Scholarship supports Pasifika research on Fiji media freedom

By Yvonne Brill: Office of Pasifika Advancement

Former publisher of Fiji’s Daily Post newspaper and political commentator Ranjit Singh has been given the opportunity to fulfill his dreams of working on a media research project close to his heart - media freedom in his homeland.

Singh says that while he has experience in the media industry, academic study will help him “smooth out the rough diamond”.

The funding received through the AUT/Pacific Islands Media Association (PIMA) Pasifika Communications scholarship for his studies has enabled him to begin that journey.

Singh is the 2009 recipient of the postgraduate scholarship. Through his research, he is investigating media freedom with a focus on Fiji. Singh also has an interest in issues of fairness and balance in reporting by Fijian media.

Already tertiary qualified with an MBA from Massey University, Singh’s decision to resume study reflects his desire to see a truly ‘free press”, and stand up to what he says is “ignorance and misinformation” on the part of some journalists and media outlets.

“I have held a belief that any media in any country should be a reflection of society,” says Singh.

“My research is of great importance and significance to media studies, as it attempts to firstly remove the myth about a free, responsible and balanced press and about media freedom in a Third World country.”

Abuse of freedom
Singh says that it is not good enough for media groups and organisations to blindly blame governments for interfering with press freedom. They must also consider if any abuse of press freedom is happening within the media organisations themselves.

This is of special interest in multiracial environments such as Fiji, which has been crippled by racially divisive politics and racial overtones from politicians through the media for many decades, he says.

A key part of his research considers the responsibility of media in a developing country suffering from racial divisions. Upon completion, he plans to send his research to academics and press organisations in his native Fiji.

A chance encounter with Asia-Pacific journalism educator and director of the Pacific Media Centre, Associate Professor David Robie, prompted Singh to consider researching the media in his homeland.

After learning about the AUT/PIMA scholarships, Singh applied and won one of the two annual awards.

“I have always felt that there was a vacuum in media research on Fiji,” says Singh, who hopes his research will encourage others to conduct research in media studies.

Singh plans to work within the New Zealand media in future to add diversity to the industry.

“Had it not been for the scholarship, I would not have done it so I am very thankful. I am thankful to PIMA and AUT, and in particular David Robie, who encourages Pacific media and research,” says Singh.

Long established
The AUT/PIMA scholarships were established in 2004. AUT School of Communication Studies sponsors the scholarships, which are worth NZD$10,000 a year and cover tuition for one year of full-time study. They may be renewed depending on academic performance.

Both undergraduate and postgraduate students are eligible to apply.

PIMA executive board chair Iulia Leilua says scholarship recipients are assessed by academic performance, work experience, maturity and general commitment to Pasifika media. She adds that the scholarships reflect PIMA’s desire to encourage more Pasifika people enter the media industry.

There are 17 alumni of the AUT/PIMA scholarship, starting with the first, Leilani Momoisea - now a successful broadcast journalist working at Radio New Zealand.

At the PIMA annual general meeting on October 1, undergraduate scholarship recipients Courtenay Brooking and Jordan Puati acknowledged PIMA and AUT for providing Pasifika students with the opportunity to add to the advances in media studies.

“My ethnicity definitely has an impact on who I am as a person and will no doubt influence my career. I think it’s important for there to be more Pasifika and Maori students to go to University and to be supported and succeed” says Brooking, a Samoan/Māori student in her last year of the Bachelor in Communication Studies programme.

Applications for the 2011 scholarships close in November 2010 for undergraduate and January 2011 for postgraduate study. This year people enrolling for the new Graduate Diploma in Pacific Journalism can apply for the scholarship.

Yvonne Brill is a postgraduate student from AUT’s School of Communication Studies. She is completing a corporate studentship in PR/communications for the Office of Pasifika Advancement.

Pictured: (from left) AUT/PIMA Pasifika Communication Scholarship holders Ranjit Singh (postgraduate), Courtenay Brooking and Jordan Puati (undergraduate). Photo: Yvonne Brill/OPA

TVNZ helps bring colour to newsrooms through diversity scholarships

By Thakur Ranjit Singh: Pacific Media Centre

Alisha Lewis, winner of this year's TVNZ Journalism Diversity Scholarship at AUT University’s journalism school, sees a positive future for cultural minorities in the Nerw Zealand news media. She is grateful for the award which has allowed her to pursue her dreams and ambition to enter a journalism career.

