At least 262 Palestinian journalists have been killed in Gaza since the start of the war against the besieged enclave, marking one of the deadliest periods for media workers in recent global history, reports Al Jazeera.

Despite newsrooms being destroyed and reporters losing their lives, coverage continues through a new generation of young, often untrained correspondents determined to document the conflict.

With international media access severely restricted, the responsibility of reporting increasingly falls on local journalists who work in makeshift shelters and tents amid rubble, facing constant danger.

• READ MORE: Foreign press access to Gaza: RSF and partner organisations call on Israeli Supreme Court judges to accelerate proceedings
• Other Gaza media reports

For many, journalism has shifted from profession to urgent responsibility.

Al Jazeera’s Hani Mahmoud reports from Gaza City on the new generation of journalists, many of them young women.

Gaza’s young journalists document Israel’s war crimes       Video: Al Jazeera

COMMENTARY: By Sara Qudah

BEARING WITNESS: By Cole Martin

As a Kiwi journalist living in the occupied West Bank, I can list endless reasons why there is no peace in the “Holy Land”.

I live in a refugee camp, alongside families who were expelled from their homes by Israel’s violent establishment in 1948 — never allowed to return and repeatedly targeted by Israeli military incursions.

Daily I witness suffocating checkpoints, settler attacks against rural towns, arbitrary imprisonment with no charge or trial, a crippled economy, expansion of illegal settlements, demolition of entire communities, genocidal rhetoric, and continued expulsion.

• READ MORE:  Israel bombs Gaza, Syria as alarm grows over rise in starving children
• Other West Bank reports

No form of peace can exist within an active system of domination. To talk about peace without liberation and dignity is to suggest submission to a system of displacement, imprisonment, violence and erasure.

I often find myself alongside a variety of peacemakers, putting themselves on the line to end these horrific systems — let me outline the key groups:

Palestinian civil society and individuals have spent decades committed to creative non-violence in the face of these atrocities — from court battles to academia, education, art, co-ordinating demonstrations, general strikes, hīkoi (marches), sit-ins, civil disobedience. Google “Iqrit village”, “The Great March of Return”, “Tent of Nations farm”. These are the overlooked stories that don’t make catchy headlines.

Protective Presence activists are a mix of about 150 Israeli and international civilians who volunteer their days and nights physically accompanying Palestinian communities. They aim to prevent Israeli settler violence, state-sanctioned home demolitions, and military/police incursions. They document the injustice and often face violence and arrest themselves. Foreigners face deportation and blacklisting — as a journalist I was arrested and barred from the West Bank short-term and my passport was withheld for more than a month.

Reconciliation organisations have been working for decades to bridge the disconnect between political narratives and human realities. The effective groups don’t seek “co-existence” but “co-resistance” because they recognise there can be no peace within an active system of apartheid. They reiterate that dialogue alone achieves nothing while the Israeli regime continues to murder, displace and steal. Yes there are “opposing narratives”, but they do not have equal legitimacy when tested against the reality on the ground.

Journalists continue to document and report key developments, chilling statistics and the human cost. They ensure people are seen. Over 200 journalists have been killed in Gaza. High-profile Palestinian Christian journalist Shireen Abu-Akleh was killed by Israeli forces in 2022. They continue reporting despite the risk, and without their courage world leaders wouldn’t know which undeniable facts to brazenly ignore.

Humanitarians serve and protect the most vulnerable, treating and rescuing people selflessly. More than 400 aid workers and 1000 healthcare workers have been killed in Gaza. All 38 hospitals have been destroyed or damaged, with just a small number left partially functioning. NGOs have been crippled by USAID cuts and targeted Israeli policies, marked by a mass exodus of expats who have spent years committed to this region — severing a critical lifeline for Palestinian communities.

All these groups emphasise change will not come from within. Protective Presence barely stems the flow.

Reconciliation means nothing while the system continues to displace, imprison and slaughter Palestinians en masse. Journalism, non-violence and humanitarian efforts are only as effective as the willingness of states to uphold international law.

Those on the frontlines of peacebuilding express the urgent need for global accountability across all sectors; economic, cultural and political sanctions. Systems of apartheid do not stem from corrupt leadership or several extremists, but from widespread attitudes of supremacy and nationalism across civil society.

Boycotts increase the economic cost of maintaining such systems. Divestment sends a strong financial message that business as usual is unacceptable.

Many other groups across the world are picketing weapons manufacturers, writing to elected leaders, educating friends and family, challenging harmful narratives, fundraising aid to keep people alive.

Where are the peacemakers? They’re out on the streets. They’re people just like you and me.

Cole Martin is an independent New Zealand photojournalist based in the occupied West Bank and a contributor to Asia Pacific Report. This article was first published by the Otago Daily Times and is republished with permission.

Two young Palestinians were beaten to death on their land by Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank on Friday.

A funeral was held on Sunday for Sayfollah “Saif” Mussalet, 20, and Muhammad Shalabi, 23, who were brutally killed by a large group of settlers in an attack that left more than 30 other Palestinians injured.

Mussalet died from his wounds as settlers attacked medical responders, and Shalabi’s body was recovered later that evening, having reportedly bled to death from a gunshot wound while ambulances and rescuers were blocked by Israeli military.

• READ MORE: Deadly Israeli attacks kill more Palestinians near Gaza aid centre
• Other Israel war on Palestine reports

Settlers continued to roam the Palestinian farmland freely for hours.

Both young men were from the neighbouring Mazra’a Sharqiya village, and Saif was an American citizen visiting loved ones and friends over summer. His family released a statement calling his death an “unimaginable nightmare and an injustice that no family should ever have to face”.

They said he was a “beloved member of his community . . . a brother and a son [and] a kind, hard-working, and deeply-respected young man.”

Saif built a widely-loved business in Tampa, Florida, and was known for his generosity, ambition, and connection to his Palestinian heritage.

Following news of his death an overwhelming number of locals gathered at his store to share their grief and anger.

Frequent atrocities
Such lynchings have become a frequent atrocity across the West Bank, as settler gangs are repeatedly emboldened by the Israeli government, police, and military who protect and often facilitate violence against Palestinian communities.

Two settlers were reportedly detained following the attacks, but released again within hours.

Between 2005-2020, 91 percent of Palestinian cases filed with police were closed without indictment, according to the Israeli human rights organisation B’tselem, and settlers undergo trial with full legal rights and higher lenience in Israeli civil courts.

By contrast, Palestinians are tried in Israeli military courts, established in violation of the fourth Geneva Convention and largely considered corrupt for maintaining a 95 percent conviction rate (Military Court Watch).

Additionally, more than 3600 Palestinians are currently held in Israeli captivity without charge or trial, with all detainees facing an increase in documented physical, psychological, and sexual abuse — including children.

A funeral was held for the young men on Sunday in Mazra’a Sharqiya village, with thousands in attendance. The killings continue a systemic pattern which alongside military incursions, has seen 153 Palestinians killed by Israeli forces in the West Bank since the beginning of 2025 (OCHA).

UN resolution
A UN resolution last September reaffirmed the illegality of Israel’s presence in the occupied Palestinian territories, demanding a total and unconditional withdrawal within a year.

Ten months on, settler attacks have escalated in frequency and severity, settlement expansion has rapidly increased, and numerous Palestinian villages have been forcibly displaced after months of sustained violence.

Communities across the West Bank are facing erasure, and as the death toll climbs pressure continues to grow for the New Zealand government to enforce stronger political sanctions, including the entire opposition uniting behind the Green Party’s Unlawful Occupation of Palestine Sanctions Bill.

Cole Martin is an independent New Zealand photojournalist based in the Middle East and a contributor to Asia Pacific Report.

Kia ora koutou,

I’m a Kiwi journo in occupied Bethlehem, here’s a brief summary of today’s events across the Palestinian and Israeli territories from on the ground.

At least 79 killed and 391 injured by Israeli forces in Gaza over the last 24 hours, including 33 killed and 267 injured while seeking aid at the US-Israel “humanitarian” centres.

*

Three killed and 7 injured by settler pogrom on the town of Kafr Malik, northeast of Ramallah; setting fire to houses and cars, and protected by soldiers. Israeli forces shot and killed 15-year-old Rayan Houshia west of Jenin as they retreated from resistance fighters, after using a civilian home as military barracks; also invading several towns across the West Bank, firing teargas into al-Fawar refugee camp south of Hebron, sound-bombs near the Jenin Grand Mosque in the north, and arresting several Palestinians.

