Thursday, April 16, 2009

IPI deplores Fiji crackdown on media

Pacific Media Centre

Authorities in Fiji are removing articles from news websites under emergency rules imposed after a court declared the military-backed government illegal. These actions, combined with censorship of other news reports, represent a concerted effort by the government to block access to information in a time of political crisis, the International Press Institute said today.

The censorship and interference with media in Fiji follow an emergency decree imposed on April 10, a day after an appellate court declared the provisional government led by the army commander, Voreqe Bainimarama, to be illegal. In response to the ruling, President Ratu Josefa Iloilo, a Bainimarama ally, suspended the constitution and abolished the judiciary.

Journalists in Fiji told IPI that government censors have “cleaned up” newspaper websites to remove current as well as archived stories. IPI’s sources also said authorities from the Ministry of Information, backed by police officers, have gone into newsrooms and censored articles due to be published in newspapers.

Bainimarama, who took power in 2006 in a military-backed coup, told Radio New Zealand that the media are to blame for the current political turmoil. But IPI director David Dadge called the accusation a “deplorable attempt to hide the truth at a time of political uncertainty”, and called for an end to censorship and the intimidation of journalists. Dadge said:

The military regime is looking for a convenient excuse to mask its failure to restore order, stabilise the economy and allow Fijians to choose their leaders through the ballot box. Contrary to what the regime says, the media can contribute to better understanding and can ease tension in divided societies, and I fear Mr. Bainimarama’s desire for control will only exacerbate the problems in Fiji .

The Public Emergency Regulations imposed on April 10, along with other directives that impose severe restrictions on the news media, forbid journalists to report critically on politics or the government, or to publish stories perceived as inciting violence. Journalists said even stories about recent civil unrest in Thailand were pulled from newspapers for fear they may incite the local population.

Some newspapers in Fiji have run blank pages as an act of defiance after the authorities banned publication of certain articles. Several foreign journalists have been expelled or barred from entering the country.

Three foreign journalists -- Sia Aston and cameraman Matt Smith from New Zealand’s TV3, and Australian Broadcasting Corporation's Sean Dorney -- were expelled from Fiji on April 13. The government also ordered ABC to disconnect its FM transmitters in the capital Suva and in the tourist town of Nadi. This move also affects Radio New Zealand International, which rebroadcasts programmes via the ABC transmitters.

Fijian journalists have been warned not to speak to foreign media about the situation, and some have been taken into custody for questioning.

Graphic: A Malcolm Evans cartoon for PMC's Pacific Journalism Review adapted by Josephine Latu.

IPI statement
Other media reaction
PMC on Media7 [video]

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Fiji regime faces condemnation over media gag

By Josephine Latu, contributing editor of Pacific Media Watch

Fiji's military regime has faced fierce criticism from its regional neighbours and international free press advocacy groups over its draconian gag on news media.

Censors have been posted in local newsrooms, news media have boycotted political stories in protest over censorship, reporters have been detained and three foreign television workers were expelled today.

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), Pacific Island News Association (PINA), Pacific Freedom Forum (PFF), Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance (MEAA) and the New Zealand-based Pacific Media Centre (PMC) have all made strong statements denouncing the regime for ordering the media to only run “pro-Fiji” stories.

Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and New Zealand Foreign Affairs Minister Murray McCully have also slammed the regime’s moves.

“Australia condemns unequivocally this action by the military rule of Fiji to turn this great country into virtually a military dictatorship,” said Rudd.

McCully discouraged New Zealanders from visiting the island nation.

The IFJ declared that “press freedom in Fiji is in tatters”, comparing the government’s recent actions to those of dictatorial regimes in Burma, North Korea and Zimbabwe.

Since Thursday, the nation has undergone a series of dramatic political steps after the Court of Appeal ruled that Commodore Voreqe Bainimarama's military takeover in December 2006 was illegal.

The next day, President Ratu Josefa Iloilo fired the judiciary, abolished the constitution, and then reinstated Bainimarama as prime minister on Saturday.

Fiji is widely expected to be suspended from the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) and the Commonwealth as a result.

However, the country’s military and political leader claims this is for Fiji’s own good.

“My message to our development partners and our neighbours is that we wish them to work with us to take Fiji forward,” he said during his swearing in to office at the weekend.

