Seasonal crop industry workers boost Pacific economies

Seasonal workers at the Satara kiwifruit packhouse in Te Puke.
On right: Group leader Sepuloni Saipaia and Satara pastoral care
manager Tim Crossman.

By Lucy Mullinger: Pacific Media Centre

An export harvesting and packaging industry employing seasonal Pacific Islanders has emerged as a critical money-spinner for small island economies, with the scheme earning more than $10 million a year for Tonga alone.

A government analyst, Anne Masoe, who has been involved with the Recognised Seasonal Employer (RSE) scheme since 2006, says it is important for Pacific remittances.

Masoe, a Department of Labour analyst, says the work policy began on April 1, 2007, and was launched under the labour market strategy.

The policy helps Pacific Islanders find work planting, maintaining, harvesting and packing crops in the horticulture and viticulture industries.

RSE enables New Zealand employers to recruit labourers aged 18 to 52 from Pacific Islands Forum member nations, including the Federated States of Micronesia, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Nauru, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu.

According to the Mr Apple website, the company which is the largest RSE’s schemes largest employer says it is the “largest grower, packer and exporter of apples”.

It focuses on producing “quality export apples for valuable customers in the United Kingdom, Europe, Asia, USA and the Middle East”.

At a meeting held in mid-May, Mr Apple’s labour manager, Alistair Jamieson, briefed visiting Prime Minister Dr Feleti Sevele in Hastings on the Tongan contingent’s contribution to the company’s business.

Jamieson says the Dr Sevele was very happy with the policy and caught up with his workers.

Jamieson also met up with the Samoan Prime Minister, Tuilaepa Lupesoliai Sailele Malielegaoi , recently who was equally pleased with the initiative.

“Both the Tongan and Samoan governments are very keen to have the programme's remittance back to the islands” says Jamieson.

Great benefit
Mr Apple's labour coordinator, Karen Morrish, said the meeting went exceptionally well and all members of the Mr Apple team (senior management, orchard staff and RSE workers) found the meeting to be of great benefit to both the RSE and the company.

Mr Apple employs the Tongan RSE workers through TongaWorks which supports workers and their employers.

According to TongaWorks brand manager Sefita Hao'uli, the “RSE is a necessity for Mr Apple's business to be successful because of higher productivity and a more reliable work force”.

Hao'uli says: “RSE is extremely important to Tonga and Pacific countries who have been asking for access to the NZ Labour market”.

It is worth over 10 million dollars to Tonga each year and involves quite a large number of Tonga's small population.

Before employing RSE staff, “the harvest was always difficult and there were no guarantees that they would be able to get the fruit picked on time,” says Hao'uli.

According to Hao'uli, for the year ending April 09 New Zealand employed just over 5000 RSE workers. More than 2400 were from Vanuatu, Tonga 1200, Samoa 1100 and the remainder from Solomon Islands, Kiribati and Tuvalu.

Morrish says “we started with 26 workers and have grown with the scheme to having employed 833 this season.” With 1700 people on the seasonal work force this year that means half of the employees were from the RSE.


Peak needs
Morrish says “our RSE workers provide the seasonal peak requirements at our times of thinning and picking”.

According to Masoe, residents from Samoa, Tonga and Vanuatu can work up to six months, whereas Kiribati and Tuvalu citizens can work up to nine months in New Zealand.

Jamieson says he likes to employ these workers because the company values the Pacific Islanders’ work ethic.

“They have great integrity” and “we obviously try to give them as much work as possible”. “The fact that they are here, keen to work and reliable is an amazing benefit to us”.

Mr Apple has already been recruiting RSE staff for two years. RSE status is initially granted for two years with additional years if the employer keeps to the regulations imposed by the Department of Labour.

Mr Apple is now on to its third year due to the fact that it has to keep up with the RSE rules and regulations which include ensuring they pay for half of the workers travel costs to and from New Zealand, a guarantee of pay for at least 240 hours of work and an average of 30 hours a week.

