editorial comment | seeking response

 

kia orana, warm pacific greetings,

 

I am assuming that editorial comment is welcome at PINA in response to issues raised by executive statements.

 

Any response from PINA will be published here in full, on its own page, with permanent front page links for future audiences - on any PINA statement.

 

Also, I would like to follow up earlier emails about membership in PINA.

 

Meitaki ma'ata,

 

jason

 

...........................................................

jason brown
editor
avaiki news agency
http://avaiki.nius.googlepages.com

+649 9167058 office direct
+649 9167552 facsimile
+64 2102484560 mobile

Project JPK

http://jpkupdate.blogspot.com
100 victoria street west
tangata pasifika
TVNZ
auckland
aotearoa | new zealand

...........................................................

head-slap astonishing: fusimalohi forever!

NEWS COMMENT

by jason brown, editor , avaiki nius agency

DEATH STAR
NEWS - OR PR?
FUSIMALOHI FOREVER
HEAD SLAP
FALSE POSITIVES
CREDIBILITY BLEED
WHAT NEXT?

As is common across the world, death brings forgiveness.

Pacific Islands are no different, nor, apparently, are regional media.

Famous for spicy, free-for-all debates across the defamation spectrum, Pacific Islands journalists roll over like roti, soggy and oily ones, when there is a death in the media family.

DEATH STAR

Such was the early evidence this week, with plaudits piling in for one-time broadcasting chief and latter-day reform convert, Tavake Fusimalohi.

For most of his long career, Fusimalohi was rabidly apologist for the ruling monarchy in the Kingdom of Tonga. Many memories of him at regional media bashes are closer to Death Star than Media Star. Even so, journalists like long-time trainer Peter Lomas wrote a glowing letter, rather than a fair and balanced report about the Tongan tyro.

So, is it important for islands media to maintain cool distance - palagi style, perhaps - assessing the legacy of those who pass on in the Pacific Islands?

NEWS - OR PR?

Anything less suggests public relations, not news. That was the stance taken earlier this year by online news agency Matangi Tonga.

They rejected a story about Fusimalohi supposedly gaining a regional media award, the Pacific Islands News Association's Freedom of Information Award.

Not news they said. And it wasn't - not accurate news anyway. PINA flip-flopped a couple of times, finally settling on the explanation that the award given to Fusimalohi was from the Media Association of Solomon Islands. Not the PINA award.

FUSIMALOHI FOREVER

All this might be less newsworthy if it were not for PINA now marking Fusimalohi's death by renaming the award.

Showing even less concern for due process, PINA executives have allegedly renamed the FOI award as the Tavakae Fusimalohi Award.

Forever. Apparently. With no future reference to either freedom or information.

HEAD SLAP

Head-slapping silliness. Yes, Fusimalohi was arrested by Tongan authorities for sedition and criminal defamation.

Yes, Fusimalohi has been lauded by much bigger news sources than this agency, witness a glowing tribute from the Fiji Times with quotes about a "fearless crusading journalist."

But bigness is no guarantee of success - witness the sorry state of PINA itself. Also far from clear is whether Fusimalohi really was challenging the status quo, or trying a variation of long-standing attempts to drag independent news media into controversy and disrepute.

FALSE POSITIVES

Interesting to note, then, that in Fusimalohi's homeland, Matangi Tonga appears to stand by its earlier stance, reporting the death of Fusimalohi in four, short sentences. Not the complete picture, either, but at least it's not a falsely positive picture.

Let us spell this out: PINA is ignoring existing controversy over lack of proper due process in seeking nominations and selecting a Freedom of Information award winner.

Changing the name only adds insult to injury.

CREDIBILITY BLEED

None of this celebrates Fusimalohi or leaves much room for discussion about any good parts of his legacy. If anything, it merely adds to the "embarrassment" already alluded to by Matangi Tonga.

More importantly, statements by the new PINA executive assume a mandate they do not have. The FOI is part of a proud tradition stretching back three decades to recognise media who sacrificed plenty in their outspoken support of freedoms of information.

