PJR wins global creative industries award

Pacific Media Centre

Pacific Journalism Review has won a Creative Stimulus Award for academic journals in the inaugural Academy Awards of the Global Creative Industries in Beijing, China, this month.

The journal, published by AUT University’s Pacific Media Centre and now in its 16th year, was one of five international journals to receive awards.

Other journals honoured include the British-based International Journal of Cultural Studies.

Professor Barry King of AUT’s Faculty of Creative Technologies, who was present for the awards ceremony as part of the 5th Creative China Harmonious World International Forum on Cultural Industries, accepted the prize on PJR’s behalf.

Professor King, who is on the advisory board of the PMC, said: “The inclusion of PJR with world class journals such as the International Journal of Cultural Studies is a testament to its development into a journal of reference and international quality in the field of journalism practice and education.

“AUT’s international reputation in a key partner market benefits significantly from the efforts of the editor, Associate Professor David Robie, and his team.”

The award citation said that in view of its “innovation and contribution in reporting hot topics” PJR was being awarded the title of “Motivated Thinking Periodical”.

During the conference, the Global Academic Association of Cultural Industries (GAACI) was established.

In the initiation ceremony, Professor Fan Zhou, dean of the Institute of Cultural Industries (ICI), Communication University of China (CUC); and Professor John Hartley, foundation dean of the Faculty of Creative Industries at Australia's Queensland University of Technology, delivered the founding declaration.

Six other members in different fields of cultural industries, including AUT's Professor King, also participated in the ceremony.

Other universities include the University of Adelaide, Australia; Belgium's Free University of Brussels; Chulalongkorn University of Thailand; Keio University of Japan; and Singapore's Nanyang Technology University.

Professor Fan said: "The association will build a cooperation platform by sharing research and teaching resources and experience, including staff exchange, joint research programmes and academic conferences to promote the development of education and research in cultural industries."

Pictured: Top: Professor Barry King (third from right) at the inauguration of the Global Academic Association of Cultural Industries (GAACI) in Beijing. Middle: PJR editor Dr David Robie with the plaque and certificate (Photo: Melanie Curry-Irons/AUT). Above: The latest edition of PJR.

Institute for Cultural Industries (CUC)
Database for Pacific Journalism Review articles
PJR website

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.

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