A former newspaper editor believes the journalism profession in Papua New Guinea and other Pacific Island countries is in crisis.

Team leader of the Pacific Media Assistance Scheme (PACMAS)/ABC International Development (ABCID) Alexander Rheeney spoke of this issue at the 2024 Pacific International Media Conference in Fiji last week.

Reflecting on his role as a former editor of both the PNG Post-Courier newspaper in Papua New Guinea and the Samoa Observer, Rheeney said a lot of challenges were facing journalists in PNG, especially over the quality of reporting and gender-based violence

He said the harassment mainly affected female journalists in newsrooms around the Pacific and Papua New Guinea was no exception.

Rheeney’s concern now is to find solutions to these challenges.

Rheeney told the NBC that every newsroom had its own challenges, and the 2024 Pacific International Media Conference was a great forum that brought journalists past, and present, including media academics and experts together to share and find answers to these problems.

He said the proposed PNG media policy was seen as a threat and challenge for some.

Many journalists and media houses were questioning what this policy might do to affect their way of reporting.

Papua New Guinea’s Information Communication and Technology Minister Timothy Masiu, whose ministry was spearheading this media policy, was also part of the conference and he spoke positively about the policy.

Minister Masiu said that the draft policy was to elevate the media profession in PNG and called for the development of media self-regulation in the country without government’s direct intervention.

The draft policy also was intended to strike a balance between the media’s ongoing role on transparency and accountability on the one hand, and the dissemination of development information on the other hand.

Republished from NBC News with permission.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

By Arieta Vakasukawaqa in Suva

Qorvis Communications and Vatis — the two controversial public relation companies employed by the FijiFirst government to manage its public relations work — have been terminated.

This was confirmed by Fiji’s Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka outside Suvavou House yesterday during an interview with journalists.

Rabuka said the two companies would be investigated without disclosing more details.

FBC News reports that Rabuka said: “I gave instructions earlier for their termination, the cessation of any appointment with them, and investigations on how the funds have been used and how much.”

He said the Ministry of Information would carry out work for the government.

Corvis has been highly controversial over its handling of Fiji public relations.

Heated debate over Qorvis budget
In 2017, there was heated debate over a motion to decrease the budget allocation for Qorvis Communications was moved by the opposition, now the government.

A budget of $1 million had been allocated for services from Qorvis Communications which was described as an “international public relations, advertising, media relations and crisis communications firm”.

National Federation Party leader Professor Biman Prasad, then in opposition but now co-Deputy Prime Minister said the government did not need Qorvis Communications.

However, then Economy Minister Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum interjected and told the NFP leader to “stick to the motion” and not “make speculation”.

Arieta Vakasukawaqa is a Fiji Times reporter. Republished with permission.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

By Sri Krishnamurthi, contributing editor of Pacific Media Watch

After some weeks of heavy criticism of Papua New Guinea Prime Minister James Marape’s government amid the Covid-19 pandemic, support for the administration has come from a surprising quarter – one of the media.

Scott Waide is the Lae bureau chief of EMTV News and an award-winning journalist and blogger who says the PNG people are driven by perceptions of what other countries are doing to combat Covid-19.

Currently, Papua New Guinea has two confirmed cases – one in Lae, a 45-year-old mineworker who evacuated to Australia and a 40-year-old woman in East New Britain.

READ MORE: Confusion behind PNG’s first Covid-19 case – flawed state communications

However, it was the confusion and delay in announcing its first case that saw the government’s reputation take a battering.

First Prime Minister Marape casually announced on his Facebook page early on March 17 that the test results of an expatriate mine worker suspected of Covid-19 had come back negative.

But it was the casual manner with, what appeared to be, little sense of urgency that added to the ire of many Papua New Guineans who had been demanding a total shutdown of airports and wharves.

It all started earlier in the day when Health Minister Jelta Wong released a statement announcing that Papua New Guinea had its first “probable” case of the deadly disease.

Over the next eight hours, the public went into a panic.