By contrast, Fusimalohi sacrificed little and gained much from his time in the media world. PINA disrespects earlier award winners by lavishing him with this incredible honour.

WHAT NEXT?

This agency will forward this editorial for comment from PINA. Earlier emails have been ignored so far.

We have established a month-long poll to see whether regional media agree with the new name for the PINA award. Finally, the agency will suggest ways for PINA to be more transparent, accountable and consultative with the industry.

Also news this week: PINA partnering with the Forum Secretariat. Hopefully, a sign that good governance is as important in the media as anywhere else.

 

Globall survey on Value-Based Journalism

Secretary General
CIJA

Dear Sir,
Greetings.

Sub: Value-based Journalism: A Global Survey of the Perceptions of
Newspaper Journalists

As part of my international community services, I am conducting the
above globalsurvey. The objective of this survey is to examine the
perceptions ofnewspaper journalists on the issue of value-based
journalism intoday's globalization, i.e. which important values guide
them intheir reporting on news, views and analysis? The study
intends togenerate more public awareness and interest on the topic. The
topic ofthe survey is very current and newsworthy.

I have designed a questionnaire to collect data and opinions from the
journalists. The study is purely for academic purposes and the
information collected will be treated strictly confidential.

I seek your members kind co-operation in the completion of this study.
I am receiving some good response from various Journalists Association
and a few newpapers in this regard. May I request you to please forward
this email and questionnaire among your members for their active
particiaption.
Questionnaire can also be downloaded from the following :
www.acadjoshi.com (click left down of photo)

I am sorry for taking your precious time as you are a buzy person.
Nevertheless, your dropping two lines will greatly help me. I really
seek your kind cooperation in this regard. I want the completed
questionnaire before Dec 25, 2007.

Kind regards.

Dr P L Joshi, Professor,
University of Bahrain, Box 32038 Bahrain
Editor : IJAAPE, UK
Managing Editor: AAJFA, UK
Fellow (Academic) of AIA, UK
Box 32038, Bahrain
www.acadjoshi.com

Tel 00973 17 643701
Fax: 00973 17 449776
-----------------------------------------

PS: Recently, South Asia Journalists Association in its conference
calls for applying Value-based journalism. However, there is hardly
any empirical survey conducted in this area. This has motivated me to
undertake this survey.

Invitation to view avaiki's Picasa Web Album - nz herald posters

You are invited to view avaiki's photo album: nz herald posters nz herald posters newstand somewhere in auckland, around 2am - 12 Nov 2007 by avaiki gagged - threats to your rights View Album Play slideshow Message from avaiki: RELEASE PREVIEW: agency releases altered image of newspaper poster, monday 12th november 2007 edition of the new zealand herald, titled: gagged, your rights under threat. For free, open use under fair use conditions, including all artistic treatments. jason brown, editor, avaiki nius agency. thin-slice analysis to follow. If you are having problems viewing this email, copy and paste the following into your browser: http://picasaweb.google.com/avaiki.nius/NzHeraldPosters02 To share your photos or receive notification when your friends share photos, get your own free Picasa Web Albums account.

pacific islands radio - thumbs up

PRESS RELEASE

 

from: jason brown, editor, avaiki nius agency

 

pacific islands radio - thumbs up from ausaid

 

Australia looks like boosting aid spend on media in the pacific islands, starting where it probably should - public radio - as the region's oldest news media.

 

Short version?

 

"Public service broadcasting in the Pacific Islands has the thumbs up from Australia."

 

NOT SHY

 

Jason Brown, Editor of Avaiki Nius Agency is not shy claiming credit for this policy update.

 

"Well, not all of it," he says.

 

"Just a little bit."

 

QUOTE

 

His submission to the Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade in the Parliament of Australia "strongly suggests" placing the donor bull's eye on independent news media.

"This submission addresses these areas from information perspectives. It strongly suggests aid donor recognition of the centrality of news media especially public broadcasters within information contributions towards achieving sustained – and sustainable – progress ... "

Quote from Jason Brown, Editor, Avaiki News Agency, submission to Inquiry into Australia's aid program in the Pacific, June 2006, Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade.