“I always loved writing and was interested in journalism. While at Epsom Girls High School, I was a literary leader, organised literary events and started the school newspaper there. I had a class in writing for publication in transactional and creative writing. I had interest in both the forms and had entered competitions. Once I took this course, this fuelled my passion for journalism," Lewis said.

Lewis’s passion may not have been realised had it not been for the TVNZ Diversity Scholarship. She was getting ready to be enrolled at another university for a Bachelor of Arts course when she was called for the scholarship interview and offered the award. She is now pursuing a Bachelor in Communication Studies degree at AUT.

Her origin is India. Her parents originate from Mangalore in the state of Karnataka in India. She was born in India’s business and commercial capital Mumbai and moved with her parents to Auckland in 1995 at the age of four.

Her father is an engineer and her mother is a school counsellor. The only other sibling, a sister, has finished a law degree at Auckland University and is an intern for four months at the New Zealand diplomatic mission in New York.

Having lived in Hamilton, Napier and Auckland and undertaken primary and secondary education in New Zealand makes her well exposed to the Kiwi way of life. A very energetic, enthusiastic and motivated lass, she still regards herself as an Indian – a Kiwi Indian.

Literary activity
With a very supportive family which encourages here to work within her strength of literary activities, she equally enjoys her studies at AUT.

“I am loving my course. There is a paper called media ethics, we discuss Western news values and how stories and issues about developing nations are never deemed newsworthy, and how there is stereotyping within media,” she added.

On the concern about lack of interest by ethnic minorities in general and Indians in particular in journalism studies, she added that: “This is partly due to ingraining we have within our culture that it is a tough career choice, it is not very stable and it is not easy to get a job as a journalist, so people tend to go for more dependable degrees than journalism. May be, that is something we need to work within our cultures.”

She noted that the number of Asians and Pacific Islanders in journalism courses at AUT was increasing, and there was good hope for diversity. But she is disappointed at the fewer number of Indians pursuing studies in journalism.

Lewis believes TVNZ has added considerably in the quest for encouraging journalism among minorities. Two previous recipients of this award include Chinese Kiwi and Maori students.

“This scholarship is great because in the New Zealand mainstream media in general there needs to be huge increase in intakes of ethnic journalism students and reporters. It is a great step that TVNZ is taking by having specific diversity scholarship. There is huge room for improvement,” Alisha told the Pacific Media Centre.

Intern breaks
As a condition of her scholarship, she has to work as an intern at TVNZ during university breaks, and she enjoys every minute of it. She is very ambitious of going further in her chosen profession and her country of birth would certainly play a part in it.

“I would love to be a foreign correspondent and would love to work in India for an attachment. India is not projected properly in media; my Kiwi friends still feel that India is backward. I was there recently and saw huge developments since I was last there when I was 10. I saw huge developments and there are substantial changes. In so many ways, it is more advanced than New Zealand. Not necessarily backwards, but they do not really know how much India has progressed, that is what people in developed world fail to realise – that India will soon be one of the main powers of the world,” she added.

Lewis believes she would be able to make a difference as a journalist and is thankful to TVNZ for this opportunity. She has called on other media organisations to step up and start encouraging diversity and offer opportunities like TVNZ has offered to minority ethnicities to gain experience and start working in their respective organisations.

Thakur Ranjit Singh is a postgraduate student in Communication Studies at AUT writing for the Pacific Media Centre.

Congratulations to AUT grad Vaimoana Tapaleao, Qantas Junior Reporter of the Year

Pacific Media Centre

The Pacific Media Centre wishes to congratulate Samoan journalist and NZ Herald reporter, Vaimoana Tapaleao, on winning Junior Reporter of the Year at the 37th annual Qantas Media Awards held in Auckland last weekend.

Tapaleao (23) graduated from AUT University in 2008 and joined the New Zealand Herald team soon after as a South Auckland reporter.

During her last year at university she was an intern at Spasifik magazine, and later won the Maori Television prize as well as the Storyboard award for excellence in diversity journalism.