• READ MORE: Israel kills more than 80 in Gaza; 3 killed in attack by Israeli settlers
• Other Middle East crisis reports

Al Quds/Jerusalem’s old city faced low visitor numbers even after restrictions were lifted by the Israeli occupation. Jerusalem Governate reported 623 homes and facilities demolished by Israel since October 2023.

*

Palestinian political prisoner Amar Yasser Al-Amour was released after 2.5 years without charge or trial in Israeli prisons. Thousands remain detained illegally in this way. Another freed prisoner Fares Bassam Hanani mourned his mother who passed away while he was imprisoned. Mohammad al-Ghushi, also freed, was taken to hospital to have his kidney removed due to torture and medical neglect he faced in Israeli prisons.

*

The unexpected ceasefire between Israel, America, and Iran appears to be holding for now. Iranian officials say the US “torpedoed diplomacy” and have passed a bill to halt cooperation with the UN nuclear watchdog IAEA.

Cole Martin is an independent New Zealand photojournalist based in the Middle East and a contributor to Asia Pacific Report.

Kia ora koutou,

I’m a Kiwi journo in occupied Bethlehem, here’s a brief summary of today’s events across the Palestinian and Israeli territories from on the ground.

The US struck three of Iran’s nuclear facilities overnight, entering the illegal aggression on Iran with heavy airstrikes despite no evidence that nuclear weapons are being developed. Israel continued its strikes attacking dozens of locations across Iran throughout the day. Three were killed in an Israeli drone attack on an ambulance in central Iran. At least 400 have been killed and 2000 injured, according to the latest Health Ministry figures.

*

Heavy Iranian retaliation strikes on Israeli territories saw about 27 injured.

*

At least 47 killed by Israeli attacks in Gaza today, 18 while seeking aid. Two killed and 15 wounded in an Israeli airstrike on a house west of Gaza city. The murder of firefighter Muhammad Ghurab brings the total Gaza civil defence casualties to 121, representing 14.3 percent of its employees.

Today I met a 10-year-old kid called Hassan on the streets of Bethlehem. He was looking for work. His dad had recently stopped working, unemployed like many in Bethlehem; around 80 percent of jobs here depend on tourism. He lives in al-Khader village, an hour’s walk away, but without opportunities there he had walked all this way in an attempt to help support his family.

Israel’s illegal occupation of the West Bank has suffocated the economy here for decades. Now, as the genocidal war on Gaza continues and Israeli aggression expands to Iran, drawing in the USA and threatening regional collapse, a 10-year-old boy takes to the streets of Bethlehem to find work.

*

Israel’s illegal siege across the West Bank continues. Large numbers of Israeli soldiers conducted extensive raids on Bethlehem’s Dheisheh camp including demolitions, arrests, and interrogations last night. Mass demolitions continue across Nour Shams camp in the north, and further arrests, demolitions, and incursions took place across the West Bank. Bethlehem’s gasoline shortages continue due to Israel’s ongoing siege.

*

Twenty five killed in a terror attack targeting Mar Elias Church in Damascus, Syria.

Cole Martin is an independent New Zealand photojournalist based in the Middle East and a contributor to Asia Pacific Report.

BEARING WITNESS: By Cole Martin in occupied Bethlehem

Kia ora koutou,

I’m a Kiwi journo in occupied Bethlehem, here’s a brief summary of today’s events across the Palestinian and Israeli territories from on the ground.

Israeli forces killed over 200 Palestinians in Gaza over the last 48 hours, injuring over 1037. Countless more remain under the rubble and in unreachable zones. 450 killed seeking aid, 39 missing, and around 3500 injured at the joint US-Israeli humanitarian foundation “death traps”.

Forty one  killed by Israeli forces since dawn today, including three children in an attack east of Gaza City. Gaza’s Al-Quds brigades destroyed a military bulldozer in southern Gaza.

*

Settlers, protected by soldiers, violently attacked Palestinian residents near the southern village of Susiya last night, including children. The West Bank siege continues with Israeli occupation forces severely restricting movement between Palestinian towns and cities. Continued military/settler assaults across the occupied territories.

*

Iranian strikes targeted Ben Gurion airport and several military sites in the Israeli territories. Israeli regime discuss a 3.6 billion shekel defence budget increase.

*

400 killed and 3000 injured by Israel’s attacks on Iran, in the nine days since Israel’s aggression began. Iranian authorities have arrested dozens more linked to Israeli intelligence, and cut internet for the last three days to prevent internal drone attacks from agents within their territories.

Israeli strikes have targeted a wide range of sites; missile depots, nuclear facilities, residential areas, and reportedly six ambulances today.

Cole Martin is an independent New Zealand photojournalist based in the Middle East and a contributor to Asia Pacific Report.

New Zealand journalist and academic David Robie has covered the Asia-Pacific region for international media for more than four decades.

An advocate for media freedom in the Pacific region, he is the author of several books on South Pacific media and politics, including an account of the French bombing of the Greenpeace flagship Rainbow Warrior in Auckland Harbour in 1985 — which took place while he was on the last voyage.

In 1994 he founded the journal Pacific Journalism Review examining media issues and communication in the South Pacific, Asia-Pacific, Australia and New Zealand.

• READ MORE: Other presentations at the Mediasia conference in Kyoto, Japan
• The Bearing Witness project

He was also convenor of the Pacific Media Watch media freedom collective, which collaborates with Reporters Without Borders in Paris, France.

Until he retired at Auckland University of Technology in 2020 as that university’s first professor in journalism and founder of the Pacific Media Centre, Dr Robie organised many student projects in the South Pacific such as the Bearing Witness climate action programme.

He currently edits Asia Pacific Report and is one of the founders of the new Aotearoa New Zealand-based NGO Asia Pacific Media Network.

In this interview conducted by Mediasia organising committee member Dr Nasya Bahfen of La Trobe University for this week’s 13th International Asian Conference on Media, Communication and Film that ended today in Kyoto, Japan, Professor Robie discusses a surge of disinformation and the challenges it posed for journalists in the region as they covered the covid-19 pandemic alongside a parallel “infodemic” of fake news and hoaxes.

He also explores the global climate emergency and the disproportionate impact it is having on the Asia-Pacific.

Paying a tribute to the dedication and courage of Pacific journalists, he says with a chuckle: “All Pacific journalists are climate journalists — they live with it every day.”

• David Robie’s Eyes Of Fire microsite (with Little Island Press)

Award-winning University of the South Pacific student journalist Sera Tikotikoivatu-Sefeti says Pacific voices on the climate fight need to be amplified for big nations to notice and be accountable for their actions.

The final-year student recently won the top prize in the tertiary level journalism students category at the 2022 Vision Pasifika Media Award with her two submissions on the environmental impacts of Tonga’s volcanic eruption on villagers of Moce Island in Fiji, and declining fish populations on the livelihoods of Fijian fishermen in Suva.

Tikotikoivatu-Sefeti said she was “beyond humbled” to receive the award and expressed her gratitude to God for the opportunity to amplify Pacific voices on climate change.

• READ MORE: Other environmental journalism reports
• Bearing Witness: A Pacific climate crisis documentary and journalism development project — David Robie and Jim Marbrook

Originally from Dravuni village on beautiful Kadavu island, Tikotikoivatu-Sefeti said Pacific Island countries contributed the least towards climate change and global carbon emissions — but were the most affected.

“We are known to have a close relationship to the land and sea. To have that severely affected by big world countries whose activities are a big cause of this is unacceptable,” said the student editor of Wansolwara, USP Journalism’s award-winning print and online publication.

“I am passionate about environmental issues and human interest stories. I believe the Pacific stories should be ‘heard’ and ‘told’ from the Pacific Islanders’ perspective and words as it is a crisis they live by and survive every day.

“In Fiji, there aren’t enough journalists covering stories of the environment and how it’s affecting the people. I understand it can be a resource constraint and financially limited area.

Filling the gap
“I want to fill that gap in the industry and be able to do something I’m passionate about because it’s incredibly important to tell our people’s story.”

Tikotikoivatu-Sefeti dedicated her award to her family, USP Journalism students, staff, peers and indigenous women.