‘Probable’ word controversial
The word “probable” was drowned in a frenzy of social media accusations and anger over the government’s delay in imposing a total shutdown.

The media unsuccessfully tried getting a confirmation of the test results.

Finally, the announcement made that night live on television by Prime Minister James Marape, came 72 hours after samples were sent to the Institute of Medical Research (IMR) for testing.

Almost immediately after a state of emergency was declared.

Then a week later the Police Minister Bryan Kramer was sidelined by the Health minister from media briefings, a move which gained more media criticism.

“Starting today [Friday] media statements and updates will come from me as the minister responsible, or the Prime Minister, James Marape, and if we are not there it will be the Controller, who is the Police Commissioner David Manning,” Wong said at the time.

“We have already contained the Police Minister Bryan Kramer. He is not a doctor, he is not a nurse…he just picks up information from certain people and pushes it out and this is where he causes mass panic and irritation among the medical fraternity,” claimed the minister.

Chorus of criticism
That aggravated the chorus of criticism aimed at the government.

“There is a lot of criticism against the government at this time. I think much of it is driven by what people see happening in other bigger economies, for instance, like in New Zealand and Australia,” Waide told Pacific Media Watch.

“People’s mindsets are modelled – my opinion – around systems that we are yet to develop,” he explained.

He said PNG was still a developing nation and was doing the best it could under the circumstances.

“The PNG government is doing its best given the resources it has. There are ongoing problems with bureaucratic and political processes that need to be fixed on a day to day basis.

“It needs to be understood also that, like many other countries, this is the biggest multi-sectoral crisis that we are experiencing.

“Overall, things could be better if we had invested in our military, health, law enforcement and infrastructure. It is a good learning process for people in power and also one that will heavily instil important wisdom in this generation,” he said.

Legacy problems
He added criticism of the government was both warranted and not.

“Yes. And No… because much of what we have to contend with are legacy problems of more than 40 years,” Waide said.

Initially media relations with the authorities were not good but it was getting better, he said.

And, like a true professional Waide has spent all his time at work.

“I have sent staff home. I have spent at least 3 weeks living and working in the office. I have a cameraman who goes home,” the newsman said.

Lae Boundary Road Community people criticise confused government communication over the first reported Covid-19 case last month. Video: EMTV News

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

OPINION: By Antonio Sampaio in Dili

The Timor-Leste authorities have to improve significantly the conditions in which journalists are working to cover the Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic.

As the only foreign journalist in East Timor, I support the recommendations made today by the two associations of Timorese journalists.

In a statement sent to Lusa ndewsagency, the Association of Journalists of Timor Lorosa’e (AJTL) and the Timor-Leste Press Union (TLPU) have accused the country’s health authorities of not providing “adequate or credible information” over the past few weeks, making it difficult difficult to communicate important news to the society.

READ MORE: How a copyboy became Timor-Leste’s lone ranger foreign correspondent

Timor-Leste confirmed its first Covid-19 infection case last weekend.

There has been total irresponsibility, including the Ministry of Health, in the way they apply themselves, and in the way they are concerned, and over the rule of social distance.

I have mentioned this in the past, but it is vital that all the institutions change the way we work. Especially now that the state of emergency statement is coming.

My recommendations
I make these general recommendations:

• Announce press conferences in time;
• Distribute written communications every time;
• Communicate in more than one language so that the information can reach everyone in Timor-Leste;
• Distribute information at the same time to all journalists by Whattsapp or email;
• Ensure there is a spokesman to talk to the media that is always the one who transmits official information;
• Prepare to communicate in the distance with the media in case of isolation needs increase;
• Guarantee regular briefings where the information can be properly shared and where all questions can be asked and answered calmly. (Often journalists are in doubt that they represent the doubts of the population and they seek clarifications. Rejecting questions, as has been done by officials, is not acceptable.);
• Monitor social media to report fake news;
• Make information transparent to ensure everything is clear and people can get ready;
• Distribute all decisions that come out of the government, not only in the form of the short and insufficient communications of the Council of Ministers or in statements to journalists, but with detailed documents, especially in the state of emergency; and
• Ensure that journalists are protected and are not obliged to take on risky situations, such as having to share microphones to ask questions.