Since then, the media have been heavily censored under a 30-day "public emergency regulation" that has led to “information officers” - usually soldiers or policemen - being stationed in news offices around the nation to filter critical content.

Pacific correspondent Sean Dorney of Australia's ABC network and New Zealand TV3's reporter Sia Aston and cameraman Matt Smith were deported today and Fiji Television reporter Edwin Nand has been detained for two nights.

Police are understood to be trying to find out who authorised the supply of footage of an interview with Dorney about censorship to the ABC and New Zealand television.

Fiji Television, the Fiji Sun, and the Fiji Times have stopped running political stories in protest after the Sunday Times was condemned by the regime for running blank spaces instead of censored stories.

“It’s a tragic day for Fiji,” said Daryl Tarte, chairman of the Fiji Media Council. “It’s the final nail in the coffin for the media – if we don’t have a constitution, we don’t have a democracy.”

PINA president Joseph Ealedona said from Papua New Guinea his organisation would do its best to seek dialogue between the Fiji media and the interim government.

“The free and peace loving people of Fiji are being silenced by the barrel of the gun … The regime shows a serious move on the part of the interim government to bring back its people to the dark ages," he said.

The emergency regulation decree act states that any person or entity which fails to comply to media orders may be told to "cease operations".

PFF co-chair Monica Miller warned that this may soon put media employees out of jobs, pointing out how the tactics are “very clearly aimed at one sector of society only."

Her organisation will soon be launching an online petition to support Fiji journalists to be presented to relevant Pacific leaders during World Media Freedom Day on May 3.

Auckland-based PMC director Dr David Robie, who formerly headed the University of the South Pacific regional school of journalism in Fiji at the time of George Speight coup in 2000, called on the regime to end this "ruthless censorship and intimidation".

"A gagged and intimidated media will only lead to rumours, disinformation and more instability," he said.

Image: IJNet

Coup Four Point Five
IFJ - Asia-Pacific
MEAA
Pacific Freedom Forum
Pacific Media Centre
Pacific Media Watch
PINA

Monday, April 13, 2009

Fiji regime crackdown on media but calm prevails

By Shailendra Singh in Suva: Pacific Media Centre

Fiji remains calm days after its President has abrogated the constitution, promulgated emergency regulations, and reinstated the 2006 coup leader, Commodore Frank Bainimarama, as the interim Prime Minister.

Bainimarama’s administration immediately began rule by decree, including a crackdown on the media.

The extraordinary developments followed Thursday’s Appeal Court ruling in the capital declaring that the appointment by President Ratu Josefa Iloilo of Bainimarama and his interim government after the 2000 coup was unlawful.

The challenge was filed by ousted elected Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase against an earlier High Court ruling that upheld the President’s appointment of the interim government.

Hours after the ruling, Bainimarama, in a national address, said he was returning to barracks to comply with the judgment and to await the President’s next move, leaving the nation without a government.

The following day, the President abrogated the constitution, promulgated emergency regulations, dismissed the judiciary and appointed himself as head of state under a new “legal order”.

On Saturday, he predictably reappointed Bainimarama as interim Prime Minister, drawing widespread international condemnation.

New Zealand Foreign Minister Murray McCully described the move as a serious backward step that would “merely compound the problems faced by ordinary Fijians”.

Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said Bainimarama’s actions had virtually turned Fiji into a military dictatorship, with the suspension of press freedoms and other actions that would undermine prosperity for the ordinary people of Fiji.

Bainimarama, characteristically, thumbed his nose at the international reaction. In his national address on Saturday, he made it clear that elections would be held in 2014 - after the completion of electoral reforms to ensure equality.

He added that the abrogation of the constitution marked a new beginning for Fiji. “We must rid ourselves of our past prejudices, our past negative influences; we must be focused on building a better Fiji,” he said.

Political tensions
Touted as a Pacific Islands tourism paradise, Fiji has suffered four coups in the past 20 years due to political tensions between indigenous Fijians and ethnic Indo-Fijians.

Indigenous Fijians make up 56.8 percent of the 837,000 population, while Indo-Fijians, descendents of cane farm labourers brought to Fiji from India under British colonial rule, make up 37.5 percent.

In 1987, a third-ranked army colonel, Sitiveni Rabuka, staged two military coups in Fiji to prevent what he claimed was an Indian-dominated government from consolidating power.