“So many times, we limit ourselves to what others perceive us, and it will take you to step out of your comfort zone to be able to experience your full capabilities,” said Tikotikoivatu-Sefeti, who was also a recipient of the EJN story grant for indigenous reporting.

She was recently one of the first recipients of the Native American Journalists Association and the Asian American Journalists Association (NAJA-AAJA) Pacific Islander Journalism Scholarship.

The Pacific Regional Environmental Programme’s (SPREP) acting communications and outreach adviser, Nanette Woonton, reaffirmed that SPREP recognised the critical role of all media in disseminating public information, education and influencing behaviour for the better.

“At the secretariat, we are excited to be able to offer the opportunity through these awards to honour and recognise the hard work by our media colleagues in protecting our people and the environment,” she said.

Vision Pasifika Media Award
The 2022 Vision Pasifika Media Award was facilitated through a collaboration between the SPREP, Pacific Islands News Association (PINA), Internews Earth Journalism Network (EJN), and the Pacific Environment Journalists Network (PEJN), with financial support from Aotearoa New Zealand.

The award comprised five categories — television news, radio production, online content, print media, and tertiary-level journalism students.

• Other category winners were: Fabian Randerath (television news), Jeremy Gwao (online content) and Moffat Mamu (print). Randerath was also named the overall winner for his story “Rising Tides – Precious Lives” on Fiji Broadcasting Corporation (FBC).

Akansha Narayan is a final-year student journalist at USP’s Laucala campus, Suva. USP and Wansolwara collaborate on Pacific stories, and for several years USP and the AUT’s Pacific Media Centre collaborated on a joint Bearing Witness climate journalism project.

Pacific journalism educators are worried that the global covid pandemic has threatened media development programmes in a vast region of island microstates at a time when expertise in health and climate change reporting has never been greater.

The news media industry in some countries has recognised this need and is trying to boost resources and human skills.

New Zealand, for example, earlier this year unveiled a $50 million plan to help the local media after it suffered a huge hit after the start of the pandemic last year with a massive layoff of journalists and a closure of publications, especially magazines.

• READ MORE: Pacific journalism education

One of the innovative features of a new initiative announced by Broadcasting and Media Minister Kris Faafoi, himself a former journalist with Pacific heritage from Tokelau, is a Public Interest Journalism Fund with one of its targets being to assist indigenous Māori, Pasifika and “diverse voices” journalism.

The fund will finance an ambitious Te Rito programme to train 10 Māori and five Pacific Islander journalists a year in digital, broadcast and print media in an industry partnership established under the umbrella of the Treaty of Waitangi partnership.

Other programmes in the Pacific also assist journalism development, such as the United States and Philippines-based Internews/Earth Journalism Network, which trains journalists in climate change skills and strategies and publishes their work.

Ironically, while these developments have been unfolding, Pacific journalism education has gone into retreat since the covid crisis began.

‘A cruel irony’
While New Zealand has the largest metropolitan Pacific Islands population in Oceania with more than 381,642 comprising 8.1 percent of the total 5 million (according to the 2018 census)—matched only by Fiji (890,000) and Papua New Guinea (8.8 million)—none of its six journalism schools cater specifically for Pacific Islands media students.

A decade ago, the country’s largest media school, Communication Studies at Auckland University of Technology, boasted both a Graduate Diploma in Pacific Journalism catering especially for the country’s independent Pasifika news media industry and a Pacific Media Centre (PMC) research and publication unit.

But the diploma programme was phased out four years ago and the PMC, which ran an award-winning Bearing Witness climate change journalism and documentary making programme with partners in the Pacific under a “voice of the voiceless” banner, was left in limbo by the school management this year after the founding director retired at the end of last year.

“It’s a cruel irony that at a time when Pacific journalism is at the crossroads—if not on its knees—and needs to be better understood to be helped and strengthened to face new challenges, specialised Pacific journalism and research programmes in one of the centres of excellence in the region face an uncertain future,” said Fiji journalism educator and Associate Professor Shailendra Singh. “It just feels sad and surreal.”

Dr Singh’s own institution, the Suva-based 12-nation regional University of the South Pacific has just embarked on an innovative new programme, a BA degree in communication and media with options in business and marketing.

Media analyst Dr Gavin Ellis, a former editor-in-chief of The New Zealand Herald, argued in his weekly Knightly Views column that the PMC ought to be “re-established as a stand-alone trust”.

“It should continue its original remit … It may be time, however, to find a new university or industry partner,” he added.

Urged renewed commitment
The Australia Asia Pacific Media Initiative (AAPMI) lobby and training group wrote to the AUT university’s vice-chancellor and unsuccessfully urged the institution to renew a commitment “at a time when Pacific journalism is under existential threat and Pacific programmes suffer from under funding”.

This retreat on campuses has contrasted with renewed energy by the New Zealand media industry to boost Māori and Pacific journalism to provide better cultural “balance” in the legacy media.

In July, the new $55 million Public Interest Journalism Fund over three years unveiled its first cycle of grants for stories examining a wide range of community issues—such as an in-depth revisiting of a documentary, Inside Child Poverty, made a decade earlier with considerable impact.

The fund also provided $2.4 million for the setting up of Te Rito, the first comprehensive kaihautū, or journalism cadetship scheme for Māori, Pacific and “other communities traditionally under-represented in media”.

A significant feature of this scheme is the unprecedented collaboration between Māori Television, a state-funded public broadcaster; Pacific Media Network (PMN); Newshub-Discovery Channel; and New Zealand Media and Entertainment (NZME), the country’s largest print and oneline publisher.

PMN chief executive Don Mann welcomed the collaboration, saying it aligned with his organisation’s mandate to help train a “pipeline of excellent Pacific broadcasters and multimedia journalists”.

He added: “Te Rito provides sustainability in provision of best-practice Pasifika multilingual journalism but, more importantly, it allows the network to play our part in rectifying the significant under-representation and imbalance within the journalism sector on behalf of the Pasifika community.”

Critical shortage
Māori Television head of news and current affairs Wena Harawira echoed this view, saying the partnership would address the critical shortage of te reo Māori speaking journalists.

“It’s incredibly important that New Zealand’s journalism landscape is rich with Māori stories created by Māori, in te reo Māori, for everyone,” she said.

Te reo Māori is one of New Zealand’s three official languages – the others being English and sign language. But while Māori make up 16.5 percent of the population, only 4 percent of the country speaks te reo fluently, although its popularity is growing fast.

News media carried advertisements this month to recruit a Te Rito project manager who would be given “a unique opportunity to shape the future of journalism” in New Zealand.

Educators hope that universities take the cue and renew their earlier support for diversity journalism.

First published by In-Depth News (IDN), the flagship agency of the nonprofit International Press Syndicate. This is published as a collaboration between IDN and Asia Pacific Report. The writer, Dr David Robie, is editor of Asia Pacific Report, founding editor of Pacific Journalism Review and former director of the Pacific Media Centre.

Internationally acclaimed documentary photographer Robin Hammond recently made a visit to the Wellington campus of Massey University to meet with his former lecturers and students, reports Massey University News.

Hammond’s work focuses on amplifying the stories of marginalised groups through visual storytelling and has graced the covers of National Geographic and Time magazine.

He shared stories from his career as a photojournalist and his not-for-profit organisation Witness Change with students in a guest lecture and student workshop.

• READ MORE: Witness Change – ‘Stigmatised people are often excluded from their own stories’

Hammond studied an “intensive” two-year Diploma in Photography at the Wellington School of Design, graduating in 2001, and was welcomed into Toi Rauwhārangi College of Creative Arts’ Hall of Fame Te Pae Tātāriki in 2014.

He credits his photography diploma with exposing him to what photography could do.

“When I started studying I knew that I vaguely liked photography and maybe there could be a job at the end of it, but the lecturers exposed us to the work of some of the really committed photojournalists who were working on social change issues and I was really inspired by that,” he says.

“Within two or three months of being at Massey I knew that was the direction I wanted to go.

‘Most exciting years’
“I have to say that was probably two of the most exciting years of my life. I don’t think it’s an understatement to say that I was taught to literally see the world differently.

“It really opened my eyes to a new possibility for what my life could be. I totally credit the passion of the lecturers for photography and a big part of that was exposing me to the work that had come before me from traditional photojournalism practice and they [the lecturers] have always been a constant encouragement.”

After graduating, Hammond worked at the New Zealand Listener before moving to London. His first job was scanning negatives in the basement of a photo agency, during the time when photography was moving from film to digital.

