SDebbie Singh*


 Major reform is needed if
 media systems in the Pacific
t w are to flourish according
 to Tongan publisher, Kalafi
 Moala. What are the
 bottlenecks to the media's
 Contribution to the region's
 development?


mIEDI and DEUELOPMEnT



 in the Pacific Islands


 here is an inevitable bias
 in news coverage because
 major media operations in
 H the region have been gov-
ernment-owned or controlled leading island
journalists to sometimes play servant to corrupt
policies developed without public participa-
tion", says Moala. He adds that media business
and commercial interests have usurped the tra-
ditional role of information. "Globalisation has
impacted on media to such an extent that less
is being done to make media appropriate for
indigenous and local socio-cultural contexts.
Instead, the social-cultural contexts are being
progressively adapted to fit the 'one shoe' of a
globalised media", Moala says.
Journalism educator, David Robie, of the
Auckland University of Technology (AUT)
says that developmentjournalism has a critical
role to play in the future of the South Pacific
region and a new generation of educated jour-
nalists have a responsibility to their people.
"Pacific journalists now have a greater task
than ever in encouraging democratisation of
the region and (providing) informed insights
into development issues facing island states.
Journalists need to be part of the solution, rath-
er than being part of the problem", he says.


Indeed, this also applies to the practice of
the concept of 'peace journalism' by Pacific
Island journalists, particularly those work-
ing in conflict 'hot spots' such as Papua
New Guinea, the Solomon Islands and Fiji.
Journalists have often been accused of con-
tributing to tension and aggression via their
style of reportage and, using the case of Fiji,
of "giving voices to coup makers and leaders"
through simply handing them microphones
during times of crisis and broadcasting their
messages to the nation in their excitement and
enthusiasm to get what they see as being a
breaking news story.
Journalism lecturer, Evangelia Papoutsaki,
Phd, based at AUT in New Zealand, states
that taking into account Pacific Countries'
distinctiveness, one should ask what purpose
journalism serves in terms of its contribution
to the development of Pacific Island societies.
Observations on Pacific media covering devel-
opment issues in the region, she says, point
in the direction of superficial, urban and elite
based reporting, screened through the eyes of
aid donors/agencies and development organi-
sations. She continues that, "in most cases,
journalists based in capitals get their material
from press conferences and media releases...


and media tend to give little space to the
opinion of those affected and reporters seem
to bypass the wisdom of local communities in
terms of how sustainable development can be
achieved from within". Papoutsaki argues that
the root cause of this is the dominance of west-
ern values and journalistic principles, a lack of
local knowledge and the desire to search for
and give such knowledge a voice.
"Very rarely do we see in-depth development
reporting based on the principles of develop-
mentjournalism which seeks the voice of local
communities and promotes knowledge and
solutions to development issues", she says.
"Learning how to do development research
is a way of addressing the gap in reporting
effectively on development issues. The jour-
nalist needs to become the researcher to better
understand reports based on research by inter-
national consultants and agencies and better
understand their communities by working for
them and with them too." M
* Fiji-based jouralist.

 Keywords
 Pacific Islands; media; journalism; Kalafi
 Moala; David Robie; Auckland University
 of Technology (UNITEC); Evangelia
 Papoutsaki


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