At the Qantas event, the awards judges said that Tapaleao’s "impressive" portfolio would have "pushed the seniors hard".

This included an extensive series of news stories of the tsunami in Samoa, and an in-depth report about the individuals whose lives were lost in the sinking of the ferry MV Princess Ashika in Tonga, for which she was recognized by the NZ Human Rights Commission late last year.

"Her on the spot reporting in her native Samoa where family were tsunami victims showed true professionalism. Tapaleao was also able to put a human face to the Princess Ashika ferry sinking in Tonga with an extended tribute ," the judges said.

According to contributing editor for Pacific Media Watch, Josephine Latu from Tonga, Tapaleao's achievements were an "excellent example of just how far young Pacific Islanders can go in the industry".

She said: "It's a well-deserved award. I'm so proud she's Samoan! The Pacific Media Centre team wishes her all the best."

Full list of Qantas Media award winners with judges' comments
Vaimoana Tapaleao's stories on the New Zealand Herald

Back to j-school a milestone for former Pacific broadcaster

By Josephine Latu: Pacific Media Watch

Putting a media career on hold in order to go to back to journalism school was a tough choice, says Gladys Hartson, a former broadcaster at the Pacific Media Network currently studying at AUT University.

Hartson entered the Graduate Diploma in Journalism programme this year and recently took up a part-time stint at the Pacific Media Centre as a reporter for Pacific Media Watch.

“It’s hard being out of school for so long,” she says. “Not having a full-time job, not earning money when you’re used to an income – that’s hard.

“If anyone wants to do this, there’s a lot of sacrifice, but I’m enjoying it.”

Hartson, 37, worked as an announcer for eight years at Radio 531pi, then as an issues assistant at the Mangere Electorate office of MP Su’a William Sio in 2007.

She describes her return to school as a “milestone” in her career.

Her classes at AUT span from news reporting, journalism law and ethics, communications theory to television journalism.

“I’ve learnt that what’s good for TV or broadcasting may not necessarily be good for print.

"There’s a real practical side to broadcasting, but mastering the basic tools for journalism – that’s another story,” she says.

Pacific journalism
Her experience outside the classroom has also helped in “making sense” of academic material.

Hartson, an ethnic Samoan (Afega/Eva/Fa’asitoo’uta/Fagalii) raised in Invercargill, said that Pacific media practitioners need to put forward a strong identity in mainstream media.

“What Pacific people may deem as important may not be important in mainstream. The challenge is to be faithful to what’s important to us,” she explains.

She adds that Pacific journalists should expect to be “slammed” for reporting on certain issues and that it’s important to approach certain topics with care.

“One minute you’ll be dealing with high power leaders or academics, and the next minute you’ll be thrown in with grassroots people - in a house in West Auckland dealing with a story on domestic violence … You learn to adapt.”

While adjusting to an intense academic routine – including several hours of classes each day and a load of assignments – Hartson said the experience is “worth it”.

She wishes to bring more attention to Pacific “unsung heroes” at the grassroots level, and raise awareness in the media about struggles faced by recent immigrants from the Pacific Islands.

Josephine Latu is a postgraduate communication studies at AUT University from Tonga and contributing editor of the PMC's Pacific Media Watch project. Photo: Gladys Hartson by Josephine Latu

New Graduate Diploma in Pacific Journalism
Gladys Hartson stories on Pacific Scoop
Gladys Hartson stories at the Pacific Media Centre

Pasifika media scholarship winners set their goals

By Josephine Latu: Pacific Media Centre

Two new Pasifika scholarship students have joined the Bachelor of Communication Studies degree programme at AUT University this year - and hope to inspire young people in their communities to follow their lead.

Jordan Puati, 20, and Krissy Rangi, 18, have been awarded AUT/Pacific Islands Media Association (PIMA) Pasifika communication scholarships.

PIMA chair and Māori Television investigative journalist Iulia Leilua presented the prizes at the School of Communications Studies awards on March 31 – a special ceremony to celebrate student achievements and acknowledge supporters.

“The AUT/PIMA award is to support a new generation of Pacific people in their studies and to show them a career in the media is achievable. People are creative, but they need support,” said Leilua.

The AUT sponsorship covers tuition costs for both Rangi and Puati until they graduate, subject to annual reviews of progress.