“I got a job in the north of England at a photo agency and that was probably my real start, and has been my only actual salaried job as a photographer.

“It was an amazing and steep learning curve in that I was doing two, three, four jobs a day, every day, working six or seven days a week – it was a real sweat shop, but it was an amazing learning opportunity.”

Hammond has gone on to win multiple awards including two World Press Photo prizes, the RF Kennedy Journalism Award, six Pictures of the Year International Awards, the W. Eugene Smith Award for Humanistic Photography, six Amnesty International awards for Human Rights journalism and was named by Foreign Policy as one of the 100 Leading Global Thinkers in 2015.

He says getting his work first published in National Geographic and on the covers of National Geographic and Time magazine were huge career milestones, as was winning the W. Eugene Smith award in 2013.

‘Massive influence’
“I remember very clearly when it was announced that I [had] won, his work was a massive influence on me. Like a lot of artists I suffer from imposter syndrome, and I think having my work recognised at that level when I knew that some of the best photojournalists in the world have won that award really made me feel that maybe I could do something with my work,” he says.

His not-for-profit organisation Witness Change was created to amplify the voices of marginalised groups. At the moment, it has three main areas of focus: Where Love is Illegal, for LGBTQ+ people who live in countries where who they are or who they love makes them illegal; In My World, which focuses on mental health stories around the world and amplifies the voices of people living with mental health conditions; and 1000 Dreams, a refugee project which is stories about/by refugees in order for refugees to take back control of the narratives of their lives.

The organisation relies on volunteers from all over the world and organisations who offer their services pro-bono.

Hammond says for him, doing this work is his obligation as a privileged person.

“I was largely motivated to found Witness Change out of frustration. I had covered some really important work for some of the biggest newspapers in the world but I didn’t see that translated into change for the people whose lives I was documenting.

“I was deeply moved by their stories and felt a level of obligation to them and I realised that raising awareness wasn’t necessarily going to be enough.

“I had to have this much more change-focused approach to the storytelling. And I had to be able to ensure that if there were other people who were moved like me by these people’s situations, that they had an avenue to be able to support them because I think the great injustice of our world is that your health/life outcomes comes down to essentially an accident of where you’re born.

‘It’s an obligation’
“I don’t feel like what I do is a good thing, I feel it’s an obligation that I have to carry out in order to support people that I meet in my work.”

He will stay in New Zealand until July with his wife and 16-month-old child while they spend time with family, before returning to the United Kingdom to carry on the 1000 Dreams project.

“That will keep us going for the rest of the year,” he says. He also has ongoing work as part of a grant from the National Geographic Society, and some more mental health work in South Sudan.

“Every time I come back to New Zealand I try to get in touch with my lecturers and do workshops like this. The world of photography is pretty small really. It’s amazing just being back here.

“This place definitely holds a special place in my heart and I feel the roots of my career started here.”

Highly commended for their recent success at the Ossie Awards for the best student journalism in Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific in the video story category (over 2 minutes) for their documentary Banabans of Rabi: A Story of Survival, Hele Ikimotu (Niuean and Banaban-Gilbertese) and Blessen Tom can’t rule out a return to the remote island of Rabi.

During the Second World War, the inhabitants of Banaba in the Gilbert Islands (now Kiribati) were forcibly displaced to Rabi in the Fiji group while the British Phosphate Company mined on Banaba, decimating the island.

The Banabans had to make a fresh start on Rabi, where they now face a new threat – climate change.

READ MORE: The Ossie Awards – the full winners list

The student pair travelled to Suva, Fiji, and were based at the University of the South Pacific before catching a boat to Rabi to tell the story of the people of Banaba as part of the Bearing Witness climate programme (International Journalism Project) run by Professor David Robie and Jim Marbrook at Auckland University of Technology’s (AUT) Pacific Media Centre.

While the talented Hele Ikimotu, who works as an initiatives and projects team member at AUT’s Office of Pacific Advancement, could not make it to the presentation of the certificates, Blessen Tom took time out from his work as an assistant producer on TVNZ’s Fair Go investigative programme to attend.

Dr Robie presented the certificates yesterday and read out the commendation from the Ossie Awards organisers, Journalism Education and Research Association of Australia (JERAA), saying the prizes recognised the “cream of student journalism”:

“More than 22 journalism schools across Australia, New Zealand the Pacific compete for these awards so it is a tremendous honour to get a highly commended for Blessen and Hele, so it is a tribute to both of you,” he said.

“The judge’s comments were passed onto to me by the co-ordinator of the awards, Dr Peter English.

Judge Nicole Hegarty of the  Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) Queensland said:

“Blessen and Hele’s short documentary has a nice story arc coupled with nicely framed and focused shots. The use of drone footage provided a great overview of the island. The inclusion of the reporter [Hele] in story helped to personalise or localise the story for the audience.”

‘Burning desire’
Tom, who hails from Trivandrum, Kerala, India, on the coast of the Arabian Sea, explained why he has a “burning desire” to return to Rabi – in the middle of the Pacific.

“It feels like home when I went Rabi. You have a lot of coconut trees and a tropical climate, and I felt similarity to the people there. So I felt like I was coming home,” Tom says.

“When Hele’s mum [Janet Tawaketini] told the story about the original Banabans and their community that has suffered so much, it kind of resonated with me.

“Infrastructure needs a lot of work there because there aren’t any good schools and hospitals, and electricity is very sparse.

“You feel like you you’re in a world far, far away … it was transforming I don’t know how to explain it …”

With no mod cons such as wi-fi and electricity they had to take a lot of batteries for the single camera used.

‘Lot of challenges’
“We had a lot of challenges; they didn’t have much power, so we had to be careful with what we shot.”

Tom talks about returning to Rabi because he feels an urge within to do something for the people there in the best way he knows how.

“If all bricks fall into place, I’m hoping to document a return to Rabi, because there is a plan to take all the Banabans for anniversary celebrations…they have to raise the money and then there are the logistics of getting them all to Rabi.

“And, if possible, I would like to go to Banaba and shoot the decimation done to the place.”

The nine-minute documentary got credits for screening at the Nuku’alofa International Film Festival 2018 in Tonga, Pasifika Film Festival 2019 in Salt Lake City in the USA and Maoriland Film Festival in Otaki last year. It was “published” by Asia Pacific Report last August.

The annual Ossie Awards, named after foreign correspondent Osmar S. White, are organised by JERAA. Senior journalists and editors judge the main award categories.

The winning video story (over two minutes) was Nasir Sobhani, The Streets Barber, by Catherine Smith of RMIT, and another highly commended story was Gladys Liu vs Jennifer Yang about political rivals battling to make history as the first Chinese-Australian MP, by  Youja (Kate) Tan of Monash University.

• Banabans of Rabi on Film Freeway

The successful video story, Banabans of Rabi.

Pacific Media Watch Newsdesk

Banabans of Rabi – A Story of Survival, a short documentary by Blessen Tom and Hele Ikimotu of Auckland University of Technology’s Pacific Media Centre, has been selected for the Māoriland Film Festival 2019 next month.

The film will be screened as part as part of Ngā Pūtake Shorts.

This is the third official international film festival selection for Banabans of Rabi. The short documentary travelled to Salt Lake city, Utah, earlier this month and was screened at the Pasifika Film Festival.

READ MORE: Life on Fiji’s Rabi Island – simple, peaceful and full of smiles

The film had its Pacific premiere at the 2018  Nuku’alofa International Film Festival last year.

The film was produced out of the three-year-old Bearing Witness climate change project, a collaboration between PMC and its documentary partner Te Ara Motuhenga at Auckland University of Technology and the Pacific Centre for Environment-Sustainable Development (PaCE-SD) and Regional Journalism Programme at the University of South Pacific.

Māoriland Film Festival is Aotearoa’s largest indigenous film festival and is in its sixth year. The festival brings more than 138 films and 62 events from 94 indigenous nations to Aotearoa.

“Indigenous stories help us make sense of our world, of our connections and our shared humanity. Our sixth festival includes stories from the polar regions, from the deserts, from the mountains of Iran and Nepal, and from nations who dwell upon and beside the planet’s vast oceans including the Pacific,” says festival director Libby Hakaraia.

The 2019 MFF features a strong lineup of films from Te Moananui a Kiwa (the Pacific), including the southern hemisphere premiere of Vai.

