PIMA takes on challenge to revive Pasifika media advocacy

Logo design from PIMA's 10th anniversary conference.

By Michael Sergel (thanks to Pacific Media Watch)

SAMOAN Language Week celebrates the language and culture of the 1 in 20 New Zealanders who trace their ancestry to the islands of Samoa, at a time when there are more Samoan stories being told from Samoan perspectives than ever before.

But there are still many stories that go unreported, and the organisation set up to promote a Pacific presence in the New Zealand media faces an uncertain future.

The Pacific Islands Media Association (PIMA) was forced to reconsider its own viability at its annual general meeting in April, due to a lack of interest in committee positions and a low attendance from its 90 members.

Outgoing secretary Sandra Kailahi, one of the founders of PIMA, told the meeting that a new committee would have to step forward if the organisation was to continue to exist.

That interim committee has been formed, and chair Will 'Ilolahia has asked members to give PIMA “one more go” at being an effective Pacific representation in the media industry.

New Kalafi Moala book examines 'Black Thursday'

PUBLISHER and free media champion Kalafi Moala has an absorbing new book on socio-politics, culture and the media in Tonga heading for the public arena. And when it does, expect a few fireworks. Among the wide-ranging topics that he tackles with In Search of the Friendly Islands, are the flaws - as he sees them - of the current leadership of the pro-democracy movement. He also pulls no punches in his verdict on the "Black Thursday" riot in Nuku'alofa during November 2006, which left deaths, a trail of destruction and bitter political controversy in its wake. Moala won the PIMA Pacific Media Freedom Award in 2002 and 2003. This new book is a sequel to his The Kingdom Strikes Back (2002) about his struggle for media freedom.
Meanwhile, he has had a spot of bother with his Kiwi branch of the Taimi 'o Tonga publishing operation. Last weekend's Sunday Star-Times reported the closure of its local publishing company, the Lali Media Group - liquidated because of an unpaid tax bill. Moala blames it on a management communications problem. As he is now based back in Nuku'alofa after his stint publishing in exile in Auckland, he had less of a close oversight of the Auckland operation than in the past. But the newspaper, now run by Tonga-based Taimi Media Network, is still going from strength to strength. Another registered company, Taimi Ltd, is now the New Zealand branch. Picture: TNews

• Taimi 'o Tonga
• Tax debt stops the presses

Malo AUT digital student journos!

IT'S GREAT to see all these young Pasifika journos in the making getting into story telling in digital formats. John Pulu, Alistar Kata and Paul Fagamalo have just done us proud with a short news piece on the PIMA 2008 conference and the planned coming (if the the Nats elections debacle hasn't derailed it) of Pasifika television. There was a bit of a delay because of the enormous end-of-semester course pressures. But to me this is what it's all about - producing good quality news and current affairs. You can see it on the Pacific Media Centre YouTube channel. There was a great mood among the media students at AUT University at the time of the conference last month and this should eventually feed into the Pasifika media industry's new generation. Another short programme, done as part of the AUT television course, focused on the ancient Tongan rituals around kava. John Pulu is doing really well - another John Utanga perhaps. Malo guys! Pictured: Some of the PMC and PIMA gang. Photo: Alan Koon.

• Pasifika television on the way
• Kava Commune
• Pacific Media Centre on YouTube
• PIMA 2008 reports by AUT students
• New images page on PMC Online

Pasifika TV - David pulling a fast one on Goliath?

SO Will 'Ilolahia stole a march on the big boys at Television NZ and TV3 during the Pasifika media fono today. During a panel devoted to the future of a Pasifika TV channel when TVNZ and TV3's own ideas were floated - interesting but not very convincing - maverick broadcaster Will 'Ilolahia rose and spoke from the floor about a Pacific TV channel which he says will be streaming on the internet by November 1. His announcement came like a bombshell at the fono, leaving Tagata Pasifika's Taualeo'o Stephen Stehlin and TV3 Pasifika consortium's Innes Logan (Spasifik publisher) almost speechless.
"We know there are a lot of PIs around the world who are dying to watch Kiwi films and that kind of stuff," Will explained. When asked why he kept the establishment of the channel secret, 'Ilolahia told the Pacific Media Centre's Dominika White that he had wanted to wait until his organisation had something concrete. "To be honest, I came here to hear about the competitors. That's why I got up and said it," he said. Under the moniker of Kiwi Television, the new channel will be available at: http://kiwitv.streamstaging.co.nz/ (yet to go live). Check out Will's response.

Full marks to Pacific Islands Media Association's Aaron Taouma and his PIMA team for a lively and stimulating conference at AUT University, the best in years. From the "mainstreaming" session in the morning - which included newcomers like the New Zealand Herald's South Auckland reporter Vaimoana Tapaleao to the doyen of television news producers Tati Urale - to the final "future directions" panel, including heavyweights like Taimi 'o Tonga publisher Kalafi Moala and the National Pacific Radio Trust's Fa'amatuainu Tino Pereira, the fono was a great success. Moala's challenge to PIMA was to step up its regional Pacific role. The "Pac2thefuture" theme was a real winner and so were the lower registration fees - especially for students. It was a buzz to see so many younger faces, and students came from Whitireia and the NZ Broadcasting School in Christchurch as well as the usual AUT crowd. A bonus was the announcement of AUT's new Graduate Diploma in Pacific Journalism, the first Pasifika media education initiative in almost two decades - since the early success of the old Manukau journalism course.

• Pacific Media Centre coverage of PIMA08
• PMC pix gallery on PIMA
• Pasifika journalists negotiate 'fine line'
• Pacific journalists urged to 'aim high'
• Minister Luamanuvao Winnie Laban's speech
• PIMA website - Pac2thefuture

TVNZ upgrade planned for Pacific partners

IT'S good to see Television New Zealand taking the Pacific region more seriously. Economic self-interest for sure - just look at the Olympic success of the Pacific Service. But there is also a sincere attempt at contributing to New Zealand's aspirations in the region as the basis of its report to the parliamentary Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Select Committee - in a rather more holistic way than Australia seems to manage. A pity that our newspapers don't follow the lead with better regional coverage.

New Zealand was actually a television pioneer in the region. It first set up broadcasts by the fledgling Niue Broadcasting Service in 1988. And it quickly followed this pilot project with TV start-ups in the Cook Islands (1989), Nauru (1991), Fiji (1991) and Samoa (1991). The 1991 Rugby World Cup was an impetus for this. TVNZ also provided nightly feeds of Network News gratis to these broadcasters until 2005, when it lost the use of the satellite providing the transmission. Then higher costs forced TVNZ to take a good hard look at its overall model for the region. Over the past few years the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade has footed the bill for seven hours of news broadcasts a week and a grab-bag selection for four hours a week - programmes like Close Up, Tagata Pasifika and Mucking In being in the mix.

Now, mindful of the competition in the region from broadcasters like the ABC and Australian Television with far more resources, TVNZ is stepping up for the challenge to boost the NZ presence in the region. Its proposal, first raised in October 2007, and reworked the other day before the select committee, offers three scenarios:

• Immediately expanding the current service from 11 to 15 hours a week - and then to 20 hours a week further down the track. The bill? $320,000 a year.
• Creating a Pacific Broadcasting Trust starting in the 2008/9 financial year. About $1 million would be spent over three years to "assist broadcasters in the Pacific increase the numbers of viewers they can reach".
• Developing a dedicated TVNZ Pacific Channel from the 2009/10 financial year. And this would cost around $2.24 million a year. Expect this to be one of the topics for discussion at PIMA 2008.

The state-owned broadcaster sees a definite payoff for the country: "An expansion of the Pacific Service would be a simple and cost-effective (as it would extract greater value out of the public funding already spent on TVNZ7) New Zealand foreign policy initiative in the region."

• TVNZ Pacific Service select committee report
• Olympic Games: Record-breaking coverage in the Pacific
• TVNZ 7
• Tagata Pasifika

Roll on PIMA - 'Pac2theFuture'

IT'S countdown time again for the PIMA fono at AUT - this year's theme is "Pac2theFuture"! Aaron Taouma, Chris Lakatani and team are planning a big day with artists and the new media as well as a shakedown on life in the mainstream for Pasifika journos. Dawn Raid, King Kapisi and Onesian are in the frame. Great stuff. It's being planned for the AUT conference centre on October 10 with networking drinks after all the raves. More info over at PIMA's new look website and Google group. And watch for the AUT student journos on the scene, and John Pulu with BCS2 mates who are planning a video effort.

Last week's Media Diversity Forum, organised by the Human Rights Commission and the Pacific Media Centre on the Nga Wai o Horotiu marae (AUT), was a success with the highlights being Tagata Pasifika's Taualeo'o Stephen Stehlin and Asia Downunder's Bharat Jamnadas. Not too many palagi mainstream media movers, but plenty of Pasifika shakers ... and a host of brown students! None of the eight tenured palagi journalism staff from AUT were there - all "too busy" to get a fresh view outside the square. If j-schools can't set the pace, then what hope is there for changes out there in mahogany row? Fiji-born Jamnadas regaled the audience with amusing anecdotes of resistance in mainstream TV because of his "accent" and experiences, but gave an insightful account of the progress of a programme that leaves TV3's Sunrise, for example, for dead. His experiences echoed those of many Pacific journalists who have migrated to NZ from the region with strong reputations but battle to even get a look in with monocultural newsrooms. (And his story was picked up as lead "highlights" item on AMIC's Alternative Media portal in Singapore. Scoop also linked to the PMC coverage).

Sometimes Pacific journos eventually get a break, like Rebecca Singh as weekend news anchor of TV3. She was the best news presenter on Fiji TV, and she's now the best on TV3 too, if only they would fully recognise it. Cafe Pacific reckons she should quit NZ and team up with Al Jazeera, the best Asia-Pacific news programme broadcast in this country (but only scheduled snippets on Triangle) by far! Sometimes the Pasifika expatriates head back again, like Fiji's best political reporter, Riyaz Sayed-Kaiyum, who ended up back in Suva as Radio Fiji's CEO after a stint with Asia Downunder. But this political appointment created a loss to the journalism cutting-edge.

During the forum, a couple of new Pacific media books were launched by Race Relations Commissioner Joris de Bres - Media and Development (25 Pacific contributors) and South Pacific Islands Communication (15 contributors) were "courageous" publications, he said. What a contrast with the single so-called "Diversity" chapter in the recently revised edition of the JTO journalism textbook Intro - this is so underdone it isn't much use as a teaching resource. Incidentally, congratulations to Justin Latif (Western Leader) and Melissa Davies (TV3) who won runner-up prizes in the Whitireia diversity reporting award this week - both AUT graduates and they were among the AUT graduates and current students who made up half the award shortlist, far more than any other j-school. Picture: Alan Koon.

• Ordering the Pacific media books
• Aaron Taouma's "voices of diversity"
• Celebrating media diversity at AUT
• Alternative Media
  

Pan-Pacific radio group in hot seat again

Cyberspace is running hot over at Google's PIMA.nius group over the future of Pacific Radio Network and its pan-Pacific radio stations, including NiuFM. The network recently announced restructuring and staff were invited to reapply for jobs. Several jobs are on the line. And tomorrow is D-Day for redundancies, according to the coconet wireless. Pacific Islands Media Association (PIMA) this week posted a statement saying that it accepted the need for restructuring and called for patience. But chairman Aaron Taouma says this "process is unfortunate" and his statement shouldn't be interpreted as PIMA backing for the PRN move.
"Let's make this a positive new beginning for Pacific media and Pacific radio broadcasting," he says. "Get rid of old shackles and bonds and begin again." PIMA seeks to work in the interests of all Pasifika media people. And it can be tricky balancing interests.
Some of the PIMA.nius online posters have been calling for some sort of a public debate. Their argument runs that, as the network is a community broadcaster and receives considerable public funding, it ought to consult more with a broader Pasifika media fraternity, at least. The pro-debate lobby is being led by Will 'Ilolahia and others who have been frustrated at what they think is stonewalling by both PIMA and PRN. So Will has set up his own blog to hear from disgruntled NiuFM fans who want a voice. If you have something to say, then you know where to go. The word seems to be that PIMA is having a rethink and might organise a wider "general media forum". A good idea.

Stop Press: Since I posted this item, a nutter has apparently run amok on Will's Pasifika broadcast gripes blog. Somebody closely associated with NiuFM - we all know who she is, of course - "TellTheTruth" can hardly get anywhere near the truth through her fog of personal abuse. If this is the sort of hack on the radio station's payroll, no wonder there are so many problems in Ponsonby. If she thinks she is onto something about my protracted and well-known clashes with PINA (now ancient history), then where has she been over the past 20 years? Check this out for balance for the real story behind her selected letters clogging the PiTV blog. She also might actually do some journo's homework and read my 2004 book Mekim Nius! Jason Brown has also filed a riposte on PiTV. For the record, Cafe Pacific has no particular interest in NiuFM - although we want to see it prosper for the good of the Pasifika community. We raise media issues as needed throughout the region as they arise.

• Public forum on NiuFM/531pi - Will 'Ilolahia's blog
• NiuFM - 'beat of the Pacific'

Niu FM in the hot seat over its news credibility

Sadly, Pacific Radio News - which seemed a hot new prospect on the media scene in New Zealand last year, culminating with a commended recognition at the annual NZ Media Peace Awards event for its coverage of the Fiji and Tonga upheavals - is now itself embroiled in a crisis. PR stalwart Vienna Richards is now in charge and the PRN news service was dumped for a week while being "reviewed" - unheard of in the Kiwi media scene (although a RadioLIVE news package filled the gap). Some news staff are unhappy and worried about the future of the station's news credibility and survival. Pacific Radio News was back on air this week, but skipped a few bulletins. Listeners have commented on the drop in standards.
Parent company Niu FM was itself in the news last night with a Barbara Dreaver TVOne report angled on the station's "political appointment". The brother of Richards is William Sio, Labour Party candidate contesting the crucial South Auckland seat of Mangere for this year's general election. Political columnist Chris Trotter said: "The Labour government is funding this station, and they've just moved the news director aside to put in the candidate's sister in an election year. I think they really will have to reverse this decision."
Jason Brown filed a report for Pacific Media Watch, which gave a comprehensive coverage of Niu FM's chief executive Sina Moore's defence - but Sina was hardly convincing.

ALSO, congratulations to Jason and Courtenay Brooking who have won the AUT/PIMA Pasifika Communication Scholarships for this year. Courtenay is starting a three-year Bachelor of Communication Studies and Jason is launching into a Master of Communication Studies degree. Cafe Pacific wishes them both well.
Pictured by AUT student journalist Dominika White at the AUT awards last night are Courtenay and Jason, backed by PIMA chair Aaron Taouma (left), Courtenay's mum and dad, and PIMA deputy chair Chris Lakatani.

• Radio Australia on the Niu FM row
• News director's appointment 'political'
• Niu FM denies bid for political influence
• Pacific Media Watch on the Niu FM issue
• On Scoop
• Cultural diversity on NiuFM

NZ's Pacific minister praises AUT over Pasifika boost

Opening AUT University's new Pacific Media Centre officially last week, NZ Associate Minister for Pacific Island Affairs Luamanuvao Winnie Laban was full of praise for the university's diversity media initiatives. She says AUT has "stepped up to the plate" to take the lead in the sector. She acknowledged the efforts being made in media research and curriculum development and challenged other j-schools, media and universities to follow a similar path. AUT has:

• supported local industry group Pacific Islands Media Association (PIMA) since it was established in 2001;
• published the research journal Pacific Journalism Review - NZ's only such journal;
• sponsored scholarships for Pasifika undergraduate and postgraduate media students (nine so far - half of them already working in the media industry);
• established a new postgraduate Asia-Pacific journalism paper this year - the country's first;
• initiated international scholarships in Beijing, Jakarta and the Pacific; and
• provided impetus for Maori, Pasifika and other NZ media research.

Says Laban: "This centre demonstrates commitment to our cultural diversity, but also to critical thinking and the pursuit of excellence." Pictured: Luamanuvao and PMC director David Robie at the unveiling of the PMC plaque. Photo: Alan Koon.

• Minister's full speech
• PMC slideshow
• AUT media release

Journalism does matter - and the scribes are defending it!

Top marks to Brent Edwards, Simon Collins and the EPMU union team for the excellent "journalism matters" conference at the weekend. Simon described it as: "There has been nothing like it in my 31 years as a journalist." A solid action plan came out of the talkfest on Sunday with a few challenges ahead - check them out. Top marks also to Mike Kilpatrick and his Te Waha Nui team from AUT (six student journos drove from Auckland to Wellington for the weekend to cover the event). As was expected, especially after Chris Trotter's gloomy preview, the mainstream media barely noticed the summit, apart from a short NZ Herald piece, Audrey Young's blog and some random radio spots.

My own reflections were jotted down on the first day, Chris Warren's speech was inspiring and Jeremy Rose had some good stuff on Sunday. So watch for some feisty coverage in TWN this Friday. Unsurprisingly, I liked Judy McGregor's swipe at the nation's newsrooms for their "pitifully low" Maori, Pacific Island and Asian numbers - "this has been a structural, systemic problem for decades". She handed bouquets to Fairfax for its new internship diversity ratio and suggested that only Waiariki and AUT University media schools would pass an audit for diversity of selection. I'll offer a plug here for AUT - it has had a Pasifika diversity scholarship in place for several years now in partnership with PIMA - and last year the first scholarship BCS graduate was snapped up by Radio NZ, a masters graduate joined Niu FM and another masters graduate started his own Tongan-language newspaper. Plus there is also AUT's Pacific Media Centre initiative promoting independent journalism research. Cook Islands scribe Jason Brown rapped the journalists' "closed door" democracy with a criticism of the use of Chatham House Rules.

"Politics threaten media progress"
In the Christchurch Press, anti-union columnist Karl du Fresne launched into an attack on the politics of the conference. He singled out for special criticism "self-proclaimed socialist" Martin Hirst (for supporting journalists as agents of social change) and keynote speaker Equal Opportunities Commissioner Judy McGregor for being a "trenchant critic of the industry that once employed her". Pictured: Conference convenor Brent Edwards, Radio NZ's political editor and EPMU media council chair. Photo: Jimmy Joe/EPMU.

• Martin Hirst on 95bfm
• Scoop coverage
• EPMU picture gallery
• Judy Mcgregor's 12 point plan for a better media
• Bill Rosenberg's open letter