The third coup in 2000 was staged by failed businessman George Speight, also in the name of indigenous rights.

In 1986, Indo-Fijians made up 51 percent of Fiji’s population but heavy migration since the coups and lower birthrates since the 1960s have seen their numbers steadily decline.

Bainimarama dubbed his coup a “clean up campaign” against what he described as a racist and corrupt government under Qarase.

The international community, led by Australia and New Zealand, rejected this. With the allegations of corruption against Qarase unproven, they upped the pressure on the military strongman after he backed down on a pledge to hold elections in March this year.

Last week’s developments were a surprise turn of events for the two regional powers. Australia and New Zealand were working on the hope that constant pressure, and threats of exclusion from the Commonwealth and the regional political and economic grouping - the Pacific Islands Forum - would eventually cause Bainimarama to capitulate.

Strategy backfired
The strategy seems to have backfired, and Bainimarama has now not only consolidated his hold on power, but also placed further restrictions on freedoms under emergency laws.

All the mainstream news media newsrooms have had plainclothes policemen and information officials vetting the news since Saturday to stop the publication of any material that is “inciteful”.

On Sunday, the nation’s leading daily, The Fiji Times left blank spaces to mark the spots where stories would have been placed and Fiji Television did not run its normal 6pm news bulletins due to the restrictions.

Three foreign journalists - Australia's Pacific correspondent for the ABC, Sean Dorney, and New Zealand TV3's Sia Aston and Matt Smith - have been ordered out of the country.

In the face of all this, Bainimarama indicated that he was willing to work with neighbouring partners, and would contact them in due course with “a plea” for their cooperation, even while stating unequivocally that his government would stay in power until 2014.

This places Australia and New Zealand in a bit of a quandary. Having taken a tough and uncompromising position previously, they would not want to be seen as being cooperative and accommodating at a time when the regime had become even more audacious.

To many, it would seem as if Australia and New Zealand, instead of Bainimarama, had capitulated, and that Bainimarama had taken on, and won over the two regional power brokers.

Some critics have described Australia and New Zealand’s stance towards Fiji as intransigent and unhelpful.

At the Pacific Island Forum leaders meeting in January, Papua New Guinea Prime Minister Sir Michael Somare said he was against moves by Australia to push for Fiji’s suspension from the group as punishment for Bainimarama’s backing down on a pledge to hold elections.

"I am of the strong view that adopting an isolationist approach would not be helpful,” Somare had written in a speech released to the 15 ministers while their meeting was in progress.

Moving ahead
The Fiji Sun daily newspaper, in an editorial on Saturday, had predicted the obvious - the return of the interim government - and said it looked set to rule until 2014: “Like it or not, this is the way it’s going to be. It’s time to start moving ahead.”

The paper called on Australia and New Zealand to rethink their attitudes, travel sanctions and advisories. “They have had minimal impact on those calling the shots here,” it said.

While New Zealand has ruled out trade sanctions against Fiji in consideration of the needs of the general population, Australia has so far refused to rule out more punitive measures.

Fiji’s situation, even before the latest developments, was dire. The Reserve Bank in its latest report had predicted that a 2.4 percent growth forecast for 2009 would not be achieved- the economy has been shaken by the effects of massive floods in January and lower tourism forecasts due to the global recession.

The sugar industry, once the mainstay of the Fiji economy, is also in deep trouble. If the European Union refuses to release the F$350 million allocation for the rehabilitation of the industry, it will mean only further trouble for the people of this poor nation stuck in coup cycle they have no control over.

Shailendra Singh is divisional head of journalism at the University of the South Pacific and a research associate of the Pacific Media Centre at AUT University.

Cafe Pacific
Croz Walsh's Fiji
Pacific Media Watch

Sunday, April 12, 2009

PMC condemns 'ruthless censorship' in Fiji

Pacific Media Watch

The Pacific Media Centre has condemned the Fiji regime's 'ruthless censorship' of news organisations and called for an end to intimidation.

The condemnation follows a canned news bulletin by Fiji Television tonight and a blank page and story spaces in today's Sunday edition of the Fiji Times by news editors in protest over censored content.

Fijilive also reported "withdrawing" some news items as censors maintained a presence in the country's newsrooms since the 30-day public emergency regulations came into force.

Some journalists reported a "climate of silence" in some newsrooms in response to the censorship.