Vai is a portmanteau feature film directed by eight female Pacific Island filmmakers and filmed in seven Pacific countries: Fiji, Tonga, Solomon Islands, Kuki Aīrani (Cook Islands), Samoa, Niue and Aotearoa (New Zealand).

The festival will also bring seven Pacific features and 41 short films from Aotearoa, Hawai’i, Papua New Guinea, Rapanui, Guam, Haida Gwaii, Vanuatu and more. Also, indigenous films from the United States, Canada, Northern Europe and Iran will also be screened at this five day film festival at Otaki.

The Māoriland Film Festival is at Ōtaki on March 20-24.

• Banabans of Rabi
• Banabans of Rabi wins highly commended award in Ossies

By Rahul Bhattarai in Auckland

Banabans of Rabi – A story of Survival, a short documentary film by the two Auckland University of Technology media students, has been premiered in the fourth Nuku’alofa International Film Festival that took place in Tonga this week.

This short documentary is a story about the people who have been first affected by the phosphate mining on their original home island of Banaba and now by climate change on their adopted island of Rabi.

The British Phosphate Commission forceful displaced them from Banaba during World War Two.

READ MORE: Life on Fiji’s Rabi Island – simple, peaceful and full of smiles

Since 1945 after they first settled into their new home – Rabi, a remote northern island in Fiji – they are faced with a second and the most threatening man-made global problem, climate change.

Tom Corrie, one of the residents who had left Rabi as a young man and later returned, says Rabi has changed.

“The part of my history has been taken away from me, part of my livelihood, my enjoyment my pleasures have gone,” he says in the documentary, pointing at his former playground that now has now been engulfed by the rising tides.

“We are the most effected by climate change,” he says.

In solidarity
“People in Rabi and their struggle with climate change, they’re not the cause of this but unfortunately they [have] had to face the consequences,” says co-director Blessen Tom.

“I wanted the world to know about their struggle and wanted to let them know that they’re not alone in this,” says Tom.

The film was a part of the Pacific Media Centre’s Bearing Witness climate change project, which was initiated by director Professor David Robie in 2016.

It has been made possible by collective support from the partners, University of South Pacific Journalism, the Pacific Centre for the Environment and Sustainable Development (PaCE-SD) and AUT’s Te Ara Motuhenga documentary collective with senior and documentary maker Jim Marbrook.

Film makers Hele Ikimotu and Blessen Tom travelled to Tonga with the assistance of a funding grant from AUT’s School of Communication Studies.

• ‘Bearing Witness’ – a Pacific climate change journalism research and publication initiative

Pacific Media Watch Newsdesk

A short documentary, Banabans of Rabi – A Story of Survival, by Hele Ikimotu and Blessen Tom of Auckland University of Technology’s Pacific Media Centre, has been selected for the 2018 Nuku’alofa Film Festival in Tonga next month.

This is a film produced out of the three-year-old Bearing Witness climate change project, a research and publication collaboration between the PMC and its documentary partner Te Ara Motuhenga, and the Pacific Centre for Environment-Sustainable Development (PaCE-SD) and the Regional Journalism Programme at the University of the South Pacific.

According to the filmmakers: “During the Second World War, the inhabitants of the island of Banaba were forcibly displaced to Rabi Island in Fiji due to phosphate mining by the British Phosphate Commission.

“The island of Banaba was decimated and the Banabans had to start afresh in Rabi. The documentary follows the people in Rabi and sheds light into the problems that they face now, especially with climate change.”

Film maker Blessen Tom said on the documentary’s Facebook page: “It’s an amazing news for all of us. The festival will be the first time the full documentary is screened in public.

“Super excited for the Pacific screening. If you’re in Tonga on November 22-23, be sure to visit us.”

Documentary maker and senior lecturer Jim Marbrook said: “This is great and it’s a very cool first step,” adding that plans should be made for other film festival entries.

Pacific Media Centre director Professor David Robie said: “This is a tremendous achievement for starters and a reward for the really hard work that Blessen and Hele have put into making this quality and inspirational doco.”

• Banabans of Rabi
• 2018 Nuku’alofa Film Festival

Pacific Media Centre Newsdesk

The University of the South Pacific’s environmental centre spearheading climate change research believes in working together for shared solutions.

Director Professor Elisabeth Holland says the Pacific Centre for the Environment and Sustainable Development (PaCE-SD) has a culture of quality and shared “ownership” of projects.

“Don’t assume you know what the answer is,” she says in her advice to climate change researchers.

“The strongest solutions are developed together.”

Dr Holland is a co-recipient of the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize for her contribution to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

She is an author of four of the five IPCC reports and has also served as a US, German and now a Fiji representative.

• More frontline ‘Pacific research for Pacific’ plea

By Hele Ikimotu on Rabi Island, Fiji

Our trip to Rabi was a long journey, first starting with a bus ride from Suva, driving straight onto a ferry in Natovi and arriving in Nabouwalu. That trip alone was about seven to eight hours.

From there, my uncle, Aretana Kabure, picked us up and let us borrow the car to head into Savusavu. After exploring the area for a bit, we then caught another bus which drove onto Princess Moana in Natuvu – the final stop before Rabi.

Arriving on Rabi for the first time was a monumental moment for me personally as I am from Rabi Island. My parents, Janet and Jone, managed to make it and came with us. My mother’s last time in Rabi Island was in 1995.

The island’s inhabitants are the Banabans, who were forcibly relocated to Rabi in 1945 due to the destruction of their island from phosphate mining. The people kept the four villages of Banaba and brought them with them to Rabi – Buakonikai, Tabwewa, Tabiang and Uma.

When we arrived in the evening, we were picked up by my uncle, my mum’s brother, whom she hadn’t seen since her last time in Rabi. Immediately upon arrival, his family fed us – we went to sleep with happy stomachs.

As the morning sun greeted us and after a dip in the sea metres away from the house we were staying in, we began our journey in exploring Rabi.

There are three main modes of transport in Rabi: walking, horse riding and driving a car. Walking is the main – having your own car is a rarity on the island. You can call a “taxi” which comes in the form of a pickup truck. As you pass people walking, they wave and smile.

Fish for breakfast, lunch and dinner
We visited many of my relatives and they all welcomed us with food. We had fish for breakfast, fish for lunch and fish for dinner. It is a staple dish in Rabi.

In between the visits, we interviewed people about the effects of sea level rise on the island and also heard personal testimonies about the move from Banaba to Rabi. You will hear and see this soon.

The island of Rabi is beautiful. The more we explored the island, the more we fell in love with it. In one part of the island, you will find kids fishing. In another, men are clearing the weeds outside their church, a young girl in a hammock is rocking a baby to sleep and people are swimming in the clear waters.

Rabi is a welcoming island. The trip may be long but it is worth it. If one plans to go, it is best they know someone and organise accommodation beforehand as there are no hotels. The island isn’t a tourist destination, which makes it that more special. It is simply a homely environment.

Hele Ikimotu and Blessen Tom are in Fiji as part of the Pacific Media Centre’s Bearing Witness 2018 climate change project. They are collaborating with the University of the South Pacific.

• More Bearing Witness stories

By Hele Ikimotu with visuals by Blessen Tom in Suva

Ten students from the University of the South Pacific have captured the effects of climate change on their smartphone devices.

The task was organised through an eParticipatory Observers Project (ePOP) workshop last month by members of the ePOP network based in France.

The ePOP project was established by RFI Planète Radio, along with the IRD (National French Research Institute for Sustainable Development). The project aims to raise awareness about climate change through videos produced by young people.

The workshop at USP was over four days, with the first part of the workshop developing the students’ filming and editing skills. The students then applied these skills to produce videos about communities affected by climate change.

Bigger platform
Koroi Tadulala, a third year Fiji journalism student took part in the ePOP project both last year and this year.

“I joined ePOP because I’ve always been keen about climate change and the environment. I had been writing climate change stories since I started first year.

“Ever since then, I’ve been following up stories on climate change and then ePOP came around. I thought it would be a good opportunity for me to put my skills to use and address this issue on a bigger platform.”

The Fijian student bears a close connection to the effects of climate change as his own village is affected by sea level rise.

He said it made him want to be an activist in spreading “the word of climate change”.

“As part of the ePOP project, we go to the grassroots level and sit down with a lot of community members and ask them to share their stories with us,” he said.

