PACIFIC MEDIA NEEDS TO INVEST MORE ON ITS REPORTING

HISTORICALLY, THE Pacific media culture has been a trouble one. It is because there has never been a great investment in the Pacific media and the recognition of the roles of a Journalist or the media.

Given the hurdles faced by Pacific Island countries and the vulnerabilities, the media is responsible to cover rising issues on environment, health, sports and human rights.

It is understood that freedom of media in the Pacific is often facing many cultural and traditional challenges in the hybrid communities.

Also, due to pressures, pendulum of press regulation and censorship, the efforts of reporters and media organizations to do an in-depth coverage on issues like corruption are often hindered media.

The media landscape in the Pacific needs recognition and a platform for development on certain areas that the public needs to know.

Back in 2012, at the Pacific Islands News Association (PINA) summit, Fiji`s Prime Minister, Josiah Voreqe Bainimarama revealed that Pacific media Organisations should invest more in their reporters and editors.

He furthers that Journalists are under paid for their efforts and at times, they are used and abused, untrained and unappreciated. 

Journalism is noble profession and it is the responsibility of individual journalists to put more effort in informing, educating and advocating to the public.

Questions were also raised regarding public trust on media and whether the ideal is to serve the readers, government or to serve the truth, a triggering and debatable question that need answers.

The media should keep people informed as technology and challenges from outside influences in fluxing into the region.

The late father John Lamamni, the publisher of Solomon Star once revealed that there is a need to develop best forms of collaboration, governance and human interaction in order to establish the collective good to benefit all people.

He states that to develop the best quality of life across the Pacific and to allow people, to create opportunity and security and thus a Pacific embedded in freedom, justice and peace is inevitable.

According to Netani Rika, a research professional, he said that media in the Pacific has never stood together to report issues.

“We need accountable leaders.”

He furthers by challenging journalists that they need to stand for their right and to tell people the truth by making sacrifices.

In addition, the University of the South Pacific (USP) Journalism Coordinator, Shalendra Singh said that due to ethnic and religious makeup in the pacific region, journalists encounter hurdles in investigating, approaching and compiling a story.

Perhaps, the paramount of ethos within our society is the repercussion of less output of stories we have in our daily papers or aired news stories.

Also, with the scattered geography location it always makes it difficult to be accessible to information.

Our Pacific media should invest more on climate change, health or human interest stories and other areas of life that need to be told and to recognize roles of reporters.

To date, the Pacific media needs an in-depth coverage on rising issues such as climate change, human rights, and health issues or more on human interest story thus it will help change the Pacific media landscape and media fragmentation responsibly.