RSE accredited companies are also expected to provide suitable accommodation, translation, transportation, and the chance for RSE staff to maintain their religious and recreational activities. When it comes to pay and employment law, the same rules for New Zealand workers apply.

According to Hao'uli, most RSE labourers are on the minimum pay (an hour) when they first begin working, however the minimum pay rates don't always apply on contract.

“It's not about how long one works, it’s how hard,” he says.

Costs rise
One problem, however, is that local employers in Tonga have found the cost of labour has gone up because "quality" labourers now have other better paying options”, says Hao’uli.

There is also the problem of workers being re-located outside their own countries and away from their families.

“The social impact both at home and abroad are often overlooked,” says Hao'uli.

However, the Department of Labour and RSE organisers are aware of the problems, DOL’s Masoe says there are always improvements to any policy - “we are two years down the road and still fine tuning the scheme”.

The Department of Labour has been provided with some funding through the Government Agency Fund “to provide technical assistance for Pacific states to improve RSE for the next two years”, says Masoe.

“We're at the infancy and both host and source country governments are keen to address these as they arise,” says Hao'uli.

Pre-departure training, orientation and worker support while on the job go to some extent to monitor and address these issues as it is in everyone's interest to work together.

Countries such as Tonga have a whole division devoted to RSE and a full time team of trainers to do all of the necessary training before departure. It can take up to three days for some of the new recruits.

Former RSE workers and group leaders are also brought in to help with training to ensure new workers are ready before they arrive in the country.

Lucy Mullinger is a Graduate Diploma in Journalism student on the Asia-Pacific Journalism course at AUT University. Pictured above: Sefita Hao'uli (Photo: Del Abcede).

Mr Apple
Recognised Seasonal Employer scheme

New Pacific media freedom group plugs the gaps

“It’s time to stand up. Journalists have human rights too,” says Lisa Williams-Lahari, founder of a new Pacific media freedom group.

By Kara Segedin: Pacific Media Centre

The Pacific’s newest media watch group wrapped up its inaugural forum in Samoa earlier this month, but has vowed that it will not be challenging the long-established Pacific Islands News Association over press freedom issues.

“We arose out of the gaps in PINA,” says founding coordinator Lisa Williams-Lahari (pictured) of the Pacific Freedom Forum.

But, rather than compete with the established parent organisation, PFF’s goal is to act as its media freedom arm.

“We’re part of the PINA family,” she says. “In July, at PINA’s forum in Vanuatu they will decide how to engage with us.”

More than 40 delegates from 12 Pacific nations gathered at the UNESCO-funded PFF meeting dubbed “Courage under fire” at Apia on May 6-8.

The forum drew up an outcomes statement, saying all Pacific people have the right to freedom of speech and access to a free media.

It identified a growing number of threats to media freedom in the region and called on governments to act on commitments to international agreements such as the Rarotonga Media Declaration of 1990 and Article 19 of the universal declaration of human rights.

Strong links
The PFF wants to build strong relationships within the region, online and with the PINA.

Williams-Lahari says as an online forum the PFF has met the needs for monitoring abuses against journalists.

It is raising the alarm on threats to media freedom, which is ultimately linked to the freedom of people.

PFF’s Project XIX was one of three Pacific media schemes approved for funding by UNESCO through the International Programme for the Development of Communication (IPDC).

“Only a handful of Pacific Island groups got funding. This paid for the conference.”

The PFF started off small, but Williams-Lahari says it quickly developed a following among experienced journalists. It has been a busy year and the next step is to apply for NGO status.
There is also talk of a name change.

Williams-Lahari says there is an attitude among Pacific Island journalists that the abuse and threats they sometimes face are part of the job.

“It’s time to stand up. Journalists have human rights too,” she says.

“We want to let the region know it’s not on. Let leaders know that for the development and growth of Pacific countries the media needs to be part of the process.”