“Pasifika students have the potential to tell our stories in an authentic way, and they also have the potential to show that they can have a mainstream perspective as well, rather than just being pigeonholed for Pacific Islands material,” she added.

Natural performer
Jordan Puati was born in London, raised in Wellington, before moving to the Cook Islands for his high school education.

A natural performer, Puati has travelled around the region performing Cook Islands music and dance, and is looking towards a career in TV presenting or advertising.

If he succeeds, Puati plans to use his profile to encourage youth in Pacific Island communities in New Zealand as well as the Cook Islands.

“It’s a big deal. For Cook Islanders, if they see someone else doing it, then it’s not so hard to do it themselves. It would feel good to give something back and to make things easier for other Pacific Islanders,” he said.

Although he is the only Pacific Islander in one of his classes, Puati sees it as a chance to give a Pasifika point of view.

“You don’t have to see your Pacific Island identity as a barrier. It’s a positive thing.”

Creative streak
Krissy Rangi is Samoan-Maori and has shown a strong creative streak since her years at Selwyn College in Mission Bay.

“I started being interested in photography, but now I’m interested in moving images. It’s fascinating,” she said.

For Rangi, media is relevant to young generations because of its creative potential, although it “needs to be suitable for the younger audiences because they are growing up too fast".

While she is also outnumbered in her classes as a Pacific Islander, Rangi urges Pasifika students not to be “put off”.

“Just do it,” she said. “I’m loving it. The programme is everything I wanted to do”

Former recipients of the award have gone on to successful careers in the industry, including Leilani Moimoisea (Radio New Zealand), Kitekei’aho Tu’akalau (Pacific Media Network), Christine Gounder (Radio NZ), John Pulu (TNews/TVNZ) and Taberannang Korauba (Pacific Community News).

Among other scholarships presented was the inaugural Kiwi Asian Journalism Scholarship sponsored by the Asia New Zealand Foundation, which has been awarded to nurse Corazon Miller, a fluent Tagalog speaker.

The foundation also supports the AUT/China Daily Journalism Scholarships, organised by the Pacific Media Centre. Michelle Ong and Lucy Mullinger have won the three-month internships in Beijing this year.

Winner of this year's inaugural Indian Newslink Postgraduate Journalism Scholarship is Imogen Crispe and Alisha Lewis has won the TVNZ Diversity Journalism Scholarship. PMC director Dr David Robie presented the Asia NZ Foundation scholarships on behalf of media adviser Charles Mabbett and the Indian Newslink award for editor Venkat Rahman.

News chief Cliff Joiner presented the TVNZ scholarship.

Pictures: Top: PIMA's deputy chair Chris Lakatani (fom left), Jordan Puati, PIMA chair Iulia Leilua and Krissy Rangi. Middle: Iulia Leilua; senior lecturer Rosemary Brewer presents the top year one BCS award to Kimberlee Downs, winner of last year's TVNZ diversity award; PMC's Dr David Robie with the China Daily scholarship winners Lucy Mullinger and Michelle Ong. Below: Scholarship winners Krissy Rangi, Corazon Miller, Lucy Mullnger, Michelle Ong and Imogen Crispe. Photos: Josephine Latu and Del Abcede



For more information on the AUT-PIMA and other diversity opportunities, visit the AUT School of Communications Studies scholarships webpage.

Awards and scholarships photo gallery

Diversity media award winner John Pulu takes pride in Tongan culture

By Tupouseini Taumoepeau: Pacific Media Centre

With a “real passion to share the rich history” of his Pacific culture, John Pulu has been awarded the Spasifik Prize and Storyboard Award for diversity journalism.

At the annual School of Communication awards evening at AUT University, Pulu was presented with the prize by the deputy editor for Spasifik magazine, Qiane Corfield-Matata.

“It’s the best feeling to know that your hard work has been acknowledged and recognised by people from the industry,” says Pulu.

Pulu says that coming from South Auckland, which has always been portrayed with bad criticisms, he wanted to change that and adopt through his work a celebration of the “beautiful cultures” such as Tonga.

Graduating with a Bachelor of Communication Studies majoring in television, Pulu produced documentaries entitled The Modern Afo of Tonga and Kava Commune while working with TNews during his studies.

