Pacific Journalism Review (Pacific Media Centre, School of Communication Studies, Auckland University of Technology)
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Building resilience in the war zone against hidden injury
Get PDFCommentary: Psychological impacts of covering trauma such as war, or indeed any disaster with loss of life and tragedy, have the capacity to challenge the media professional to develop professional and personal skills. ‘Lessons learned’ from experience will enhance capacity considerably; however there are also the potential negative effects that can cause harm to some. These effects are rarely spoken about in the newsroom, nor are they generally included in any useable detail when journalists undergo hazardous environment training
Conflict reporting: Emotional attachment, a sense of morality and reporting objectively
Get PDFThis article explores how emotional attachment and a sense of morality often drive journalists to produce great work in areas of conflict, particularly those solo video journalists who produce long format current affairs. But it also questions if a sense of engagement can impede journalist’s ability to report objectively? And how relevant is this ideal today? Former BBC war correspondent Martin Bell changed his view on objectivity after covering the Balkans War. He advocated for a journalism of attachment especially in war zones and amid human suffering. There are some Australian video journalists whose sense of engagement has defined outstanding bodies of work. However, some practices in the field often defy concepts of impartiality. Issues of, if, or when, to put down the camera and give assistance; or how to remain fair and honest to the story while gaining the long term trust of sources, sometimes challenges journalists
A global evolution in risk reporting: Review of International News Reporting: Frontlines and Deadlines, edited by John Owen and Heather Purdey
No full textLooking around a lecture theatre of students majoring in journalism in an Australian university, it may seem fair enough to ask how important it is to teach them about war reporting. How many of these music, fashion and sport-inspired kids are going to find themselves on a frontline? Reading through Owen and Purdy;s book two rationales emerge. The first is that the era of battle-weary foreign correspondents is waning. The second is that the book brings home importance of our profession's reputation for being unbiased
Media freedom and state control in Tonga
Get PDFThe Tongan Constitution guarantees free speech and media freedom but this guarantee has often been misunderstood and misinterpreted by the media industry, the government and politicians alike. Freedom of speech was integrated into the Constitution from the beginning in 1875. However, as history has shown, this freedom has often been altered to silence opposition and critics’ voices. As early as 1882, the Tongan media had their first confrontation with the government and in 2003 saw a parallel incident unfolding. This article examines the influence of state control on the media in Tonga through an analysis of two case studies from different eras in Tongan history: the Niuvakai newspaper in 1882 and the Taimi ‘o Tonga newspaper in 2003
Telling stories that nobody wants to hear: Review of Balibo, directed by Robert Connolly
No full textAustralian director Robert Connolly’s aspiration for his film Balibo—and the challenge of bringing it to a wider audience—was similar. As was his take on our propensity for not wanting to know. Certainly the death of the six Australian-based journalists—including New Zealander Gary Cunningham—seeking to tell the truth about Indonesia’s invasion of East Timor in 1975 was an episode that Australians, or more particularly their politicians, didn’t want to know about. Not then, not now, and not over the intervening period, when dreadful crimes were being perpetrated in Timor and Australian governments were averting their eyes, shamefully, in our name
New edition leaves scope for 'human factor' research: Review of The Media and Communications in Australia, edited by Stuart Cunningham and Graeme Turner (3rd edition)
No full textThe Cunningham and Turner reader, once again, has a core of 11 informational chapters updating us on developments in and around mass media, set in a jacket of other chapters describing selected theories of media or media research. At the back there are some 'cultural studies' essays about aspects of prominent media fare over recent years: sports, celebrities, media treatments of the 2005 Cronulla 'riot' are brought out once again. 
The lure of the local: ‘News’ definitions in community broadcasting
Get PDFJournalists and media researchers globally are increasingly expressing concern about trends in the news media industry which would appear to suggest a dire future for quality journalism, and thus democracy, in many developed democratic nations. The US State of the News Media report, now produced annually, regularly reports concerns by journalists and editors—and those who study them—about decreasing investment by news corporations in quality journalism (Pew Centre, 2005; 2006; 2007; 2008). The Australian Press Council has presented its own study to mirror that of the Pew Centre in an effort to report on the Australian context (APC, 2006; 2007). The author has, with colleagues from Griffith University, conducted research into the Australian community broadcasting sector for the past nine years. The research conducted since 1999 has been broad but this article will focus on one element of the research—the news and information services of community broadcasting. The community broadcasting sector is worthy of close investigation, because it is one of the few areas of the Australian media landscape that continues to grow. Importantly, quantitative research into the community sector indicates that 57 percent of the Australian population tune in at least monthly to a community radio station—and more than one in four listen at least weekly (McNair Ingenuity, 2008, p. 4). This article investigates the nature of community news offered by the Australian community radio sector through the perspectives of journalists and producers who deliver the news, and the audiences who access it
‘Short views’ on Fiji coups fail to answer key media questions: Review of The 2006 Military Takeover in Fiji: A coup to end all coups?, edited by Jon Fraenkel, Stewart Firth and Brij V. Lal
No full textThe first premier of the People’s Republic of China, Zhou Enlai (1949-1976), when asked about the impact of the late eighteenth century French Revolution, supposedly responded that it was too early to tell. Apocryphal or not, his ‘long view’ always needs to be borne in mind when trying to evaluate recent events, including the 2006 coup in Fiji. In the meantime however, ‘short views’ will continue to be made and this collection of essays by 24 contributors forms part of that process.
The 2006 Military Takeover in Fiji essays are also partisan, seking to affect what occurs in Fiji. The collection is framed largely around the spurious premise that there are only two defensible positions, either for or against the current military regime. 
Life under Decree No. 29 of 2010: The Fiji Media Development Decree
Get PDFThis article examines the domestic and regional impact of a punitive media law introduced in Fiji in June. Decree No. 29 of 2010, the Media Industry Development Decree, is the first of its kind in the South Pacific. It brings to an end the tradition of media self-regulation, one of the hallmarks of a free media. All Fiji governments since independence have tried to introduce tougher media laws. The Bainimarama government, which took power in a coup in December 2006, has succeeded where others failed. Its media decree prescribes hefty fines and jail terms for journalists who fall foul of the law. Given the precedent in Fiji, it is unlikely that a future government will move to change this law, which could become a permanent fixture in the country. This article looks at the impact of the law in Fiji and raises the possibility of copycat laws in other island countries where governments distrust media. The article also questions the applicability of conventional journalistic approaches, which place a premium on conflict as a news element, in politically fragile island countrie
A challenge to the spook agencies' media spin: Review of Spinning Intelligence: Why Intelligence Needs the Media, Why the Media Needs Intelligence, by Robert Dover and Michael S. Goodman (eds)
No full textThis book Spinning Intelligence investigates this culture, the relationship that exists between security intelligence agencies and other institutions, and lays bare a solidly researched account that is as readable as it is a resource. The book explores whether intelligence agencies operate within a culture of accountability, giving special attention to the most powerful agencies in our post-millennium world.