Right track
There were many outcomes from the forum and Williams-Lahari says they felt a lot of solidarity from members that they were all on the right track.

She has been to a number of conferences in the past, but this one was different because while the issues were serious there was a lot of laughter.

“There was a lot of wisdom and experience,” she says. It was also a chance to put faces to some well-known names.

Williams-Lahari says one criticism of PINA is that is has not engaged with Pacific Island needs in New Zealand.

The PFF want to create ties with the New Zealand-based Pacific Islands Media Association (PIMA).

“They are another slice of the Pacific, but it’s a different media industry,” she says. “We’re keen to hook up with the Pacific Island network because we’re all on the same page.”

Williams-Lahari says they want to make sure all abuses, even the ones people think are small, are reported.

The next step for the PFF is training, continued advocacy and to make sure all countries are covered, from Hawai’i to Papua New Guinea.

“Doing what we’re doing now and doing it better,” she says.

Rights and safety
Deborah Muir, programme manager of the Asia-Pacific bureau of the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) in Sydney, ran two days of workshops for the PFF.

The IFJ supports journalists and their unions and works against censorship, and for the rights and safety of journalists.

Muir says IFJ got involved when the PFF asked it to help with training on monitoring and reporting on media rights.

“We were invited to provide some expertise and give it a structure”.

According to Muir, there has been a vacuum of strong advocacy and freedom of expression in the Pacific.

“A lot of the problems in the Pacific Islands are similar. Fiji is an extreme example,” she says.

“Advocacy had been insufficient and the situation in Fiji brings this home,” she says. “In my understanding, the (PFF) members are requiring a much stronger advocacy approach.”

At the forum, delegates heard first hand stories of physical abuse and intimidation.

“Fiji sets such a bad example. We’re worried that other states may adopt their tactics,” she says.

Contempt for journalists
There is overt obstruction and intimidation of journalists as power holders seek to maintain control.

In the Pacific, there are difficulties with public perception and with the media itself. Muir says contempt for journalists is a common problem across the region and members of the public may object to the way the media reports issues.

The media also has weak procedures for dealing with complaints.

“At the moment it’s early days, but members are committed to setting up a system of reporting and advocacy,” she says.

“They’ve said they didn’t want to compete with PINA but fulfil the role missed by PINA. And that’s for Pacific Islands journalists to work out.”

Muir identifies a number of things that can be done to help repair the situation.

“The first step is strong advocacy and in the long term professional development and ethics.”

It is also important to network with similar associations.

Crucial time
Phil McGrath, a spokesman for PIMA, says “it’s a crucial time for media freedom”.

“Governments in the region are undertaking massive change in the way they work. Journalists and the public have the right to be informed,” he says.

McGrath says the situation in the Pacific is very delicate and it does not help that outside media are coming in with little understanding of the complexities.

“It’s good to have local people working together.”

He says PIMA members can help with training and engaging the community in New Zealand and in their home countries.

Associate professor David Robie, director of AUT University’s Pacific Media Centre, sees the forum as an enormous step forward and he hopes the centre will work closely with the PFF.

“There was a real buzz of energy and commitment about it,” he says. “I hope it continues.”

“It was an inspiring meeting. Many journalists who have suffered abuse were there to tell their stories.”

He agrees that PINA has not been meeting its obligations on media freedom issues, but says it is still the main media organisation in the region.

Dr Robie, present at the meeting as an observer for the NZ National Commission for UNESCO, is concerned the PFF will overlap with PINA and end up competing for limited funds.

PMW monitoring
Also, the PMC at AUT has been monitoring media freedom in the Pacific through the 13-year-old Pacific Media Watch news service and database started at the University of Papua New Guinea and Australian Centre for Independent Journalism.

The current PMW contributing editor, Josephine Latu, is a journalist from Tonga.

Media freedom organisations are generally independent, but there is a risk of PFF being compromised.

“Some journalists have either business or other media interests,” he says.

“There is a danger of people pushing their own barrow.