Corfield-Matata, who was also the first recipient to receive the award donated by Pacific Media Centre director Dr David Robie in 2006, says: “I know how hard it is to be a journalism student from the Pacific and all the effort that goes into it”.

“In the industry, we need those who are passionate and energised about telling Pacific stories and to add some balance into the mainstream media,” says Corfield-Matata.

Pulu is now working for TVNZ which he says “is a dream come true” as his aspirations to work with Tagata Pasifika started when he was first introduced to the “magic of television” at a gateway programme during his years at Otahuhu College.

Guest speaker from Television New Zealand, TVNZ7 presenter Miriama Kamo, says “diversity in the New Zealand media is vital and it is important that this is reflected”.

“There is that growing appreciation from the Māori and Pacific community when their stories are being told accurately, even in the little things such as the correct spelling and pronunciation of their language,” says Kamo.

Pulu says he hopes to write and film more stories about the areas that are not celebrated as much and are yet to be explored from his Tongan culture.

“It has been a tough journey and I’m thankful for the support of my family and parents for understanding what I wanted to do and also the support of my friends, the AUT staff and TNews who have helped me through,” says Pulu.

Among other awards recognising diversity, Jessica Harkins won the Scoop Media Prize for International Journalism and was presented with the award by co-editor Selwyn Manning and Sophie Johnson won the TV3 Award for Excellence in Practical Production for her documentary The Makings of a Kaitiaki.

Other awards included:
Dean's Award for Excellence in Postgraduate Research - Master of Arts in Communication Studies: Anna McKessar
APN National Publishing Award for the Outstanding Graduate Diploma in Journalism Student: Krista Ferguson
National Business Review Aweard for the Outsatanding Graduate in the BCS Journalism Major: David Kraitzick
Radio Bureau Award for Top Radio Graduate: Heidi Roberts
TVNZ Award for the Television Graduate of the Year: Jenna Teague

Pictured: Top: Tupouseini Taumoepeau interviewing diversity award winner John Pulu. Middle: John Pulu ... and with his mother, Meliame, Spasifik deputy editor Qiane Corfield-Matata; and PMC director Dr David Robie on the awards night. Above: Scoop co-editor Selwyn Manning with international journalism award-winner Jessica Harkins. Photos: Del Abcede/PMC.

Tupouseini Taumoepeau is a Graduate Diploma in Journalism student at AUT University and is on attachment with the Pacific Media Centre. This story was filed for Pacific Scoop.

See also: Budding Māori, Pasifika filmmakers now have sights on media industry

PMC video storytelling on YouTube

New stories and short docos filed by Pacific Media Centre students and student journos on the AUT television course are posted on our YouTube site. Some of the Māori, Pasifika and Ethnic Film Festival docos hosted by PMC chair's John Utanga of Tagata Pasifika are also included. Happy viewing.

PMC on YouTube
Brief doco about the film festival
PMC on Facebook

Amnesty to engage Pacific media in campaign against poverty

By Josephine Latu: Pacific Media Watch

Amnesty International is gearing up to launch a “demand dignity” campaign with a focus on human rights and poverty in the Pacific region.

The dignity campaign is a global project to promote social and economic human rights, focusing on poverty issues.

The role of the media in this campaign has been highlighted at a special seminar hosted by the School of Communications at AUT University, labelled “Putting human rights at the heart of Pacific journalism”.

Amnesty's deputy director in New Zealand, Rebecca Emery, said: “We find that the understanding of human rights among the media and the New Zealand general public is probably not as well understood as it should be."

The organisation is seeking to develop a “new media network” to bring more awareness about human rights issues in the region.

Emery added that Amnesty was expanding its focus from civil and political rights, to social and economic rights, and that development in the Pacific was seen “a rights issue”.

“We will be looking at the slums in the Pacific – first up, Fiji, then the Solomons and Vanuatu,” she said.

TVNZ’s Pacific affairs correspondent Barbara Dreaver also pointed to poverty as the “biggest issue in the Pacific”.

She gave the example of Kiribati, where “prostitution [of young women] to foreign fisherman, sometimes encouraged by their families”, was a reality of the struggle for survival.

