Professor Crosbie Walsh.

Pacific Scoop:
Analysis – By Professor Crosby Walsh.

This article was first published on the independent blog Fiji: The Way it Was, Is and Can Be.

Long Distance Vision: “Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of the party” and “The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy’s dog’s back” were two sentences used to teach touch typing. Somehow the good men who make up the International Federation of Journalists got it all mixed up and jumped on to the wrong lazy dog’s back.

Never slow to to criticise events in Fiji, the Federation’s latest statement, on the Media Decree, does it and its anonymous informants no credit. The statement is flawed by the errors of fact, inference and exaggeration noted below. One might have hoped that Coupfourpointfive — run by another group of journalists — in publishing the IFJ release, would have picked up its shortcomings before me. Read more »

Commodore, Prime Minister, and chief restrictor of media freedom, Voreqe Bainimarama.

Pacific Scoop:
Report – By PMC Newsdesk.

Amnesty International has taken a staunch position against Fiji’s military government, stating that a new law that came into effect on June 25 will further restrict Fiji’s fourth estate from doing its job.

In the report Amnesty International states the new law delivers another blow to media in Fiji, and reasons that “Despite the Government’s amendment of the draconian draft decree, journalists can still be imprisoned for being critical of the Government”. The Fiji Times has also been given an ultimatum to get rid of its owner Rupert Murdoch or be shut down. Read more »

The May 2010 edition of Pacific Journalism Review examines a new Australian code to protect the safety of journalists and notes the lack of an equivalent for New Zealand media.

Editors, journalists and media researchers face the challenge of the “price of freedom” and the cost of reporting global conflict in the latest edition of Pacific Journalism Review.

Writing in the edition, Shooting Balibo author Tony Maniaty, who was a consultant for a recent film on the killing of six Australian-based journalists – including a New Zealander – in East Timor, makes a strong plea for wider acceptance of international humanitarian laws. Read more »

Press Release:
International Federation of Journalists (IFJ).

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) is relieved to learn that seven journalists caught up in election-related violence on Camiguin Island in the southern Philippines were escorted safely by police to their offices in Cagayan de Oro, Mindanao, today.

Among the group was Rolando Bruno, formally identified as Rolando Gono, who was reported missing on May 9 after sending a text message to a colleague requesting help. Read more »

Press Release:
UNDP (Fiji).

NADI, Fiji (UNDP Pacific Centre/Pacific Media Watch): Pacific Islands media should undergo regular training on peace building and conflict prevention, says an academic at a Pacific regional workshop on peace building in Fiji.

Shailendra Singh, the divisional head of journalism at the University of the South Pacific in Suva, said that because reporting conflicts was an integral and important part of journalism, journalists needed training in this area in order to do their jobs professionally and ethically. Read more »

United States diplomats meet with Burma's opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who remains under house arrest as a political prisoner. (Photo, courtesy of the US State Department.)

Pacific Scoop:
Analysis Report – By Pacific Media Centre news desk.

The leading military junta in Burma has been given a stern message by the United States to comply with its commitment to a UN security council resolution, and engage with its political opposition and ‘key stakeholders’ in the run up to elections in 2010.

After attempting to encourage the ruling junta to embrace democracy, retreat from human rights abuses and totalitarian laws designed to exhaust political opposition, the Obama Administration has now drawn a line in the sand stating: “The United States stands by the Burmese people in their desire for a more democratic, prosperous, and peaceful nation.” Read more »

Press Release:
International Federation of Journalists.

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) is greatly concerned by reports of early violence against media personnel as the Philippines national elections begin today.

Rolando Gono, radio stringer and writer for the weekly Azilam Review in Cagayan de Oro City in Mindanao, went missing on May 9, according to the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP), an IFJ affiliate. Read more »

Ombudsman Chronox Manek ... scourge of the Papua New Guinean political establishment. (Photo by David Robie/PMC.)

Pacific Scoop:
Report – By David Robie.

Five months ago, he was the target of would-be assassins. Now he is the magnet for politicians wanting to rein in the powers of his state corruption watchdog.

But Chronox Manek is one of the most popular public figures in Papua New Guinea and thousands of ordinary citizens flocked to a peaceful protest last week against a controversial draft law aimed at curbing his powers. Read more »

founder and editor-in-chief of the Samoa Observer, Savea Sano Malifa.

Pacific Scoop:
Analysis – By Savea Sano Malifa in Apia

At the UNESCO World Press Freedom Day conference at the University of Queensland in Brisbane on May 2-3, 2010, Savea Sano Malifa presented a paper on “Threats to Media Freedom and Freedom of Information in the South Pacific”. Since it was a panel discussion, he only spoke from part of its content. Here, Pacific Scoop publishes his complete paper.

All of us at the Samoa Observer, as some of you are probably well aware, have been through some gruelling challenges over the last 20 years or so. They have been tough times, but then we don’t believe it’s a good idea dwelling in the past, holding grudges against anyone, or pointing a finger at any group of people. Read more »

David Robie Photo: Ryan Butler/AUT

Pacific Scoop:
Report – By Pacific Media Watch in Brisbane

A New Zealand media educator who headed Pacific journalism schools for a decade has called for a stronger voice against censorship from the region’s communication education sector.

“The student press and broadcasters in the Pacific universities need to be proactive in their coverage and philosophy as news media,” said associate professor David Robie, director of the Pacific Media Centre at AUT University in New Zealand. Read more »