Bella Kalolo of Tongan, Samoan and Māori descent is currently enjoying a successful career. Image: Louise Hatton

Pacific Scoop:
Report – By Shilo Kino

She was named Best Pacific Artist at the 2012 Pacific Music Awards and calls Glastonbury and City Of London Festival a “highlight”.

Blogger Martyn Pepperell described her as a “mixture of Aretha Franklin/Jill Scott redolent soul (both classical and modern, yet with a Pacific twist)”.

Bella Kalolo, of Samoan, Tongan and Māori descent, has emerged as one of the Pacific’s most thriving musical artists.

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Pacific Scoop interviews Jason Garman, media and communications manager of Oxfam New Zealand. 

Pacific Scoop:
Report – By Daniel Drageset

Oxfam New Zealand’s media manager characterises the conditions of many of the women in Papua New Guinea as “living in a war zone”.

In an exclusive interview with Pacific Scoop Jason Garman said the situation for women in Papua New Guinea could be compared to many sub-Saharan African countries, and mentioned specifically the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

“Gender violence is endemic in Papua New Guinea. I’ve heard statistics that say by a woman’s mid-20s, she has a 65 per cent chance of having experienced gender violence at some point.

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The cost of maintaining an office in Papua New Guinea was too high for AAP and thus it needed to be closed, according to editor in chief Tony Gillies. Image: panpa.org.au

Pacific Scoop:
Report – By Pacific Media Watch

Australia’s national news agency has ended its office operations in Papua New Guinea.

The Australian Associated Press (AAP) editor in chief Tony Gillies said the decision was necessary as the news outlet was not immune to the financial challenges faced by the current media climate.

“We simply had to weigh up how our stories were being used by news customers against the cost of producing them,” he told Radio Australia’s Bethany Keats of the Pacific Beat programme.

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Pacific Scoop internship editor Daniel Drageset participated in a focus group about Tongan handicrafts recently. He subsequently interviewed Monalisa Palu and Elizabeth Latham about the project.

Pacific Scoop:
Report – By Shilo Kino and Daniel Drageset

A programme that develops handicrafts in Tonga will change people’s livelihoods and improve cultural tourism, says the project manager.

Monalisa Palu is the national coordinator for the cultural tourism support programme in Tonga. The handicrafts and cultural tourism support programme was launched in 2012.

The NZAID funded programme is collaborating with Langafonua handicrafts centre and will improve the quality and marketing of handicrafts as well as contributing to cultural tourism.

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Prime Minister Peter O’Neill reacted negatively to critical reporting about the government’s nationalisation of the Ok Tedi mine. Image: devpolicy.org

Pacific Scoop:
Report – By Pacific Media Watch

Senior journalists of Papua New Guinea’s government-run radio and television stations National Broadcasting Corporation (NBC) and Kundu 2 have been penalised, some removed from their positions, for allegedly reporting against the government.

Editor of Radio News Michael Asagoni, and executive producers of Kundu 2 Dick Sorariba and Mulai Robby, have been relieved of their positions and told to resume duties in NBC’s archive section, the Post-Courier reported.

Experienced journalists Jerry Ginua and Wesley Manuai have also been questioned over the same issues.

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East Timorese policemen recapture two Becora prison escapees in Dili. Image: JG/AFP

Pacific Scoop:
Report – Special correspondent in Dili

Policemen in Timor-Leste have recaptured at least 13 of the 24 inmates who escaped from Becora prison in the capital Dili at the weekend, the Jakarta Globe reports.

Two dozen inmates escaped from the prison on Sunday by beating up wardens and fleeing through the main gate as they returned to their cells after mass, an official told Agence France-Presse.

The escapees, including two militants who fought against the nation’s independence from Indonesia, had been among more than 350 prisoners at morning worship at a hall in the prison. Read more »

Filmmaker Jim Marbrook, Kanak elder Jean “Jojo” Neporo, environmental activist Florent Eurisouké, and soundman Steve Woodward at the Pacific Media Centre. Image: Daniel Drageset / PMC Online

Pacific Scoop:
Report – By Daniel Drageset

The main participant in Jim Marbrook’s upcoming Cap Bocage documentary says he thinks the film will help in creating awareness around environmental challenges in New Caledonia.

Florent Eurisouké was the president of the environmental group Mee Rhaari, which protested against nickel mining on the east coast of New Caledonia’s main island Grande Terre.

“It’s important for people to understand that to fight on environmental issues like New Caledonia is very, very difficult.

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Sir Edmund Thomas said it is “culturally and socially offensive” that Māori are “neglected” in New Zealand. Image: Anna Majavu / PMC Online

Pacific Scoop:
Report – By Anna Majavu

A retired Court of Appeal judge has attacked the treatment of Māori in New Zealand, and also slammed New Zealand’s banks as “the robber barons of our day” for failing to pay their taxes and for making “massive profits” at the expense of ordinary people.

Sir Edmund Thomas delivered the annual Bruce Jesson lecture at the University of Auckland on Wednesday this week. The lecture coincided with the Bruce Jesson Journalism Awards ceremony.

Sir Edmund is well-known for being the lawyer who brought a successful case against the 1985 All Blacks rugby tour to apartheid South Africa, giving a much-needed boost to the anti-apartheid movement’s international sports boycott.

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Prime Minister of East Timor Xanana Gusmao congratulated the media in the country with the new code of ethics adopted. Image: portaldeangola.com

Pacific Scoop:
Report – By Dr Mark Pearson

An historic congress of Timor-Leste journalists held in Dili recently voted for their first code of ethics and a seven-member press council.

The next hurdle for media freedom in East Timor will be a press law currently before the national parliament, which it is feared will feature a journalist licensing system and criminal penalties, journlaw.com reported.

The media law proposed by a committee of journalists advising the government featured self-regulatory controls.

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Fiji female politician Roshika Deo has received negative comments about herself on social media. Image: blog.socialmaximizer.com

Pacific Scoop:
Report – By Pacific Media Watch

A female Fijian candidate has been receiving threats, including threats of rape, on social media for standing in next year’s promised elections.

Roshika Deo, who had been using the internet as a campaigning tool, told Radio Australia’s Pacific Beat programme she had been the subject of vicious personal attacks.

“I think it initially started when my intention to stand for election was declared in the local newspaper,” the independent candidate said.

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