 

LEADING CONCERN  

 

Public radio stations have suffered decades of generally benign neglect since colonial days, leading to a softening of core emergency services, as an example of one leading concern.

 

Some remote atolls have state-of-the-art satellite links including FM - both highly vulnerable to exponential increases in extreme weather events.

 

"I was awestruck in Manihiki 2007 - probably ten years ago to this day - or so - when Cyclone Martin left a cylcone-proof Telecom building as nothing more than a clean concrete pad.

 

RIPPED OUT

 

"Even the reinforcing rods had been ripped out by sheer tonnage of wave surge."

 

Twenty people were killed or lost at sea as a massive surge from the cyclone swept through the atoll. Eyewitness estimates as high as 50 metres , slicing buildings in half so cleanly books were left on a shelf next to half a doorway.

 

"There was no parliamentary commission of inquiry, royal or otherwise."

 

FIGURES

 

From that extreme weather event, to the joint committee on foreign affairs.

 

Applied search across the entire report reveals a "huge gap" between radio and web access to policy input.

 

Figures as follows, with hits listed first.

 

HITS

 

5 Searching for "Radio" returns five references in the report.

 

5 Same for "telecommunications" - five hits.

 

1 "Television" returns one hit.

 

0 "Internet" none.

 

0 "Newspapers" none.

 

0 "Press" none.

 

0 "Public relations"

 

19 "Press release" + "press statements" + "media release" nineteen hits.

 

103 "Web" brings 103 links.

 

18 hits for "media" , not media releases.

 

PRIORITY

 

The agency supports AM signal as being priority number one for any donors wanting to bolster badly neglected resources for good governance information. AM signal should be strong enough for handheld radio across millions of square kilometres of Pacific ocean, radios that can be easily wrapped in watertight containers.

 

"All telecommunications, internet, television, FM radio, phone, fax, telex, and other links like air and sea are no good if the airport is covered in coconut trees, the atoll's satellite is floating in the lagoon, and the wharf is full of coral."

 

Strong AM signal increases opportunity for access by remote communities to emergency information when they most need it, more than any other media.

 

FURTHER INFORMATION

 

avaiki nius agency submission
http://www.aph.gov.au/house/committee/jfadt/pacificaid/subs/sub13.pdf

 

pdf for whole report (6.51 megabytes or maybe 20 minutes at atoll dialup speed)
http://www.aph.gov.au/house/committee/jfadt/pacificaid/report/fullreport.pdf

 

chapter links

http://www.aph.gov.au/house/committee/jfadt/pacificaid/report.htm#chapters

 

news releases
Tuesday 6 February 2007
Australia's aid program in the Pacific (PDF 31KB)

Monday 27 November 2006
Australia's aid program in the Pacific (PDF 34KB)

Thursday 26 October 2006
Australia's aid program in the Pacific (PDF 31KB)

Tuesday 4 July 2006
Australia's aid program in the Pacific under parliamentary review (PDF 40KB)

Friday 7 April 2006
Australia's aid program in the Pacific under parliamentary review (PDF 40KB)

 

MEDIA RESOURCES

 

oz,kiwi aid "static" say funding partners

www.poverty.com

 

VOTE HERE

 

Vote your own way. See feeds on front page. Or comment right at us:

http://www.avaiki.blogspot.com

 

Start digging. Vote for this story here:

www.digg.com

 

Google direct. No comments, but anonymous:

http://www.google.co.nz/addurl/?continue=/addurl

 

NO MORE, THANKS

...............

 

Unsunscribe by

 

1. clicking "reply" to this email and type "unsubsribe" as the subject, or

2. email editor.avaiki@gmail.com with unsubscribe as the subject.

 

Your email address was included on this list because of past communications with avaiki nius agency on media related issues. Apologies if we disturbed any privacy.

 

FULL CONTACTS

jason brown
editor
avaiki news agency
http://avaiki.nius.googlepages.com

+649 9167058 office direct
+649 9167552 facsimile
+64 2102484560 mobile

Project JPK

http://jpkupdate.blogspot.com
100 victoria street west
tangata pasifika
TVNZ
auckland
aotearoa | new zealand

...........................................................