Tadulala said it was a great opportunity to produce and share the stories to a wider audience.

‘Amazing’ response
“We brought out some of the stories that we didn’t really know about and now people are reacting to it. It’s amazing to see how people take it in.”

Tadulala created a video story on the effect of the 2016 Cyclone Winston on food security and a story on how the Fiji village of Nabudakra thinks they should strengthen their faith with God to reduce the impact of cyclones.

He said a project like ePOP catered to the digital era and encouraged young people to engage with issues around climate change.

“We create short videos from two to three minutes long so it enables them to go through the whole video without being bored.

“We decided to put this out on social media, especially because most of the people are using social media networks and it’s only smart to use that platform to put out the word of climate change.”

Filmmaking interest
Mia Kami, a law student at USP, also took part in the ePOP workshop out of an interest for filmmaking.

The student, of Tongan descent, said the ePOP team had shared that awareness of climate change issues faced by the Pacific was not as strong in Europe.

“Their [ePOP’s] goal was to spread awareness of climate change in Europe, so the videos that we did were based on climate change.

“I think because it was from a student in the Pacific, it would be a lot more heartfelt so people would understand it more from a Pacific point of view,” said Kami.

Kami and a few other students went to a fish market and interviewed vendors to get their perspective on how climate change affected fisheries.

She said she was surprised at what their idea of climate change was and how it affected them.

“The first lady we interviewed, her definition of climate change was that it’s bad weather.

Water pollution
“She believes that the bad weather is making the fishermen stop fishing, so they don’t fish and she doesn’t get to buy fish from them so she can sell. So that’s how she said that climate change affected her.”

Speaking of another vendor she interviewed, Kami said the vendor did not think overfishing was an issue and felt that it was water pollution.

“I feel like a lot of the media coverage that we do based on climate change, it doesn’t reach as far as their areas because a lot of the vendors are based in rural areas.

“I feel like the proper research on it doesn’t reach that grassroots level so I think if people took climate change into the more grassroots level, it would give them a totally different perspective.”

Kami enjoyed the ePOP project and the process of producing the video story. She said it was important for young people to make themselves aware of climate change.

“It’s our future. I think it’s important that we make an attempt to lessen the damage that we’re going to face in the future,” she said.

“What we can do now is so essential. If we know more about it, it makes so much of a difference. It all starts with ourselves.”

Hele Ikimotu and Blessen Tom are in Fiji as part of the Pacific Media Centre’s Bearing Witness 2018 climate change project. They are collaborating with the University of the South Pacific.

• More Bearing Witness stories
• France committed to backing ePOP climate storytelling

By Hele Ikimotu with visuals by Blessen Tom in Suva

This year, the University of the South Pacific is celebrating 50 years since its opening in Fiji in  1968.

The university’s first campus was established in Suva, with a student count of 200 – it now accommodates over 30,000 students across the different campuses within the Pacific region.

USP has campuses in 12 different Pacific nations – Fiji, Cook Islands, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Nauru, Niue, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tokelau, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu.

Vice-Chancellor Professor Chandra said USP has made a positive contribution to the Pacific region, including contributions in human resources, policy change and research.

He described the university as being “owned by the Pacific and serves the Pacific”. Professor Chandra emphasised the need for these Pacific countries to work together in advocating for Pacific issues.

“As small countries, we need to work together. One is simply too small to be playing in the big world out there. We need to put all of our voices together. We need to co-operate, work together and integrate,” he said.

Professor Chandra also spoke highly of USP’s efforts in tackling the issue of climate change.

Leading stand
Over the years, the university has become one of the leading tertiary institutions to make a stand against the issue.

“The university has played this role of researching, advocating, supporting policies and disseminating knowledge around climate change,” said Professor Chandra.

The USP journalism school for example is consistently producing stories on climate change issues in their student newspaper Wansolwara. They have also partnered with AUT’s Pacific Media Centre to host two students every year for the Bearing Witness climate change journalism project.

This has seen significant stories about the effect climate change has had on communities in Fiji such as the award-winning multimedia story produced by Kendall Hutt and Julie Cleaver last year about Tukuraki village.

“I am also proud of the USP students. They have gone to the various COPs and have supported their own countries and have become senior advisers to their governments.

“I am quite proud and happy because the climate is central to the survival and prosperity of our country.”

The university’s 1999 strategic plan also saw the establishment of the Pacific Centre for Environment and Sustainable Development (PaCE-SD).

Raising awareness
The centre was opened to implement more research of the region’s environment and has continued to raise awareness about climate change and sustainable development in the Pacific.

PaCE-SD offers a postgraduate programme in climate change, with currently 200 students across the Pacific enrolled in the programme.

The centre also implements community projects around climate resilience in the Pacific and has been involved in major projects such as the Community Coastal Adaptation Project (C-CAP) and the Future Climate Leaders Programme (FCLP1).

Since the centre has been established, it has been recognised as a strong part of the university’s fight against climate change and environment research in the Pacific.

PaCE-SD director Professor Elisabeth Holland said it was important to be on the ground making a difference in the Pacific region and local communities.

Deputy director of the centre Dr Morgan Wairiu echoed Professor Holland and said the focus of PaCE-SD was helping communities adapt to the changes in the environment because of climate change.

He said it was also important to provide students with the right skills to help them in their areas of research so they could come up with effective solutions to help communities affected by climate change.

Community projects
Professor Holland said: “We run community development projects. We have a locally managed climate change adaptation network that extends to more than 100 communities in 15 countries across the Pacific.”

She said that by listening to how communities were affected by climate change, it had taught their team to listen better and develop a more participatory approach in decision making.

“We have the opportunity to learn from one another and if we’re learning from one another, we’re in a partnership to serve whatever problem is in front of us.”

Professor Holland encourages anyone who is interested in learning about climate change to keep an open mind and said: “Don’t assume you know what the answer is.

“The strongest solutions are those developed together. The fundamental values of participatory listening and respect help solve most of the challenges that come up.”

Hele Ikimotu and Blessen Tom are in Fiji as part of the Pacific Media Centre’s Bearing Witness 2018 climate change project. They are collaborating with the University of the South Pacific.

• More Bearing Witness stories
• USP’s ’50 Years’ website
• Wansolwara News

Bearing Witness climate change project students won big last night at the annual awards ceremony for AUT’s School of Communication Studies last night.

Julie Cleaver and Kendal Hutt took out the Spasifik Magazine Prize and Pacific Media Centre Storyboard Award for Diversity Reporting for their work on the Bearing Witness climate change project last year.

Hele Ikimotu was awarded the John Foy Memorial Award for broadcast journalism and will be flying to Fiji tomorrow to continue the Bearing Witness climate change project this year.

READ MORE: Bearing Witness climate project stories

‘Great honour’
Cleaver and Hutt both travelled to Fiji last year where they created a multimedia feature on the Fijian village of Tukuraki, which was hit by a deadly landslide and two cyclones in the space of five years.

The project also won the Dart Asia-Pacific Prize for Journalism and Trauma at the annual Ossie Awards for Student Journalism at Newcastle, NSW, last December.

Cleaver is now editor of Debate Magazine and Hutt is a reporter with the North Shore Times.

Hutt said it was a great honour to receive this award.

“This award is not just our award, it is also Tukuraki’s award for letting us come up to the community and let us tell their story. I think it had only been told in Fijian media and ABC Australia,” said Hutt.

‘Journalism highlight’
Cleaver said her time in Fiji was a moving experience. “It was a privilege to be a journalist and hear these people’s stories. When else would you get to hear these people’s personal testimonies from someone who has been through so much as well.”

“The Pacific Media Centre has been so supportive to both of us throughout this process. Thanks so much to Professor David Robie and everyone else involved,” said Cleaver.

“The trip was a journalism highlight. This is why I wanted to get into journalism.”

“It’s so awesome that Dr Robie is driving this PMC project. It needs someone passionate to keep it going and it’s such a privilege to be a part of that.”

Ikimotu ‘excited’
Bearing Witness climate change project participant Hele Ikimotu received the John Foy Memorial Award.

Louise Matthews, curriculum leader of AUT’s journalism programme, presented the award to Ikimotu and said he “aced” his undergraduate courses and stayed on to do postgraduate study this year.

Ikimotu thanked God, the John Foy Memorial Trust sponsors and his “supportive and inspiring” journalism tutors in his acceptance speech.