Collaboration can be useful between the authorities and journalists, but journalists are independent and cannot be used to pass on government information, especially when the information is not clear, or – as has already happened – it is wrong, to the rest of the world.

The photo I publish today has been taken in Timor’s Parliament. But it could be from so many other situations in the last few weeks.

We can’t keep working like this.

Antonio Sampaio is the Lusa newsagency correspondent in Dili. This personal view on journalist safety was expressed on his Facebook page.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

By Leilani Sitagata of Pacific Media Watch

The Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s cutback in services to the Asia-Pacific region has “weakened the thin link” that many parts of the region have with the “outside world”, says the Pacific Media Centre.

In a public submission to the government review of broadcasting to the region, the PMC said that the situation had impelled Radio New Zealand to “stretch their resources to do more, to ‘make up’ for what has been removed”.

The ABC switched off shortwave services to the region in 2017.

READ MORE: China takes over Radio Australia frequencies

Calling for the ABC to restore services, the PMC said “Australian broadcasting from the South Pacific is a sorry loss to people and cultures – as we know them well from the accumulation of studies and from our own media production exercises at this centre”.

The PMC at Auckland University of Technology publishes the independent Asia Pacific Report, Pacific Media Watch freedom monitoring service, Pacific Journalism Review and other publications.

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AUT’s radio major coordinator in the School of Communication Studies, Dr Matt Mollgaard, stresses the importance of broadcasting services from countries such as Australia and New Zealand to the South Pacific.

“[Broadcasters] help to strengthen local media outlets in the Islands, further enhancing democratic developments in the region,” Dr Mollgaard said in his PJR research paper cited by the PMC submission.

Media freedom
He said broadcasting services like RNZ Pacific and Radio Australia were prime examples of upholding media freedom and encouraging democratic life.

The PMC submission was prepared by director Professor David Robie and centre research associate and PJR editorial board member Dr Lee Duffield.

Restoration of Radio Australia services and other ABC services that may be made accessible in the South Pacific region, would be “highly positive”, said the submission.

“It would be most widely welcomed in the island countries, valued, and made good use of as in the past, with assuredly benefits to the originating media service and to Australian interests.”

The review is looking at the reach of Australia’s media in the Asia-Pacific region and if shortwave radio has become an outdated technology.

The submission period closed last Friday and the review of Australian broadcasting services is currently underway.

Public submissions have been overwhelmingly in favour of restoration of services.

‘Tok Pisin broadcasts’
In one public submission published by Asia Pacific Report, development worker Elizabeth Cox, who has 40 years of experience of living and working in Papua New Guinea, appealed for the return of a “revitalised Radio Australia”.

“Bring back Radio Australia. Ensure it reaches all rural areas,” she said.

“Provide Tok Pisin broadcasts. This is one of the best forms of aid you can give PNG.”

“A revitalised Radio Australia will give the PNG and other international audiences a chance to shape content and direction – it can be linked to social media and inform and lift the quality of much of the local political conversation,” she said.

“The new Radio Australia should be a global friend and ally, not a coloniser or converter. It should encourage debate, conversation and support critical, independent and objective opinion.”

The Vanuatu Daily Post submission calling for restoration of services said broadcast communications were an essential projection of soft power.

“The lack of access to the eyes and ears—and therefore the hearts and minds—of Pacific islanders works to the detriment of Australian interests,” the newspaper said.

“It also works against the interest of Pacific nations.”

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

By Sylvester Gawi in Singapore

I hope you are reading this with ease and a positive mindset to help change the course of this beautiful country of ours – Papua New Guinea. My first time experience here has made me  raise questions about how our economy has been mismanaged over the last 40years.

