CoveragePost
November 24, 2025
Pacific Media Watch Prime Minister La’aulialemalietoa Leuatea Schmidt has defended his decision to ban the Samoa Observer in response to a joint letter from the Pacific Islands News Association (PINA) and the Pacific Freedom Forum (PFF). In a statement issued by the Press Secretary, Nanai Lave Tuiletufuga yesterday, the office of the Prime Minister acknowledged ... <a title="PM hits back at PINA and PFF over Samoa Observer ‘ethics’ ban" class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2025/11/24/pm-hits-back-at-pina-and-pff-over-samoa-observer-ethics-ban/" aria-label="Read more about PM hits back at PINA and PFF over Samoa Observer ‘ethics’ ban">Read more</a>
CoveragePost
November 22, 2025
By Sulamanaia Manaui Faulalo of the Samoa Observer Prime Minister La’aulialemalietoa Leuatea Schmidt says international media are “in the dark” about the reasons behind his decision to ban the Samoa Observer from government press conferences, arguing that overseas attention has created “support for one newspaper at the expense of the entire country.” He also addressed concerns ... <a title="Samoan PM takes aim at local journalists, claims overseas media ‘in the dark’" class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2025/11/22/samoan-pm-takes-aim-at-local-journalists-claims-overseas-media-in-the-dark/" aria-label="Read more about Samoan PM takes aim at local journalists, claims overseas media ‘in the dark’">Read more</a>
CoveragePost
November 20, 2025
COMMENTARY: By Christopher Warren There’s been skillful work in journalism’s dark arts on display in the UK this past week, as the nasty British right-wing media pack tore down two senior BBC executives. The right-wing culture warriors will be celebrating big time. They reckon they’ve put a big dent in Britain’s most trusted and most ... <a title="Bending over backwards for the right isn’t saving the BBC. It won’t save the ABC either" class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2025/11/20/bending-over-backwards-for-the-right-isnt-saving-the-bbc-it-wont-save-the-abc-either/" aria-label="Read more about Bending over backwards for the right isn’t saving the BBC. It won’t save the ABC either">Read more</a>
CoveragePost
November 20, 2025
Pacific Media Watch The Paris-based global media freedom watchdog Reporters Without Borders has called on the Samoan Prime Minister to lift the ban preventing the daily newspaper Samoa Observer from attending government press conferences. “The measure is totally unacceptable — it comes after one of its journalists filed a complaint over violence committed by the ... <a title="RSF calls on Samoan PM to lift ‘unacceptable’ ban on Samoa Observer" class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2025/11/20/rsf-calls-on-samoan-pm-to-lift-unacceptable-ban-on-samoa-observer/" aria-label="Read more about RSF calls on Samoan PM to lift ‘unacceptable’ ban on Samoa Observer">Read more</a>
CoveragePost
November 19, 2025
Pacific Media Watch Regional student journalists at the University of the South Pacific have condemned the Samoan Prime Minister’s ban on the Samoa Observer newspaper, branding it as a “deliberate and systemic attempt to restrict public scrutiny”. The Journalism Students’ Association (JSA) at USP said in a statement today it was “deeplyconcerned” about Samoan Prime ... <a title="Regional Pacific student journalists condemn Samoa PM’s ban as ‘deeply troubling’" class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2025/11/19/regional-pacific-student-journalists-condemn-samoa-pms-ban-as-deeply-troubling/" aria-label="Read more about Regional Pacific student journalists condemn Samoa PM’s ban as ‘deeply troubling’">Read more</a>
CoveragePost
November 19, 2025
By Kaya Selby, RNZ Pacific journalist The editor of Samoa’s only daily newspaper barred on Monday from accessing the Prime Minister’s press conferences says media freedom in Samoa is under attack. Samoan Prime Minister La’aulialemalietoa Leuatea Polataivao Schmidt “temporarily” banned the Samoa Observer from engagements with him and his ministers. In a statement, La’aulialemalietoa said ... <a title="Samoa editor says media freedom under attack in response to PM’s ban" class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2025/11/19/samoa-editor-says-media-freedom-under-attack-in-response-to-pms-ban/" aria-label="Read more about Samoa editor says media freedom under attack in response to PM’s ban">Read more</a>