“It’s important that the Pacific is kept in perspective – it still largely a safe place for journalists and media freedom by comparison in global terms,” he says.

“There are none of the really serious threats and assaults, kidnappings or murders that journalists face in other countries such as Burma, Iraq, or even a democracy such as the Philippines.”

Dr Robie says ongoing issues for journalists in the region include cultural and political pressures, and the ease of inducements because Pacific journalists are poorly paid and often face poor work conditions.

This remains an ongoing threat.

Kara Segedin is a Graduate Diploma in Journalism student on the AUT Asia-Pacific Journalism course.

Pacific Freedom Forum
Pacific Islands News Association
Pacific Islands Media Association
Pacific Media Watch

Veteran media freedom champions speak out for uncompromised Pacific news

By David Robie in Apia: Pacific Media Centre

Veteran champions of a free Pacific media spoke out strongly in defence of an uncompromising public watchdog role for the region's news organisations at an Article 19 seminar in Samoa this week.

Savea Sano Malifa, editor-in-chief of the Samoa Observer, spoke of his lifelong pursuit of the “hidden stories” at the UNESCO-sponsored seminar, which had a “courage under fire” theme.

“When I started out as a journalist, I realised that I didn’t care much about the everyday, obvious news,” he said.

“Especially the ones that were being deliberately hidden in order that they remained so for a very long time.

“That was the stuff that kept up the pressure to dig deeper.”

Netani Rika, editor-in-chief of the Fiji Times, whose newspaper led the challenge against unprecedented draconian censorship by the military regime after the abrogation of the 1997 constitution at Easter by publishing blank spaces in retaliation against the gag, called for more training of media workers “under fire”.

“How do we build their courage? Simply, by not backing down,” he said.

“It is vital indeed it’s our duty – to ensure that journalists continue to make every attempt to cover the issues that matter to the people, even if the stories we write do not portray our rulers in a good light.”

Move Pacnews
Kalafi Moala, publisher of both the Taimi ‘o Tonga and Tonga Chronicle and who was unconstitutionally jailed for contempt of Parliament in 1996, called on the Pacific Islands News Association (PINA) to move out of Fiji and shift its regional news service Pacnews in protest.

“They should get out of Fiji so that they can function independently,” he said.

“We don’t believe they should remain silent. In terms of media freedom, journalists in the Pacific are looking for fresh leadership.”

Russell Hunter, expelled by the Fiji regime while he was publisher of the Fiji Sun in February 2008, also called for Pacnews to move out of Fiji.

“It is appalling that a body that has consistently stood up for media freedom for a quarter of a century or more should have maintained its operations in a censure environment one minute longer than it needed to,” said Hunter, who is now development editor of the Samoa Observer.

Savea Malifa also warned young journalists to defend their independence and not fall foul to the Pacific free “beer and food” culture.

In our small societies, the urge for compromise is compelling. Many journalists succumb to it. They are invited to their governments’ cocktail parties, they accept free beer and food, and they lose sight of the ethics.”

Marc Neil-Jones, publisher of the Vanuatu Daily Post, said his paper constantly challenged assaults, intimidation and bullying by authorities by publicly exposing such behaviour.

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) Asia-Pacific bureau’s Deborah Muir and Kalafi Moala were lead trainers for the seminar, organised by the recently formed Pacific Freedom Forum (PFF).

PINA failure
The forum’s facilitator, Lisa Williams-Lahari, a longtime Pacific women’s advocate now based at Otago University, steered the programme – a regional response to the failure of PINA in recent months to respond with timely campaigns to defend the region from assaults on media freedom.

The seminar conducted two days of freedom of speech and expression mobilisation and practical training exercises under the Article 19 umbrella – from the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights. The programme was designed to monitor the region’s media more stringently.

A final day of strategic mapping for the forum’s future, leading to the two-yearly PINA convention in Vanuatu in mid-July followed.

The forum issued a final communiqué today outlining its action plan and declaration, including working towards becoming registered as a non-government organisation.

