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.