“I’m so excited and nervous to go over there. I come from an ancestry of storytellers. There are times I doubted I had the ability to be a good storyteller but this award has affirmed I have what it takes, and I’m so excited to see where journalism takes me.

“I’m so excited to use it as a platform for my people and continue being a voice for the Pacific. I was born in the Islands and I know my family back home are proud that I’m doing it and representing them.”

Ikimotu leaves for Fiji tomorrow with fellow participant Blessen Tom to carry on this year’s version of the Bearing Witness project.

Ikimotu and Tom will be heading on a two-week climate change mission to the main island of Viti Levu where they will be interviewing local people who are directly affected by the devastating effects of climate change in the Pacific.

Ikimotu and Tom will be searching for stories, interviewing people directly affected by climate change and reporting directly for Asia Pacific Report, Wansolwara and other media.

• Wansolwara report on the climate change project in Fiji
• Tukuraki disaster village multimedia report

Full 2017 School of Communication Studies awards:
School of Communication Studies Award for Top Student in the Certificate in Communication Studies: Schumacher Liuvaie

School of Communication Studies Award for Top Year One Bachelor of Communication Studies: Amy Wang

School of Communication Studies Award for Top Year Two Bachelor of Communication Studies: Jamie Ensor

School of Communication Studies Award for Excellence in Communication Theory: Adam Szentes

Communication Studies Postgraduate Scholarships: India Fremaux, Yulia Khan, Malini Radkrishna, Jayakrishnan Sreekumar

Dean’s Award for Best Postgraduate Diploma in Communication Studies: Elizabeth Osborne

Dean’s Award for Excellence in Master of Communication Studies – Thesis: Ximena Smith

Oceania Media’s Spasifik Magazine Prize and the Pacific Media Centre’s Storyboard Award for Diversity Reporting: Julie Cleaver and Kendall Hutt

The Radio Bureau Award for Top of Research Project: Radio: Georgina Cain-Treleaven

The Radio Bureau Award for Top Radio Student: Maxene London

John Foy Memorial Award for Excellence in Broadcast Journalism: Hele Ikimotu

Bauer Award for Excellence in Magazine Journalism: Nicole Barratt

New Zealand Herald Award for Top Post Graduate Diploma Student in Creative Practice – Journalism: Arun Jeram

National Business Review Award for the Outstanding Graduate in the BCS Journalism Major: Nicole Barratt

New Zealand Geographic award for Excellence in Photojournalism: Adam Szentes

Public Relations Institute of New Zealand Award for the Top Year 2 Public Relations Student: Jamie Ensor

The winners of the Public Relations Institute of New Zealand Paul Dryden Tertiary Award 2017: Boyan Buha, Jodealyn Cadacio, Simon Cooper, and Georgia Ward

Highly Commended Public Relations Institute of New Zealand Paul Dryden Tertiary Award 2017: Abby Berry, Emma Hilton, Morgan MacFadyen

Public Relations Institute of New Zealand President’s Award for the Top Academic Student in the Public Relations Major: Adam Szentes

The Postgraduate Public Relations Global Virtual Team Winner (2017): Alex Ubels

FCB Change Agency Award for Digital Media Excellence: Stefanee Chua

School of Communication Studies joint Award for Academic Excellence in the Creative Industries Major: Kaylah Burke and Laura Reid

QMS Awards for Advertising Creativity:
QMS Art Director of the Year – Holly Smith
QMS Account Executive of the Year – Ella Bilham
QMS Team of the Year – Will Macdonald and Adam Ramsdale

Francis Porterfield Memorial Award for Excellence in Multicamera Production: Steven Yee

MediaWorks Award for Best Producer: McKay Carroll

Two postgraduate students on the Pacific Media Centre’s Bearing Witness climate change project are due to jet to Fiji this weekend.

Journalism student Hele Ikimotu and screen production student Blessen Tom will be heading on a two-week climate change mission to the main island of Viti Levu where they will be interviewing local people who are directly affected by the devastating effects of climate change in the Pacific.

Ikimotu and Tom will be searching for stories, interviewing people affected by climate change and reporting for Asia Pacific Report and other media.

Using the University of the South Pacific as a base, the two students will work closely with the USP journalism programme newspaper Wansolwara. They will also be working with the Pacific Centre for Environment and Sustainable Development (PaCE-SD).

Both Ikimotu and Tom bear a close connection to the impact climate change is wreaking on the Pacific region and wider world.

Ikimotu is from Kiribati and his passion for the Bearing Witness project is drawn from his close connection to the Pacific region.

Ikimotu said: “Kiribati is one of the most affected countries by climate change and climate change issues. I have a special connection to the issues these communities are going through because it’s my family that’s being affected.

‘Genuine passion’
“I wanted to be a part of this project as I have a genuine passion for climate change and climate change issues.”

Likewise, Tom has a strong link to the consequences of climate change due to the impact it is having on his family’s agriculture business in his homeland of India.

Tom said: “For me, climate change is a very personal subject. I come from a family who for generations has depended on agriculture as our main income.

“This project is really important to me because just like in my country, people in the Pacific Islands are really suffering.

“Climate change real for us. We experience it in a really bad way right now, when you think about our income from agriculture, we can’t survive on it.”

Both Ikimotu and Tom bear a strong commitment to sharing the stories of the Pacific peoples, which they say are not being covered adequately by mainstream media.

Ikimotu said: “I feel that mainstream media aren’t doing enough to report on climate change.

Local stories
“I think a project like ‘bearing witness’ gives a platform for climate change to be reported on genuinely and passionately, and give opportunities to locals to tell their story.”

“The Bearing Witness project gives us the opportunity to share that with a wider audience, both in the Pacific in and New Zealand.”

“Rather than just talking about the need for change, I want to be a part of that change,” said Ikimotu.

Tom also highlights the unclear way mainstream media reports on climate change.

Tom said: “Mainstream media gives a lot of statistics and details that people don’t understand. So bearing witness is a stage where we can tell stories in a really creative way, so people will be interested in climate change and then they can act against these things we do to nature.”

Ikimotu said: “Bearing Witness is a great opportunity for us as journalists to be at the forefront of climate change and to see first hand what these communities are going through, and hopefully spark a discussion around what needs to be done to tackle the issue.

“It also emphasises the need for journalists to be reporting on climate change.”

Partners praised
PMC director Professor David Robie, who initiated the project in 2015, praised the support from the partners, USP Journalism, PaCE-SD and AUT’s Te Ara Motuhenga documentary collective.

“They have helped make this experiential journalism and doco-making project possible and we hope it will grow in future years.

“Last year, our Bearing Witness team students won the Dart Journalism Award for trauma journalism, so it is a tremendous creative and learning opportunity facing one of the world’s most urgent challenges.”

• More Bearing Witness project stories
• Bearing Witness project up close

The French government is committed to the fight against climate change in the Pacific and hopes programmes such as the eParticipatory Observers Project (ePOP) will shed light on the impact of this global phenomenon in the region.

Ambassador of France to Fiji Sujiro Seam made the assurance during a visit to the journalism newsroom at the University of the South Pacific in Suva last week to observe the progress made at the conclusion of an ePOP workshop, which focused on producing short videos about the perceptions and impact of climate and environmental changes on Pacific Island populations.

Seam said ePOP targeted young people and gave them an opportunity to share stories on climate change and environmental issues taking place in their communities.

“I am very happy that we have this programme because it is not only beneficial for the youth but it also focuses on climate change,” he said.

“Since COP21 and the Paris Agreement on Climate Change, France tries to stay at the forefront of this fight against climate change.

“With the ePOP training, there are some good tools for the participants’ personal development and their professional career.

“I think it is important today to master these techniques and knowhow to tell a story in different formats.”

French actors
Seam said it was also appropriate for him as Ambassador of France in Suva to support the initiative which was designed and led by French actors.

Ten students from USP, including a group of journalism students, were part of the four-day intensive training ePOP workshop which enabled them to maximise their reach through video storytelling and develop a brand narrative across multiple social media platforms.

One of the training facilitators was Julien Pain, former editor-in-chief of France24’s Observers, a citizen journalism project he set up in 2007. Prior to that, Pain was head of the new media desk at the Paris-based global media freedom agency Reporters Without Borders.

ePOP is a concept imagined by RFI Planète Radio (France Media Monde Group) and developed with the IRD (National French Research institute for Sustainable Development), in collaboration with many partners including the PIDF (Pacific Island Development Forum), L’Office des postes et télécommunications (OPT) in New Caledonia, the Fondation Expéditions Tara, la Fondation de France , la Fondation des Alliances françaises et l’Organisation internationale de la francophonie (OIF).