The network also plans to work with other regional organisations with similar objectives such as the IFJ, Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC) Regional Media Centre, AUT University Pacific Media Centre and its Pacific Media Watch project, University of the South Pacific regional journalism programme and the National University of Samoa journalism programme.

The forum explored a regional strategy to have a strong presence at the University of Queensland-hosted World Media Freedom Day event in Brisbane, Australia, next May 1-4.

Picture: Taimi Media Network publisher (left), Fiji Times editor-in-chief Netani Rika and Vanuatu Daily Post publisher Marc Neil-Jones. Photo: David Robie.

• Dr David Robie is director of the Pacific Media Centre. He was present at the “Courage under fire” media seminar with the assistance of the NZ National Commission for UNESCO.

Samoa 'Courage under fire' seminar final communiqué
Pragmatic approach to Fiji censorship

Pacific reporter fights off smear campaign

By Lucy Mullinger: Pacific Media Centre

World Press Freedom day was celebrated around the globe this weekend while one of New Zealand's top reporters has been fending off a nasty smear campaign over a controversial report about gangs and guns in Samoa.

The Samoan government has threatened legal action against Television New Zealand and Pacific affairs reporter Barbara Dreaver because of her report on April 6 which highlighted the issue of guns being smuggled into the Pacific country.

Gangs are accused of being involved and also as drug dealers.

Samoan authorities claim there is no “gang culture” in the country. Dreaver is accused of bribing young Samoan men with alcohol to get a fabricated story about the gangs.

Dreaver denies the claims. She says no legal action or complaint has been filed through the Broadcasting Standards Authority (BSA) – and she vows to fight it if it does.

Dreaver stands by her story, saying: “There are a lot of people working on TVNZ stories and I would never be allowed to film something that was untrue”.

Her network recently publicly issued a sworn affidavit by her rejecting the allegations, and she adds: “I have proof and their argument would never stand up in court.”

The regional media freedom conference is being held in Samoa this week and the director of the Pacific Media Centre, Associate Professor David Robie, will be attending and expects the controversy to be debated.

Hot topic
“The issue will be a hot topic. I hope that it will be conducted fairly and professionally,” he says.

A Samoa Observer article written by an anonymous reporter on April 26 said: “Whether Dreaver and TVNZ agree, the truth is that as anyone who has lived in this country for many years will vouch, there is no such thing as a gang culture in Samoa”.

The Sunday Samoan refers to Dreaver’s story as “a sickening documentary”.

The reporter goes on to refer to a scene with young men “brandishing guns” as a “despicable scene” where Dreaver is alleged to have misled them to believe they were in a Hollywood film.

Dreaver denies this and says: “The boys had a lot of marijuana on them and Samoa has strict rules about carrying joints, of course they are going to deny being involved.”

The reporter continues: “The images are so disgusting you feel like running outside and bury[ing] your head in the mud.”

This time the reporter does not completely rule out the fact there are problems in Samoa: “We admit there are drugs-and-guns-related problems here but then every country has them”.

Dr Robie describes an unsigned editorial in the Sunday Samoan on April 20 that personally "threatens" Dreaver as one of the worst personal attacks on a journalist he has seen in some time.

He defends Dreaver, saying: “She is one of the leading roving Pacific correspondents in the region” He believes she is unmatched in New Zealand television and has been “a role model to many journalists”.

Strong support
An ex-colleague and friend of Dreaver, Sandra Kailahi, is a producer and presenter on the new digital channel TVNZ7 who agrees with Dr Robie.

She has known Dreaver for many years after attending the same journalism school in 1990 and says: “I don’t believe Barbara would deliberately mislead anyone.”

Editor of Spasifik magazine Peter Rees used to work for the Samoa Observer. He notes Dreaver has written columns for Spasifik in the past and says: “Her determination to expose NZ audiences to Pacific issues through her role on One News is to be commended”.

He says there is gang activity in Samoa “but not at the levels that people are led to believe”.