Associate Professor David Robie, director of New Zealand's AUT University-based PMC, called on the Fiji regime of Commodore Voreqe Bainimarama to "end this Orwellian era of ruthless censorship and intimidation".

"The people of Fiji should be allowed free and unfettered media coverage, especially at this time of uncertainty and anxiety," he said.

"A gagged and intimidated media will only lead to rumours, disinformation and more instability."

The regime earlier called on the nation's media to refrain from publishing "negative" stories about the actions of the President Ratu Josefa Iloilo over the past few days.

On Good Friday, the president abrogated the 1997 Constitution, sacked the nation's judges and declared himself Head of State.

This followed a Court of Appeal judgment on Thursday which ruled that the interim government of Prime Minister Bainimarama was illegal.

The president reappointed Bainimarama as prime minister and Fiji is now being ruled by decree, including one that has imposed newsroom censorship by Ministry of Information officials and police.

Editors were told not to publish or broadcast items that may involve "incitement" and undermine law and order.

Major Neumi Leweni, who is also Permanent Secretary of Information, asked all news media to “immediately refrain from publishing and broadcasting any news item that is negative in nature, relating to the assumption of executive authority on 10 April by his Excellency the President, and the subsequent appointments of the Prime Minister and Cabinet Ministers”.

Section 3 of the regulations state that anybody or organisation that “fails in any way whatsoever" to comply with the state provisions may be ordered to "cease all activities and operations".

In today's Sunday Times, page 2 was left blank apart from a downpage box that declared: "The stories on this page could not be published due to government restrictions."

Five dummied up story spaces were left blank on page 3 and a political cartoon space on the page 6 opinion section was also blank.

The ministry has reportedly warned the Fiji Times to stop leaving blank spaces or face closure under the decree.

After leaving out an item in last night's 6pm bulletin news due to censorship, Fiji Television pulled its main bulletin tonight.

Cafe Pacific on censorship
Fiji Times editorial - A sad day for Fiji
Croz Walsh's blog comment

Tuesday, April 7, 2009

Unions urged to oppose migrant 'scapegoating'

Unionists Laila Harre, Dennis Maga and Syd Keepa. Photo: Violet Cho.

By Violet Cho: Pacific Media Centre

Unionists and migrant activists have urged the nation’s trade unions to take a strong stand against racism and xenophobia following redundancies of some local workers by two companies that retained skilled temporary migrant workers.

Dennis Maga, a union organiser from the newly formed Filipino group Migrante Aotearoa, called for a fair deal for migrant workers.

"The fact is that migrant workers are working in New Zealand. They should be treated equally," he said.

"We shouldn't allow racism and xenophobia to create division among the workers."

Other speakers at the public meeting at the Auckland Trades Hall tonight included Laila Harre, national secretary of the National Distribution Union; Syd Keepa of the Council of Trade Unions Runanga; John Minto from Unite Union; and Mike Treen from Global Peace and Justice Auckland.

Two recent cases sparked negative media coverage of migrant labour. Local staff were laid off at MCK Metals Pacific in New Plymouth and CWF Hamilton while migrant workers on temporary visas remained employed.

Immigration Minister Dr Jonathan Coleman has asked the department to investigate the revocation of skilled migrant permits.

Union speakers called for a stop to attacks on migrant workers, saying migrant and local workers were equal.

Maga said many migrants uprooted themselves and their families to come to New Zealand, selling their house and possessions. If they were sent back, they could be left with nothing.

Laila Harre said: “The recession and lay-offs always give oxygen to fear and blame and we’ve already seen some of it here.

“We need to give oxygen to hope”.

She argued that it is essential to push for a higher minimum wage and invest in jobs that benefit the community, both for New Zealand workers and migrant workers.

Laila added that trade unions needed to fight to protect all people’s rights to work, no matter where they were from and what their visa is.

“A trade union’s job is not to be immigration police… otherwise they’re just complicit in the exploitation of migrants in the boom bust cycle,” she said.

Some politicians such as Dr Coleman have argued for priority to be given to local jobs over those of temporary migrants.

This effectively scapegoated migrant workers and people of colour for economic problems and job loss, rather than the government, employers and the global economy, Harre said.

Syd Keepa reminded people that everyone was a migrant in New Zealand, including the tangata whenua.

“We all are immigrants here. First Māori and later came Dutch and French. Most were welcomed,” he said.