 

link suggestion - blog banned by Google

Hi. My name is Eugene Gershin. Perhaps we have met online, but more probably you don't know me from Adam. I monitor blogs for SamsonBlinded, and came across your post.

I'd like to welcome you to look at Obadiah Shoher's blog. Obadiah - an anonymous Israeli politician - writes extremely controversial articles about Israel, the Middle East politics, and terrorism.
Shoher is equally critical of Jewish and Muslim myths, and advocates political rationalism instead of moralizing.
Google banned our site from the AdWords, Yahoo blocked most pages, and Amazon deleted all reviews of Obadiah's book, Samson Blinded: A Machiavellian Perspective on the Middle East Conflict.
Nevertheless, 170,000 people from 78 countries read the book.

Various Internet providers ban us periodically, but you can look up the site on search engines. The mirror www.terrorism-in-israel.org/blog currently works.

Please help us spread Obadiah's message, and mention the blog in one of your posts, or link to us from cija-emails.blogspot.com. I would greatly appreciate your comments.

Best wishes,
Eugene Gershin

media release | news agency exposes media candidate

 

Monday 25 September 2006 <dateline> Tuesday, 26 September 2006

 

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.

 

The claims involve Pitt taking photos of young girls in wraparound pareu and pearls, some of them underage. Brown published the claims on his agency website www.avaiki.blogspot.com.

 

"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."

 

He says having Pitt as a media owner as well as a politician is a potentially disastrous conflict of interest, one of many inside the industry across the region. Brown says the agency began targeting the media industry as a first priority for reform and good governance efforts as far back as 2004.

 

< ends

 

FURTHER INFORMATION

 

Jason Brown

Editor

Avaiki News Agency

new number +(64) 210447497 (dial 0210447497 inside New Zealand)

avaiki.nius@gmail.com

www.avaiki.blogspot.com

 

 

Re: [Reminder] journalists meeting @ Mon, Jun 26 12pm - 1pm (1 hr)

 

Kia orana Charles,

 

Apologies for not responding earlier. Some urgent deadlines to attend to! I am at Mama's Cafe writing this (before heading down to Telecom to send it) and note your concerns. My own feeling regards the meeting venue is that we are journalists who ask other people to be transparent and accountable in their dealings - so why shouldn't we hold our meetings in the open? Do we really have anything to hide? If we're critical of our bosses, so what? I am the boss of myself, and I have got plenty to criticise!

 

However, I am just one person, and maybe that is an ideal situation we can work up to. Maybe there is an agreed press release we could put out each week. In the meantime, perhaps in terms of confidentiality, we should be looking for somewhere other than a cafe. What about the conference room at the Ministry of Culture? If we held the meeting at 11am then people could still get away for lunch.

 

It's great that George and Jeane are in support of this idea. We've all had our disagreements in the past, but I think we can work in good faith towards an industry group that represents the common interests of the industry and addresses some of its common issues.

 

The old media association (not CIJA) has about $1,500 sitting in an ANZ account. I have the withdrawal permission from Alex (one signatory) and Porora is the other. Perhaps if we got permission from the members of CIMA to use the funds from CIMA to re-establish CIJA (since journalists end up doing most of the NGO work anyway) with the understanding that we can help CIMA re-establish if there is any desire for that in the future.

 

All good,

 

jason

 

----- Original Message -----

From: Charles Pitt

To: avaiki nius

Sent: Wednesday, June 28, 2006 11:09 PM

Subject: Re: [Reminder] journalists meeting @ Mon, Jun 26 12pm - 1pm (1 hr)

Hello Jason-I'm still not keen on meeting at Mamas because it's too open and not conducive to open conversations. Too many other people can simply listen to what we are discussing.There are confidential matters we may want to raise-inhouse stuff. My feeling is we find somewhere more private. As to setting up the association this should be done quickly. I'm prepared to pay a membership fee so we can at least establish a bank account.Regards Charles Pitt. PS Both George and Jeane are agreeable that I should be involved with the group.