CoveragePost
November 18, 2025
EDITORIAL: By the Samoa Observer They say the march toward authoritarian rule begins with one simple act: taking control of the narrative and silencing the independent press. Yesterday, Samoa witnessed a step in that direction. Prime Minister Laaulialemalietoa Leuatea Schmidt, elected by the people to serve them, has already moved to weaken one of democracy’s ... <a title="Samoa Observer: The PM’s wish and our promise" class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2025/11/18/samoa-observer-the-pms-wish-and-our-promise/" aria-label="Read more about Samoa Observer: The PM’s wish and our promise">Read more</a>
CoveragePost
November 18, 2025
By Renate Rivers of PMN News Samoa’s Prime Minister La’aulialemalietoa Leuatea Polataivao Schmidt has banned the country’s only daily newspaper, the Samoa Observer, from all ministerial press conferences. The move has raised serious concerns among industry stakeholders about media freedom as he faces growing political and legal pressure. La’aulialemalietoa announced the ban on Monday at ... <a title="Samoan PM bans nation’s only newspaper from government access" class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2025/11/18/samoan-pm-bans-nations-only-newspaper-from-government-access/" aria-label="Read more about Samoan PM bans nation’s only newspaper from government access">Read more</a>
CoveragePost
November 17, 2025
RNZ Pacific Samoan Prime Minister La’aulialemalietoa Leuatea Schmidt has returned home after an eight-week absence for medical treatment in New Zealand. La’aulialemalietoa departed Apia for Auckland on a private jet just days after being sworn in as Samoa’s eighth prime minister on September 16. The Samoan government had previously said he was expected to return ... <a title="Samoan PM back home as journalist alleges assault outside his residence" class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2025/11/17/samoan-pm-back-home-as-journalist-alleges-assault-outside-his-residence/" aria-label="Read more about Samoan PM back home as journalist alleges assault outside his residence">Read more</a>
CoveragePost
November 15, 2025
Bob Howarth6 November 1944-13 November 2025 OBITUARY: By Robert Luke Iroga, editor and publisher of Solomon Business Magazine In June 2000, I travelled to Port Moresby for a journalism training course that changed my life in ways I did not expect. The workshop was about new technology—how to send large photo files by email, something ... <a title="Tribute to Bob Howarth: He touched the Pacific in ways words can barely capture" class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2025/11/15/tribute-to-bob-howarth-he-touched-the-pacific-in-ways-words-can-barely-capture/" aria-label="Read more about Tribute to Bob Howarth: He touched the Pacific in ways words can barely capture">Read more</a>
CoveragePost
November 11, 2025
Pacific Media Watch The Freedoms Committee of the Palestinian Journalists’ Syndicate says the Israeli occupation forces have killed 44 Palestinian journalists inside displacement tents in the Gaza Strip. The committee said that these journalists were among 254 media workers who had been killed since the beginning of the Israeli assault on Gaza in October 2023 ... <a title="Israeli forces kill 44 journalists inside Gaza displacement tents, says report" class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2025/11/11/israeli-forces-kill-44-journalists-inside-gaza-displacement-tents-says-report/" aria-label="Read more about Israeli forces kill 44 journalists inside Gaza displacement tents, says report">Read more</a>
CoveragePost
November 6, 2025
COMMENTARY: By Kasun Ubayasiri We are gathered here to mark the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes Against Journalists. The Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance (MEAA) National Media Section usually campaigns for journalists’ rights and industrial agency in Australia — but today, we join hands with the IFJ — International Federation of Journalists, the ... <a title="Making a stand against the global assault on press freedom" class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2025/11/06/making-a-stand-against-the-global-assault-on-press-freedom/" aria-label="Read more about Making a stand against the global assault on press freedom">Read more</a>