Dreaver also spoke about human rights in the Fiji and her own experiences.

‘Fearless reporting’
She added that “fearless” reporting was needed to bring attention to human rights abuses that communities may prefer to keep hidden.

However, she said journalists needed to report on solutions as well as the problem.

Pacific Cooperation Foundation programme coordinator David Vaeafe said that in a survey conducted at the Pacific Islands News Association (PINA) conference in the Solomons in 2007, Pacific journalists identified three main human rights themes as priorities:

• governance, leadership and freedom of expression;

• environmental rights;

• and children’s rights.

He announced that the Pacific Cooperation Foundation was currently working with the New Zealand Human Rights Commission on a learning website for environmental rights reporting, due to launch in at the PINA conference in Vanuatu in mid-July.

The site will include online tutorials, training modules, documents about freedom of information laws, and Pacific country profiles.

“It will be a live working site that will be updated constantly,” he said.

“It’s accessible to everyone and people can go through the training modules at their own pace.”

The modules were written by four journalists from the Pacific and New Zealand, and covered print, radio, television and online reporting.

Picture: Fiji soldiers keeping the press at bay (Radio Fiji).

Josephine Latu is a masters student in the School of Communication Studies and also contributing editor of the Pacific Media Centre's Pacific Media Watch database.

Amnesty International NZ Pacific Media Watch on Pacific media and human rights

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

Kaumatua challenges media on culture at Samoan leader's book launch

By Josephine Latu: Pacific Media Centre

Ngai Tahu academic and kaumatua Sir Tipene O’Regan has called on the media to play a stronger role in keeping traditional culture alive at the New Zealand launch of a new Samoan book at the weekend.

The Samoan Head of State, Tui Atua Tupua Tamasese Ta’isi, was hosted at AUT University for the launch of the book including contributions by him and 14 other Samoan intellectuals - Su’esu’e Manogi: In search of fragrance: Tui Atua Tupua Tamasese Ta’isi and the Samoan indigenous reference.

Sir Tipene, Assistant Vice-Chancellor (Māori) at the University of Canterbury, said news organisations should encourage a conversation about cultural issues.

He said the only way for an indigenous culture to “control its own evolution” was by “thinking and talking about it”.

Sir Tipene also challenged the media’s tendency to “celebrate car crashes and conflict” rather than academic work.

“It’s a big call for the media, even if it does no more than to honour the process of reflective scholarship,” he said.

The publication by the Centre for Samoan Studies, National University of Samoa, features 18 reflective chapters by Tui Atua - a literary contribution rarely seen from a Head of State - on subjects ranging from Samoan metaphors, customs and mythology to bio-ethics and legal theory.

Marking both an academic and strongly cultural event, the launch was conducted in Samoan, Māori and English. It was packed with a large tangata whenua, Pasifika and palagi audience, including Samoan Deputy Prime Minister Misa Telefoni; New Zealand MPs; AUT Vice-Chancellor Derek McCormack; Dr Pare Keiha, the Tumuaki of Te Ara Poutama; and the director of AUT's Office of Pasifika Advancement, Pauline Winter.

Auckland is the world mecca of Pacific migrants - 14 percent of New Zealand’s 265,000 Pacific Islanders live there, with half of the country's Pasifika population being ethnic Samoans.

The themes of the book are “universal”, said Sir Tipene, who is an old friend of Tui Atua from university days.

Presenting a review of the book, he talked about keeping traditional culture alive by reinventing and adapting it in the face of modernisation, a subject relevant for all Pacific cultures, including Māori.

“The challenge is … how do you apply the old lessons in new ways? If our cultures are simply the replication of what our ancestors did, then we are fit only for museums,” he said.

This theme is also reflected in the book’s title.

The book’s chief editor, Tamasailau Suaalii-Sauni, said: “The title is a metaphor for searching for those things that are best in our culture and trying to hold to them today and for future generations.”

Pictures: Top - Sir Tipene O'Regan speaking at the book launch. Above - Tui Atua is presented with a copy of his book. Photos by Alan Koon.