In Dreaver’s story, he believes that gangs are not the same in Samoa as they are in New Zealand.

“It is more to do with unemployed and bored youth in the urbanised areas of the capital Apia.”

Rees believes there is a problem in Samoa but it involves “ice” or harder drugs, rather than marijuana. It is an example of a problem that is more serious than the “youth gang reports”.

Sandra Kailahi believes Samoa is a great place to visit and wasn’t aware of the gang issue until the story.

“But in all honesty, I am not surprised given its strong ties and links to New Zealand, Samoa and America”.

Stopping place
She admits Samoa is not the only place where drugs are an issue as Tonga was used by many gangs as a stopping place.

“In one big case many years ago, drugs were hidden in root crops like yams bound for NZ”.

When asked why Samoan authorities and many news people reject the accusations of gangs in their country, Kailahi says: “A story like this can alter peoples’ perception of an ideal South Pacific destination and that translates in hard cash or lack of it”.

She also believes it might also be “about not being fakama” and the people felt shamed.

Samoan resident Annette Wazhia lives near Apia and says she is “very angry” about the allegations of gangs in Samoa.

“I haven't seen or heard of gangs in Samoa. It is a very safe place”.

She is one of the local people who believe the story is not true and is “saddened” by the story.

A Pacific Island representative who is not from Samoa but has visited the country many times agrees that Samoa is a safe place but believes there is some criminal activity.

“The motive is more to do with getting cash rather than competing for ‘turf’ which is quite an urban attitude,” said the representative, who declined to be named.

Frowned upon
The representative says that strong family ties in Samoa, community and church networks “frown upon gangs” and it would make it difficult for gangs such as exist in Western countries to take hold.

“If the gang culture does exist at all, it would not be ‘paraded’ as we find here in Auckland with patches because the networks will root it out very quickly”.

However, “wayward kids have been sent home by their families from US and NZ to get away from the gang environment”.

The same representative believes that Dreaver's story “lacked credibility because she got taken in by a group of kids who conned her into thinking they were ‘bigger’ than they really were”.

This person adds: “There could be guns being moved from American Samoa to Samoa … but I don't think that it is large enough to warrant trade.”

If the Samoan government does bring an action against TVNZ, Dreaver says: “I don't mind healthy debate but these accusations are defamatory and are a character assassination against me”.

Dreaver and her team at TVNZ will “fight it all the way”.

Lucy Mullinger is a Graduate Diploma in Journalism student on the Asia-Pacific Journalism course at AUT University. She photographed the Samoan scene image ... "tarnished ideal destination".

Another piece of Barbara Dreaver's puzzle
Barbara Dreaver: The evil side of journalism
Barbara Dreaver affidavit on Pacific Media Watch
Jason Brown on the Samoan Observer 'shoot the messenger' threat
NZ drug trade fuels Samoa gun smuggling [video]

Martial law wipes out Fiji's media freedom day

By Violet Cho: Pacific Media Centre

Media organisations and newspapers worldwide are ready to mark World Media Freedom Day tomorrow - but this important day has been censored in Fiji because of the military regime’s decree banning media and political meetings.

Sources at the University of the South Pacific, where an annual free speech debate was due to be co-hosted with the Fiji Media Council, said plans had to be abandoned.

“The journalism programme was working with the Fiji Media Council to organise activities as it has done through the years, but decided against it after advice from the Information Ministry,” said one organiser.

“We had already held a meeting but could not hold a follow-up meeting to continue with preparations.

“We were told that all meetings to do with the Media Council should be deferred until after period of the 30-day emergency regulations expired.

“We were further advised to familiarise ourselves with the emergency regulations.”

The Fiji Media Council, comprising the country’s leading news media organisations, was also ordered to cancel its monthly meeting.

“Media freedom is seriously curtailed in Fiji,” said TV3 reporter Sia Aston, an AUT graduate who was recently expelled from Fiji.

