New Zealand journalist Jon Stephenson and BBC television reporter Bilal Sarwary discuss Afghanistan last night. Image: Del Abcede/PMC

Pacific Scoop:
Report – By Daniel Drageset of Pacific Media Watch

Afghan journalist Bilal Sarwary has hailed media freedom as one of the accomplishments in Afghanistan over the last decade.

The Kabul-based reporter working for the BBC expressed this view at a Pacific Media Centre seminar in AUT University last night.

In a Q&A session with New Zealand journalist Jon Stephenson, who has also done extensive reporting in Afghanistan, Sarwary noted the big steps Afghanistan has taken in media freedom. Read more »

Samoa’s Gatoloaifaana Amataga Alesana-Gidlow … seeks a NZ ban on fatty meat exports to the Pacific. Image: IISD

At last month’s Pacific parliamentary forum in Wellington, delegates from around the region called for New Zealand to stop exporting fatty meat to the Pacific. The fatty offcuts being exported have been partially blamed for the rise of non-communicable diseases in the Pacific. But Holly Ryan reports for Asia-Pacific Journalism on other concerns.

Pacific Scoop:
Backgrounder – By Holly Ryan

While non-communicable diseases in the Pacific have been on the rise over the last few decades and are partially blamed on the dumping of cheap, fatty food in the region, shortages of healthy locally grown foods are also a problem.

Fatty food supplies from New Zealand again faced controversy at last month’s Pacific Parliamentary and Politics Forum with calls for such exports to be banned.

“All we can do is keep reminding the government and ministries to not back off and to keep pushing for change,” says Cook Islands Democratic Party MP Selina Napa, who was among those at the forum. Read more »

West Papuan Benny Wenda and PNG student journalist Henry Yamo … “Pacific Scoop deserves praise for keeping an eye on Papua and other trouble spots in the Pacific.” Image: Del Abceded/PMC

“Journalism is in crisis in the Pacific region and this is reaching a new level of intensity,” says one editor. But independent Pacific Scoop challenges the status quo. Jane Jeffries reports for Asia-Pacific Journalism.

Pacific Scoop
Report – By Jane Jeffries

Pacific Scoop exposes New Zealand to Pacific issues and gives a fresh voice to people in the region on a wide range of topics including health, human rights, media and social justice, say journalists and media commentators.

This regional independent news website provides a strong platform for Pacific issues to be heard and debated. Mainstream media no longer report widely on Pacific issues so it plays a vital role, say the media analysts.

Pacific Scoop and its founding partner, Wellington-based Scoop Media Limited, last month announced a new $5000 internship to fund a postgraduate student journalist to report and edit for the service. Read more »

Peace negotiator Octovianus Mote … exiled from West Papua by the Indonesian government in 1999. Image: Jamie Small/PMC

A UN Commissioner says that over the last year her office has received 26 reports of alleged human rights violations in West Papua, many of which are linked to law enforcement officials. Jamie Small reports for Asia-Pacific Journalism.

Pacific Scoop:
Report – By Jamie Small

A prominent West Papuan journalist and activist has visited New Zealand to gather support for West Papua’s inclusion in the Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG)  while an Indonesian government crackdown was killing and arresting Papuan demonstrators.

A former Papua regional editor of Kompas newspaper, Octovianus Mote visited in his role as chair of the five elected “peace negotiator” representatives of West Papua.

He says his visit has raised support among a solidarity group in New Zealand, but he doesn’t think the government is supportive of the cause. Read more »

Rev Uesifili Unasa … current legal definition of a Samoan is “incomplete”. Image: Public.Issues.Methodist.Blog

Pacific Scoop:
Report – By Lei Shi

The Samoan government is proposing a new law that may change the current definition of national identity as a “Samoan”.

Iuni Sapolu, a Samoan-born lawyer based in South Auckland, says all Samoans should be informed about the proposed changes to what it means to be a Samoan.

“There is a distinction between a Samoan and a Samoan citizen. In this proposed draft, a Samoan equals a Samoan citizen plus Samoan blood. Read more »

West Papuan journalist and peace negotiator Octovianus Mote and Pax Christi’s Kevin McBride at AUT’s WPFD address. Image: Del Abcede/PMC

More than 600 journalists have been killed globally in the last decade — 121 died last year alone. They had one thing in common. They were killed for doing their jobs. Greg Asciutto reports for Asia-Pacific Journalism.

Pacific Scoop:
Report – By Greg Asciutto

Across the Pacific, advocates of media freedom hosted many World Press Freedom Day celebrations this year.

Australia, Fiji, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Samoa and the Solomon Islands were among the countries to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the UNESCO event on May 3, which focuses upon securing freedom of expression in all forms of media.

According to UNESCO, more than 600 journalists have been killed globally in the last decade — 121 died last year alone. Read more »

Flooding on Viti Levu, Fiji. Climate change was a major theme of the conference. Image: Fiji Times

Pacific Scoop:
Report – By the Pacific Media Centre news desk

Student journalists Michael Sergel and Finian Scott on the Asia-Pacific Journalism course have filed a series of special reports on the Pacific Parliamentary and Politics Forum in Wellington for Pacific Scoop.

Read their reports. Read more »

Pacific Scoop:
Report – The Pacific Media Centre news desk

AUT University student journalist Michael Sergel talks to Australian academic, journalist and author Professor Mark Pearson of Griffith University, Australia, about truth-telling, culture, constitutions and media regulation.

Dr Pearson, author of The Journalist’s Guide to Media Law, delivered the inaugural UNESCO World Press Freedom Lecture at Auckland last night.

The event was organised by the Pacific Media Centre in AUT’s School of Communication Studies. Read more »

Professor Mark Pearson last night … disturbing trends for journalists’ protection of their confidential sources. Image: PMC/AUT On Demand

Pacific Scoop:
Report – By Anna Majavu

A leading journalism academic has voiced concern at the high levels of digital surveillance facing journalists today and has urged journalists to adopt a new ethical model of reporting for social good.

Dr Mark Pearson, professor of journalism and social media at Griffith University in Australia and the Australian correspondent for Reporters Without Borders, spoke last night at the inaugural UNESCO World Press Freedom Day 2013 lecture, organised by AUT’s Pacific Media Centre.

The lack of press freedom in the Asia-Pacific region was well documented with media in Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei and Fiji needing government licences to operate, and journalists in Malaysia facing 53-year-old “internal security” laws under which they could be detained for long periods for “prejudicing national security”. Read more »

Pacific Scoop:
Report – By Daniel Drageset

A media law specialist has called for a boost in support for media organisations in the defence of media freedom in Australia and New Zealand instead of taking it for granted in a message on World Press Freedom Day.

Professor Mark Pearson of Griffith University, who is delivering the UNESCO World Press Freedom Day lecture at AUT University in Auckland tonight, had earlier also given a message about Pacific media freedom.

Many people in New Zealand and Australia have hardly heard about World Press Freedom Day, coordinated by UNESCO all over the globe today – May 3. Read more »