He also contrasted the current atmosphere with the economic downturn in the 1970s, when migrants were also scapegoated.

At that time, the police routinely harassed Pacific Islanders and carried out dawn raids.

“New Zealand has a bad history of treating migrants during hard times,” he said.

John Minto called for no jobs for profit.

“Nobody should not be laid while a company is making profit, regardless of whether they’re local or migrant,” he said.

In 2007-2008, 188,000 temporary migrant worker visas were issued by the New Zealand government.

Violet Cho is the PMC's Asian Journalism Fellow.

Govt backs sacked workers
Migrante Aotearoa

Friday, April 3, 2009

Regional broadcasters criticise funding increase

By Josephine Latu: Pacific Media Watch

Regional broadcasters have criticised an increase in funding from NZ On Air as “not good enough” for small local television channels faced with heavy production and digital platform costs.

Jim Blackman, Triangle TV chief executive and chair of the Regional Broadcasting Association (RBA), said the reality of non-profit regional broadcasters’ needs was being seriously overlooked by government priorities.

“The total funding we get to divide among 13 or so regional channels, over a 12 month period, is equivalent to the amount spent on one 1½ hour long documentary on mainstream media,” he said.

“That’s how much regional broadcasting is worth to government.”

Blackman was speaking to journalists at the Pacific Media Centre during the association’s two-day annual general meeting today.

The association is conducting a day-long strategic planning review led by media consultant David Beatson tomorrow.

The broadcasters also want NZ on Air to defer a plan to change funding cycles to August until next year because the change would force an unplanned three-month budget “hole”.

While the $1.5 million subsidy coming from NZ on Air this year is a 68 percent increase from last year, Blackman said this was simply “not good enough” - especially with the costs of digital media.

“We’re being the very last to consider in the transfer to digital platforms,” he said, adding that some broadcasters’ futures were “not secure” because of inadequate funding from government.

NZ on Air’s community broadcasting manager Keith Collins defended the agency’s new funding regime but agreed to facilitate the association’s consensus for a delay in the new funding cycle.

According to Tararua TV’s Chrissie Staples, the amount from NZ on Air did not reflect the vital role that regional broadcasting played in the community through media diversity.

This was especially valuable in an industry where news values often revolved around “shock value and scandal”.

She said that the government “doesn’t seem to have the same passion” in bringing in positive stories or items about “ordinary New Zealanders” to media.

In contrast, non-profit regional television channels such as Triangle TV tend to have a stronger focus on community development and actively promote ethnic diversity in programmes.

In this area, Blackman saw mainstream media failing especially.

“The problem with mainstream media is that the reporting is not coming from the communities themselves,” he said.

As an example, he warned that while there were benefits in a mainstream Pasifika television channel – a key focus in October’s Pacific Islands Media Association (PIMA) conference - it may not be wholly in the interests of the community.

“Mainstream media will endure to provide an outlet with a commercial base which is self-serving,” he said.

Gradual development and partnerships with the local Pasifika community had to be undertaken first.

Station manager Tena Baker also said that as a Māori-focused channel, her team at East Coast TV found it doubly hard for her reporters to cover big events due to monopolisation by mainstream media.

She said even mainstream Māori Television often “blocked out” smaller community channels when covering high-profile affairs.

However, members also discussed the need to raise the profile and credibility of regional and community broadcasting by partnering with educational institutions in training and producing new material.

Pictured: Top: Regional Broadcasting Association chairman Jim Blackman at the PMC; above: East Coast TV's Tena Baker. Photos: Del Abcede.

Māori Television
NZ on Air
Regional Broadcasting Association

Thursday, April 2, 2009

Reporter for the ‘voiceless’ wins diversity award

By Violet Cho: Pacific Media Centre

With a passion to raise the voice of the “voiceless”, Fiji-born reporter Dominika White has won the Māori Television Prize and Pacific Media Centre Storyboard Award for diversity journalism for a series of articles in Spasifik magazine.

At the annual AUT University communication studies awards last night, White, who graduated as a Bachelor of Communication Studies in February, told of her strong motivation and interest in doing diversity stories.

“There are many stories out there which are newsworthy and do not get reported because they are a niche,” she said.

Not simply defining “diversity” as a term representing tangata whenua, Pacific islanders, Asians and other groups, she believes the word includes people with disabilities, elderly and those who are not necessarily in the news.