Alan Ah Mua review in the Samoa Observer
Su’esu’e Manogi at South Pacific Books

Media theses feature in new Pacific national index

By Josephine Latu: Pacific Media Watch

Academic research on Pacific media such as Robert Loto’s work on Pacific Islanders and health in print publications and an analysis of the Fiji 2000 coup by Christine Gounder can now be easily located by students - thanks to a groundbreaking initiative co-ordinated by AUT University’s Office of Pasifika Advancement.

The project was funded by the Building Research Capability in the Social Sciences (BRCSS) Network.

The Bibliographic Index of Pacific Theses in New Zealand Universities – a publication listing references to all master’s and doctoral theses about the Pacific ever submitted to a New Zealand academy since 1900 – was launched today.

The three volume publication includes more than 1200 titles and abstracts, spanning a range of disciplines, collected from nine universities - including the pioneering University of New Zealand.

At a live video conference that included Minister of Pacific Island Affairs Georgina te Heuheu and members from the Tertiary Education Commission and the Labour Department , AUT Vice-Chancellor Derek McCormack officially launched the index saying he was impressed by the “quality, breadth, depth, and scope” of the work catalogued.

“It is a statement by Aotearoa-New Zealand as a Pacific Island nation that we have an interest and responsibility to Pacific development,” he said.

AUT’s Pollyanna Rasmussen-Pa’ese, who spearheaded the project from July till October last year, said the index was an important and convenient tool for Pasifika researchers.

“It makes it easier to find what they need in one place – you can browse through one resource instead of having to search in many different places,” she said.

Available in hard copy or on CD-ROM, the items listed in the index show only bibliographical information and some abstracts. The actual theses can be accessed online, through an interlibrary loan, or by visiting the library that holds the thesis.

However, because of copyright laws surrounding intellectual property, this resource is only currently available to participating universities in New Zealand and BRCSS members.

While some participants raised their concerns about this “exclusivity”, AUT Library’s Philip Combs expressed his expectations that as free access develops the index would eventually be available more freely online.

Judy McFall-McCaffery, of the University of Auckland Library, was also optimistic about the “next stage” of the project, featuring a more web-based approach, and including honours-level dissertations or papers.

Pictured: AUT's Pollyanna Rasmussen-Pa'ese (left) and Professor of Public Policy Marilyn Waring at the launch. Photo: Tessa Prebble.

Copies of the Bibliographic Index of Pacific Theses in New Zealand Universities can be requested by email from kate.scott@aut.ac.nz

The BRCSS network
Office of Pasifika Advancement

Tnews intern, former Fiji publisher win Pasifika scholarships

Staff Reporter: Pacific Media Centre

A Triangle TV Tnews intern and continuing AUT University media student and a former Fiji newspaper publisher have been awarded the two AUT/PIMA Pasifika communication scholarships for this year.

John Pulu, a 20-year-old former Otahuhu College student who is now in the final year of a Bachelor of Communication Studies television major, has won the undergraduate award.

Thakur Ranjit Singh, 53, a former publisher of the Fiji Daily Post who migrated to New Zealand with his family and is an outspoken columnist for papers such as the Fiji Times, Fiji Sun and Indian Newslink and a community advocate, has been awarded the postgraduate award. He will undertake a Master in Communication Studies degree.

The annual scholarships have been sponsored by AUT's School of Communication Studies in partnership with the Pacific Islands Media Association (PIMA) since 2003.

While at Otahuhu College, John Pulu helped produce a news item broadcast on TVNZ's Tagata Pasifika about the "gateway" project enabling students from decile one schools in South Auckland to get industry experience.

"I'm a firm believer that Pacific people deserve to be served by and represented in the media and I have worked hard for this goal since leaving high school," he says.

After joining AUT, he has worked as a part-time reporter filming and covering news items for the Tongan community on T-News.

As part of his coursework, Pulu has also filmed a couple of short documentaries currently available on the Pacific Media Centre's channel on YouTube.

They are Kava Commune, which was screened at the 2008 Manukau Film Festival, and a short video about the 2008 PIMA conference which Pulu filmed, directed, and edited.

As well as television, Pulu co-hosted the breakfast shift at the Pacific Islands radio network Niu FM.

"At AUT’s Pacific Media Centre, I'm an enthusiastic and motivated team player, often volunteering in the centre’s projects," he says. "I like to share my experiences and advice with fellow students and hope this will develop into a mentor role in the future."

