journalism employment in Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand. Results suggest a shift in the organisational landscape of the media in Australia, with an expansion of large organisations at the ‘top,’ and a considerable loss of small micro-ventures (largely based online) at the ‘bottom.’ Implications include stronger centralised editorial control at the corporate level, urbanisation and homogenisation of media producers and product, and reduced opportunities for creative entry-level roles
OBITUARY: John Pilger, a 'maverick' globe-spanning journalist : 9 October 1939 – 30 December 2023
Full text linkObituary: The breadth of Australian-born British-domiciled investigative journalist John Pilger’s journalism was staggering. Over five decades, he covered wars and/or social conflicts in Australia (frequently) Burma, Cambodia, Chagos Islands, Chile, China, Czechoslovakia, Iraq, Japan, Mexico, Nicaragua, Okinawa, South Africa, Timor Leste, Vietnam, the UK and the US etc. He produced powerful documentaries about these issues. He was truly a globe-spanning journalist, and as he described himself a 'maverick' who gave a voice to those who did not have a voice. He died aged 84
Nurturing resilient journalists: A Fiji case study of student news reporting in challenging Pacific environments
Full text linkThis article examines the multifaceted learning experiences University of the South Pacific (USP) journalism students gain from practical training. It is the latest in a series of papers on applied learning and teaching at USP journalism. Applied training methods take into account the challenges of the Pacific news reporting terrain in which USP journalism graduates will operate once they start work. The article reiterates that the best way to condition future journalists for their work environment is to expose them to the elements. The article uses USP student journalists’ coverage of the 2018 and 2022 Fiji elections as background case studies of practical experience and learning outcomes
Challenging the Pacific ‘blind spots’ through images
Full text linkPhotoessay: A unique feature of Pacific Journalism Review, compared with many other journalism and media research journals, has been a particular focus on photography and documentary. Contributors have been eclectic and varied, ranging from activist photojournalist John Miller (Ngāpuhi), who charted the new wave of Māori assertiveness from the first Nga Tamatoa protest at Waitangi in 1971 and who offered a research portfolio on the Ngatihine Land/Forestry legal dispute in Northland Aotearoa, to Ben Bohane’s ‘Melanesian mythical places with unreported conflicts’, to Kasun Ubayasiri’s ‘Manus to Meanjin’ study of refugee migration, to Filipino Fernando G. Sepe’s stunning but shocking portrayal of President Rodrigo Duterte’s extrajudicial ‘war on drugs’ (in reality a ‘war on poverty’), through to Todd M. Henry’s Tongan ‘Gangsters in Paradise’ and the realm of kava in New Zealand. At least a dozen portfolios have been published by the journal and this article examines and reflects on some of the highlights. The photoessay is completed with a portfolio of protest photographs from Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand during eight months of Israel’s War on Gaza
REVIEW: A grim year ahead, but some cause for optimism: Review of Reuters Trends and Predictions 2024, by Nic Newman
No full textJournalism, Media, and Technology Trends and Predictions 2024, by Nic Newman. Oxford: Reuters Institute. 2024. 46 pages. DOI: 10.60625/risj-0s9w-z770
EVERY day more and more online content is disappearing behind paywalls as publishers try to protect their dwindling revenues. Whether readers confronted by paywalls will bother to subscribe or simply seek the information elsewhere—or just give up and look at another Beyonce listicle—is one of the scenarios prompted by the appearance of the latest set of predictions about the future from the Reuters Institute
REVIEW: Fear and loathing in New Zealand: Review of Fear: New Zealand's hostile underworld of extremists, by Byron C Clark
No full textFear: New Zealand’s hostile underworld of extremists, by Byron C Clark. Auckland: HarperCollins, 2023. 328 pages. ISBN 9781775542308.
SINCE the horrific attacks in Christchurch in 2019 there has been substantial and growing attention paid to the extreme right in New Zealand. The pandemic—and the conspiracy theories and anti-government sentiment that developed in response—increased that scrutiny, and the sense of unease or alarm many felt about it
Media, the courts, and terrorism: Lessons from the Christchurch mosque attacks
Full text linkCommentary: Court proceedings against the alleged perpretrator of the Christchurch mosque attacks in 2019 led to what may be ground-breaking cooperation between the judicial system and the media to balance fair trial rights and a determination to (a) avoid retraumatisation and (b) prevent the court being used as a platform for white supremacist propaganda. The case, and the willingness of media to honour these imperatives, demonstrates the centrality of publicity in acts of terrorism known as ‘propaganda of the deed’. The research outlined in this article suggests that institutional cooperation can avoid ‘giving oxygen’ to perpetrators and their causes without sacrificing journalistic integrity or a duty to bear witness in the interests of open justice. A change of plea resulted in proceedings being limited to a sentencing hearing. A lengthy trial may have tested the robustness of the measures put in place but, nonetheless, the planning processes employed in New Zealand lead to a conclusion that they could provide a basis for similar cooperation in other judicial jurisdictions, such as Australia
Media ethics in the Pacific: Ethical challenges in the Marshall Islands
Full text linkMedia ethics in the Pacific Islands varies considerably among nations in practice, as shown in scholarship. This case study of 16 Marshall Islands journalists aims to provide evidence of ethical decision-making in practice in one Pacific Island nation, and demonstrate the intersection of imported journalism values and local culture. It builds on survey work of Pacific Island journalists’ roles by Singh and Hanusch (2021), the Worlds of Journalism study by Hanitzsch et al. (2019) and works by Robie (2004, 2014 and 2019). Responses from 16 journalists in the Republic of the Marshall Islands who made ethical decisions during a journalism workshop facilitated by the newly established Pacific Media Institute at the College of Marshall Islands in June 2022 were analysed. First, the participants identified ethical conflicts in carrying out their professional duties. Next, they applied standard ethics codes from democracies (absolutism), to local scenarios. Discussion centered on how to address the core value of independence because of dominance of the church and the strongly influential chiefly system in RMI. Personal relationships were also factored in their ethical decision-making because the journalists considered the perspectives of all stakeholders in reporting on Marshallese culture and society. They were keenly aware of the consequences of their reporting on their community. They offered unique, locally derived solutions from different perspectives. They often exhibited an ‘ethics of care', prioritising humanity and sometimes societal harmony