“Reporters there have to carry out their jobs with members of the military and police within their offices censoring stories.

“International media are given selective access to government ministers and officials, banned from attending sensitive press conferences, monitored heavily while in Fiji and told that any reporting perceived as negative will not be tolerated.

“That is not what I would consider media freedom.”

In a statement marking Media Freedom Day, the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), said governments guilty of "censorship, hypocrisy, and neglect are putting press freedom to the sword world-wide”.

The president of IFJ, Jim Boumelha, said: “Governments around the world are failing to defend press freedom and the rights of journalists.

“And in the process they endanger civil liberties and democracy.”

According to the IFJ, journalists worldwide are being targeted in justification of security and counter-terrorism by authorities.

“Even democratic states are putting in place laws that constrain the exercise of journalism,” says Boumelha.

“Snooping on investigative reporters and forcing journalists to reveal sources of information is increasing. As a result, media work in an intimidating atmosphere in which censorship, direct and indirect is becoming routine.”

The Pacific regional media event, “Building courage under fire”, originally planned for Fiji has been moved to Apia, Samoa, because of martial law.

The regional event, with aim of boosting Pacific journalism’s ability to counter pressure on media freedom is being organised by the Pacific Freedom Forum, UNESCO and the Secretariat of the Pacific Community.

The meeting starts on Wednesday and will run until May 8.

Other regional World Media Freedom Day activities include:

Malaysia: According to International Freedom of Expression (IFEX) exchange, Independent Journalism in Malaysia is organising a public forum on “media under Najib: Hope or Disappointment?” at the Central Market in Kuala Lumpur on May 10.

Philippines: The National Union of Journalists in the Philippines (NUJP) plans a wreath-laying ceremony on May 3 in memory of journalists who have been killed.

Thailand: The Southeast Asian Press Alliance (SEAPA) and UNESCO Bangkok is organising an event to highlight the importance of freedom of expression and media independence after conflicts and crises ranging from Cambodia under the Khmer Rouge regime to the Philippines under Marcos.

Violet Cho is the Asian Journalism Fellow at AUT's Pacific Media Centre.

IFJ accuses governments of ‘hypocrisy’
Fiji government
Fiji Media Council
University of the South Pacific

'Courage under fire' workshop moves to Samoa

Pacific Media Watch

A regional media event aimed at boosting Pacific journalism's capacity to face challenges to media freedom has been switched to Apia, Samoa, next week. Journalists from around the region will gather for the conference.

The Pacific Freedom Forum, UNESCO and Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC) "Building Courage under Fire" three-day workshop was originally planned to take place in Suva, Fiji, this week, but was relocated due to the current emergency restrictions in place there.

On April 10, the Fiji President, Ratu Josefa Iloiloi, abrogated the Fiji constitution, sacked the judiciary and postponed elections until 2014. Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama was reappointed and rule-by-decree included a censorship crackdown on news media.

“While we felt that Fiji at this point in time would have been the ideal workshop venue, given our theme, we have a responsibility to ensure the funding support we received is used effectively> This would have been impossible given the emergency regulations in place there,” says PFF chair Susuve Laumaea.

Part of the cancelled event in Fiji was a regional UNESCO World Press Freedom Day celebration on May 3. The current emergency "laws" there make such an event illegal.

“The Fiji media situation shows clearly how media freedom affects all Pacific Islanders - not just those who work in the media. We want to look at ways to encourage that understanding, not just in our newsrooms, but across our communities and in the homes and minds of more Pacific people.”

Laumaea is joining delegates from Australia, Cook Islands, Fiji, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Palau, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu and the host country at the media freedom workshop.

“Overall, the intent is not to single out any one country, but to ensure the Pacific context of the universal right to free speech and expression of opinions gets some timely attention and forward-thinking debate from journalists to enhance their everyday work,” he says.

The Pacific Media Centre and NZ Commission for UNESCO will be represented at the workshop.

'Sulu censors' stifle Fiji news media