Pulu is also a student representative for PIMA.

"I'm passionate about documenting Pacific Island issues and highlighting our rich history."

Ranjit Singh was publisher of the Fiji Daily Post at the time of the George Speight coup in 2000 and he wrote a lively weekly column about cultural and political issues.

While much of his career has been in administrative and business roles - he graduated from the University of the South Pacific and later did an MBA at Massey University in New Zealand - he has for several years been striving to take up a career in journalism.

He has a keen interest in Pacific issues, human rights and political and social challenges facing the region. At one stage, he was an exchange student from USP with the University of Papua New Guinea.

Since migrating to Auckland, he has contributed regular columns to newspapers in Fiji and New Zealand and believes the AUT/PIMA scholarship will help refine his analytical and journalistic skills for community benefit.

"I welcome the challenge to contribute to more analytical journalism and media research for the Pacific. We need more Pacific voices in the media in New Zealand," he says.

"And it will be good for PIMA to have a fresh, different perspective too."

Pictured: Top: John Pulu at work in the AUT television studio. Above: Ranjit Singh at PIMA 2008.

Pacific Media Centre
PMC on YouTube
PIMA
Scholarships
Triangle TV T-News

Chinese e-TV network forges link with Triangle

By Felicity Anderson

A Beijing-based educational television station has selected Triangle and Stratos television channels for programme exchanges.

Jim Blackman, founder and chief executive of Triangle and Stratos, met Kang Ning, president of China Education Television (CETV), at AUT University's Chinese Centre to discuss how the two channels will cooperate.

Triangle and Stratos already screens Chongqing TV news from mainland China and a variety of documentaries, but Blackman says there is a demand from the channels’ viewers for more material from the mainland that helps “cross the cultural divide” and contains either English language or subtitles as well as Mandarin.

“That’s a vital role in the development of New Zealand’s multicultural environment and one that Triangle and Stratos have been playing a leadership role in for some years now,” Blackman says.

Blackman and Kang were joined by Chinese Consul Tom Gao, cultural adviser Jim He and AUT’s director for international relations and development Chris Hawley and Associate Professor David Robie, director of the Pacific Media Centre in the School of Communications Studies.

AUT is interested in the development of the link between CETV and Triangle and Stratos.

Kang says with the shift of many workers back to the countryside due to the effects of the global economic slowdown, one of the key needs was to have educational material on farming.

Pictured: Jim Blackman. Triangle photo.

China Education Television
Stratos TV
PMC on YouTube

New publication to boost NZ media diversity

By Thakur Ranjit Singh: Pacific Media Centre

A new Indian weekly publication will hit the New Zealand market next month. Known as the Indian Weekender, it will be a paper for largely Indian readers spread around Auckland and Hamilton initially. It will be spread to other areas later.

This paper attempts to fill the vacuum of positive community news that New Zealand does not hear about. There are so many unsung heroes and heroines in Indian
communities doing commendable work, but never get into papers as positive news.

The Indian Weekender will be the first real community-based Indian newspaper.

The launch is planned during the Waitakere Holi Mela at Trusts Stadium Grounds, Central Park Drive, Henderson on March 22.

* Ranjit Singh (pictured at last year's Pacific Islands Media Association conference) is a key reporter with this new publishing venture. As a community worker volunteer, he is keen to hear from organisations about their "unpublished stories". He is also a masters student with AUT University, attached to the Pacific Media Centre. Photo: PMC.

Pacific Media Watch - an antidote for parachute journalism

By Dominika White/Pacific Media Centre www.pacmediawatch.aut.ac.nz
Parachute journalism is inevitable, says Scoop.co.nz co-editor Selwyn Manning. However, he believes AUT University’s unique new media database may help provide more depth to covering Asia-Pacific issues.
The DSpace digital database, named Pacific Media Watch, was launched by AUT’s Office of Pasifika Advancement director Pauline Winter on June 9.
Manning says it is an “exciting” resource that contains accurate information for journalists to use and will help the quality of regional journalism by identifying issues in topics in which journalists have little knowledge.
Manning’s own experience in Fiji in 2006 proved to him how valuable online information is to international journalists.

• An antidote to parachute journalism - full story
• PMW database
• Original PMW website