I’ve come to know this place from reading books, magazines, watching videos, documentaries and even looking it up on the internet.

From the countless travel magazines in secondhand shops in Lae in the 1990s to the LCD screens of the most sophisticated smartphones accessed by almost all school age kids in PNG today, Singapore has literally changed in front of our eyes.

I read with much interest about how Singapore has transformed itself from a small island nation to become one of the most developed countries in the world.

Singapore’s rise to power
Singapore has a rich history of civilisation. It was once colonised by the British empire. During the Second World War it was invaded by the Japanese, and later taken over again by the British after the war when Japan surrendered to the Allies.

The failure of Britain to defend Singapore during the war forced the people to cry for merdeka, or self governance. It 1963, Singapore became part of Malaysia, ending  144 years of British rule on the island.

-Partners-

Since gaining independence from Malaysia on August 9, 1965, Singapore has since progressed on to be the host of one of the biggest and busiest air and sea ports in the world.

Lessons for PNG
Papua New Guinea has some of the world’s largest natural resource deposits in gold, copper, timber and now the Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) or the PNG LNG Project which is worth US$19 billion.

Papua New Guinea’s GDP per capita in 2017 was US$2401. The highest so far was in 2015 when our GDP per capita was US$2402.

Singapore’s GDP per capita continues to grow annually and it is now US$55,235.

Singapore has been able to made its way to becoming a developed country in just under 53 years of Independence. Its government subsidises housing, medical bills, education, public transport and so on, and increases economic opportunities for middle to low income earners.

It is an island country without any gold, copper, nickel mines, LNG project, organic coffee, timber or any other natural resources. It is a very strategic port of transition where goods and raw materials are brought here first then transported elsewhere across the world.

We also have the Lae port in PNG, which is one of the the most most strategic ports in the Southern Hemisphere. It is where cargoes from across the world transit into the Australia and even the Pacific.

The Lae port and the production line of businesses operating in Lae generates well over K111 million for the national government coffers annually as internal revenue. The Lae port serves as the only seaport that controls import of raw materials and exports of organic coffee, cocoa and other organic products for international markets.

Better roads, schools
We could have better roads being built, good schools, hospitals and life improving facilities for every tax payer in the city. Our SME sector should have fully flourished by now if we have the government putting its paper policy to work.

Squatter settlements and law and order won’t be major impediments for growth and development. People’s mindset would have changed and people’s movement in search for better service delivery would have been narrowed down.

Everyone here in Singapore respects each other despite their color, ethnicity and religion. There is no littering, loitering or even people sleeping on the streets. You will get caned by the police if you don’t dispose your rubbish in the right place.

The Singaporean government has made it its responsibility to ensure every citizen learns to appreciate and look after the environment. There are separate rubbish bins for biodegradable and non-biodegradable. No smoking in public or even spitting as you will be fined and dealt with accordingly.

All this boils down is a need to for a change in attitude in Papua New Guinea. If we change our attitude and start respecting each other and the environment we live in, we will create a good future for our children.

Since we don’t change ourselves, we have kept on voting self-centered individuals to represent our interest in Parliament for the last 40 years.

A politician once told me, he has plans and dreams to reclaim the beauty of the city he grew up in the early 70s. But he added that that dream would only be achievable if the people changed their mindset. Also one member of Parliament won’t make the change happen, it needs the majority to stand up for the people’s needs.

Last generation
“represent the last generation of Papua New Guinean kids who have used a kerosene lamp, a payphone, drank from a Coke bottle and listened to music on cassette players while growing up. We have anticipated so much to change for the better, but we are seeing it the other way around.

Life is getting tougher.

Our politicians should stop coming to Singapore for medical treatment alone, they should start focusing on making PNG become the next Singapore.

A wise man once said, if we continue to tell lies, it will surely become the truth. If the government can fool us for 40 years, they might continue to sell PNG’s resources for their own interest.

Sylvester Gawi is a Papua New Guinean journalist who blogs at Graun Blong Mi – My Land.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz