media release | news agency exposes media candidate
MEDIA RELEASE | FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
News agency exposes media candidate
Quote: "We are drawing a line in the sand."
Avaiki News Agency editor Jason Brown is warning voters in the Cook Islands against supporting media competitor George Pitt in his bid to become a member of parliament.
Brown has published claims of sexual impropriety against Pitt ahead of tomorrow's snap elections.
"These allegations are the tip of the iceberg when it comes to corruption in the Cook Island," states Brown.
"There are huge issues facing countries like the Cook Islands, including ones with the potential to make the region unliveable from global warming effects such as rapidly increasing numbers of hurricanes."
"Global leaders like Al Gore warn us we have less than 10 years to try and reverse the effects of global warming, otherwise known as climate change."
Instead of examining the big issues, however, Brown says countries like the Cook Islands are being dragged down by corruption.
"Forget ethnic tensions that foreign so-called experts keep going on about. The real problem facing the region is corruption, much of it fuelled by foreign exploiters who could not care less about the sensitive environments in isolated island nations."
Brown admits it is unusual for any news agency claiming independence to warn voters against a particular candidate or party.
"It is however the media's professional duty to warn the public when there is a clear and present danger to the country, and no one represents that in tomorrow's election better than Cook Islands Party candidate George Pitt."
He denies claims from Pitt that there is a "media war" or that he is jealous of Pitt's success.
"Pitt is on public record as saying ethics do not make him any money. Instead of distancing themselves from him, however, politicians from all sides have sought, at various times, to placate Pitt with corrupt deals. Pitt is not to be envied his 'success' when it was achieved with behind the scenes deals. He has since used his media influence to undermine and sabotage any institution that tries to do its job – especially the media."
In the absence of strong institutions, Brown says it is the role of the media to step in and express strong opinions.
"If the Cook Islands had a robust justice system then there would be no need for this agency to take the stance it has. Others would be doing their job properly, so we can stick to doing ours – reporting."
Brown says that Australia and New Zealand must share the blame for corruption in the Pacific Islands.
"Both countries are failing and failing miserably at promoting good governance in the Pacific. Hundreds of millions of dollars get funnelled through a small elite, very little of it ending up benefiting ordinary Pacific Islanders."
"Australia and New Zealand can't even look after Pacific Islanders properly in their own countries, let alone the rest of the region. Both countries should try harder at cleaning up their own backyards instead of trying to star on the world stage."
Brown accuses Australia and New Zealand of funding all sorts of governance efforts except those that perform best – such as the media.
"The question that must be asked is why? Why do Australia and New Zealand not want a strong and confident island media? Is it so they can have a bunch of weakly ruled banana republics to push around on the world stage? Were they hoping to push through trade deals first and ask questions later?"
Brown says the end result is a media too weak to properly inform citizens about what is going on in their own countries – investigating multiple power abuses and conflicts of interest of the powerful, almost all men.
"As a small agency, we may not have a lot of resources but we are drawing a line in the sand right here and now and we formally challenge anyone – people like George Pitt especially – to try and cross it."
Brown also admits that he does have an "agenda" – "and that is to promote the need for a strong, confident and independent media as being not just vital but absolute frontline to fighting corruption and achieving sustainable development goals. Brown says the agency stands on its record as being a strong advocate for reform, including being one of the few and sometimes the only person to respond to calls for public submission to governance processes.
"Instead of being among the first in line for national and donor funding, however, the media often comes last, if anywhere. Avaiki News Agency is happy to discuss possible media responses to corruption with anyone."
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FURTHER INFORMATION
Jason Brown
Editor
Avaiki News Agency
new number +(64) 210447497 (dial 0210447497 inside New Zealand)
posted by cook islands journalists association at 9:38 PM
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