She says mainstream media needs to cover more diverse people in the society and raise their voices.

And she intends to pay attention and report about these voiceless people, which mainstream media don’t always cover.

Peter Rees, editor of Spasifik, praised White as a deserving winner of the diversity journalism awards.

“She has a good grasp of issues important in the region - and domestically - particularly indigenous issues that are making an impact in our Māori and Pacific communities which make up our core readership,” he said.

“With this understanding as her foundation, she was able to produce several thought-provoking and informative feature stories for our magazine.”

Top stories
First working as an intern student and then as part-time reporter, White spent her time working closely with the editorial team of Spasifik website and magazine, a weekly glossy magazine that has focused on the achievements of Pacific people as well as local and regional issues.

Some of the news stories she did last year included the New Zealand election which was reported from a Pacific perspective and a profile of a renowned Fijian women’s rights campaigner, Virisila Buadromo, winner of International Woman of Courage Award in 2008.

She also reported on the 10th Festival of Pacific Arts in American Samoa and interviewed some business tycoons such as Rick Fala.

Representing a sponsor of the diversity journalism award, Sonya Haggie, Māori Television’s general manager of sales, marketing and communications, said her channel supported and promoted acceptance of and respect for ethnic and cultural diversity.

“New Zealand is home to peoples from many different cultures and backgrounds, and each of us has a unique contribution to building the nationhood of our country,” she said.

“Diversity provides dynamic, interesting and inspiring perspectives, and having the freedom to be proud of who we are, where we come from and our own traditional beliefs enriches our country.”

White would like to work as a journalist in New Zealand. However, she also wants to help out her community in Fiji, which is currently ruled by a military-backed regime, and the Pacific region.
In his interview with the Pacific Media Center, Peter Rees, also encouraged Pacific journalists to be more engaged with diversity reporting.

“As Pacific journalists, their ability to draw on their own cultural background gives them a more innate understanding of diversity issues.”

“Foreign journalists not familiar with local Pacific customs are often accused of ‘parachute’ journalism. This highlights the importance of getting more Pacific people into journalism.

Better understanding
“It will help people living outside of the Pacific have a better understanding of what is going on in that part of the world.”

PMC director David Robie, who donated the East Sepik storyboard for the centre’s award three years ago, said it was really encouraging to see what an impact the winners were making on diversity reporting.

He recalled that the first winner, Qiane Corfield in 2006, had gone on to work for Mana magazine and was now deputy editor of Spasifik. Moana Tapaleao, who won in 2007, became a reporter on the New Zealand Herald and was “developing really well”.

In other diversity awards and scholarships last night, Pacific Islands Media Association (PIMA) deputy chair Chris Lakatani presented scholarship certificates to John Pulu (undergraduate) and Thakur Ranjit Singh (postgraduate) and Television New Zealand corporate affairs manager Peter Parussini presented a diversity journalism scholarship to Kimberlee Downs.

Asia New Zealand Foundation media adviser Charles Mabbett also presented international internship scholarships to Kristina Koveshnikova and Guanting Liu (China Daily.com, Beijing), Claire Rourke (Jakarta Post) and Keira Stephenson (Philippine Daily Star).

He spoke warmly of the four-year partnership with AUT over Asia-Pacific journalism.
A total of 34 prizes were presented to current and former students at the communication studies awards.

Katie Llanos-Small, currently in London, won the inaugural postgraduate Asia-Pacific Journalism prize for an "outstanding" assignment portfolio. Her father, John, collected the award on her behalf.

Pictures: Top: Winner Dominika White with the Storyboard Award, Māori Television's Krishan Marinas (left), Laura Quigley and PMC director Dr David Robie; centre: PIMA's Chris Lakatani (left) and John Pulu; Asia New Zealand Foundation's Charles Mabbett with China Daily's Wang Nan (left) and Violet Cho, of Burma; above: The PMC "mob". Photos: Alan Koon. More pictures.

Reporter Violet Cho, from Burma, was herself a scholarship recipient. She won the inaugural Asian Journalism Fellowship at AUT funded by the Asia New Zealand Foundation and is attached to the PMC.

Māori Television
Asia New Zealand Foundation
PIMA
Spasifik Magazine
AUT communication studies awards night - photo gallery