Two Auckland University of Technology students, Hele Ikimotu and Blessen Tom, are travelling to Fiji later this month on the Pacific Media Centre’s Bearing Witness climate change project and will be working with USP students and staff.

Elizabeth Osifelo is a final year student journalist at the University of the South Pacific.

• Pacific Media Centre’s Bearing Watch climate storytelling project
• USP students, France24 team up in smart-phone Fiji climate story

Pacific Media Centre project students and interns announced for the year this week include two budding documentary makers and a seasoned journalist from Fiji with more than two decades of experience.

Jean Bell has been appointed the Pacific Media Watch contributing editor for 2018 and posted her first story this week about concerns over food safety and a politically “contained” debate seven years after the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant disaster in Japan in March 2011.

She is a current student at Auckland University of Technology, studying towards a Postgraduate Diploma in Communication Studies, majoring in journalism.

Bell also graduated from the University of Auckland in 2016 with a Bachelor of Arts double major in politics and international relations.

In 2017, Bell worked as a legal secretary in a commercial law firm and spent her free time working on freelance journalism projects and writing news for Auckland radio station 95bFM.

She will also be hosting the Pacific Media Centre’s weekly radio programme Southern Cross.

Bell admits she is no expert in Pacific journalism or politics, “but that’s one reason why I wanted to apply.

“I see this as a chance to learn more and widen my skill base while also bringing the valuable skills I already have to help drive this project.”

Highly experienced
Sri Krishnamurthi brings more than 20 years of experience as the PMC’s 2018 NZ Institute for Pacific Research journalist.

Originally from Fiji, Krishnamurthi has always had a strong connection with – and a deep interest in – what is happening in the Pacific region.

He is currently a part-time student in the Postgraduate Diploma in Communications (Digital Media) course at AUT. He also has an MBA (Massey University).

Krishnamurthi worked for many years as a journalist with the now-defunct New Zealand Press Association newsagency and has held a variety of senior communications posts, including Northland Inc., an iwi (Ngatiwai) organisation, the Ministry of Pacific Island Affairs and as a minister’s press secretary.

“The media landscape has changed with the advent of the digital age, but the fundamentals of working as a journalist, a public relations practitioner, or in communications, require the same inherent skills they always have – albeit with some enhancements,” he says.

The two students going to Fiji this semester on the Bearing Witness climate change project are Hele Ikimotu and Blessen Tom, both on the Postgraduate Diploma in Communication Studies degree and keen to develop their screen production and writing skills.

‘Pacific passion’
Of Niuean and Banaban descent, Hele Ikimotu completed his Bachelor of Communication Studies degree majoring in journalism last year and worked as an intern on the NZ Institute for Pacific Research project.

Ikimotu is currently employed by the Office of Pacific Advancement at AUT, working for the the Oceanian Leadership Network, a new initiative at the university.

“I have a passion for Pacific stories, issues and people,” he says. “ I believe there needs to be more coverage on the Pacific community and positive representation of Pacific people.”

Blessen Tom, originally from India, completed his Bachelor and Masters in Literature and is now pursuing his studies in digital media.

He is passionate about visual storytelling and documentaries.

Tom directed two short films and a drama, and is currently working on a mini documentary series for YouTube.

Pacific Media Centre director Professor David Robie described the project-winners as a “talented team” and looked forward to working with them this year.

He also praised project partners the Pacific Centre for the Environment and Sustainable Development (PaCE-SD), University of the South Pacific Journalism Programme, NZ Institute for Pacific Research (NZIPR), AUT’s Te Ara Motuhenga and Evening Report.

The PMC recently engaged Dr Sylvia C. Frain, a Micronesian, Northern Marianas and peace studies specialist as a postdoctoral research fellow.

• More about PMC projects

Pacific Media Watch Newsdesk

The Pacific Media Centre’s Bearing Witness climate change project has won the Dart Asia-Pacific Prize for Journalism and Trauma at the annual Ossie Awards in Student Journalism presented at the Journalism Education and Research Association of Australia (JERAA) annual conference at Newcastle University last night.

PMC journalists Julie Cleaver and Kendall Hutt received the award for a multimedia feature on the Fijian village of Tukuraki, which was hit by a deadly landslide and two cyclones in the space of five years.

Cleaver and Hutt travelled to the village in the highlands of Ba, Viti Levu, in April to trace its journey of recovery as the first inland village to be relocated due to climate change.

Dart Centre Asia-Pacific director Cait McMahon praised the pair for their sensitivity in reporting the story of Vilimaina Botitu and her family.

“Cleaver and Hutt’s victim-focused story of climate change in Fiji through the eyes of one woman and her family’s tragedy was sensitive, well researched and of a high professional standard,” she said.

“The story was informative, and introduced a difficult-to-report climate change story in a very personal yet non-gratuitous way.

“The modality of hearing the survivor’s voice without interference from the journalist resulted in a well-produced and intelligently edited piece,” McMahon said.

Victim, survivor focus
The Dart Centre Asia-Pacific award is for reporting on the impact of violence, crime, disaster and other traumatic events on individuals, families and communities. Entries should focus on the experience of victims and survivors as well as contribute to public understanding of trauma-related issues.

Former Pacific Media Watch contributing editor Daniel Drageset won the award in 2013 for a story on the torture and abuse of escaped prisoners in Fiji.

Cleaver and Hutt were in Fiji on the Bearing Witness project, a collaborative venture between the University of the South Pacific’s journalism programme, the Pacific Centre for the Environment and Sustainable Development (PaCE-SD), the Auckland University of Technology’s Pacific Media Centre and documentary collective Te Ara Motuhenga.

Bearing Witness seeks to provide an alternative framing of climate change, focusing on resilience and human rights.

A research paper by supervisors Dr David Robie and Sarika Chand about the first year of this Bearing Witness project was published by Pacific Journalism Review on the open access Tuwhera platform.

• Fiji’s devastated Tukuraki village moves to new site after landslide
• Destruction and construction – Tukuraki’s lonely story of survival
• Village relocation provides new hope for Fiji’s devastated Tukuraki
• More Bearing Witness stories

Pacific Media Centre Newsdesk

After more than five years of living in temporary housing, the community of Tukuraki in the highlands of Fiji are this weekend celebrating as they move into their newly built, disaster resilient village.

The Tukuraki community – featured by the Pacific Media Centre’s Bearing Witness climate project in May – was devastated in 2012 as a landslide buried 80 percent of their village and tragically took the lives of a young family including a toddler and young baby.

The community were forced to relocate to temporary homes as they were at risk of further landslides and in the midst of recovering from the landslide, the community was hit by Cyclone Evan only 10 months later.

In February last year, the community was again forced to flee to nearby caves as Tropical Cyclone Winston hit – the community’s third major disaster in four years.

As a result, the Fiji government deemed relocation for the inland community an urgent priority and approached the Pacific Community (SPC) to support in this work.

On Friday, 11 homes and a community hall built to category five cyclone standards were officially opened.

The F$756,000 relocation of the Tukuraki village to a safer and less disaster prone site was made possible through the European Union and the ACP Group of States-funded Building Safety and Resilience in the Pacific Project (BSRP) implemented by the Pacific Community.

Reducing vulnerability
The BSRP Project is committed to reducing the vulnerability for the Pacific to disaster and climate change.

Inia Seruiratu, High Level Climate Change Champion for COP23 and Minister for Agriculture, Rural and Maritime Development, and National Disaster Management and Meteorology said:

“Today as we celebrate the critical milestone for Tukuraki, we also remember Anare Taliga (38 years), Mereoni Robe (23 years), Losena Nai (18 months) and Makelesi Matalau (6 months), who lost their lives to the devastating landslide that altered the lives of everyone in the Tukuraki community.

“The achievement of creating a disaster resilient community that has been led by the community itself is testament to the resilience of the Tukuraki community.”

In addition to the buildings, the project also provided the community with access to a reliable water sources. The Ba area is known for enduring long term droughts and to counter this issue, the project built a dam nearby and have strategically placed water tanks that connect to each household, ensuring the community will never run out of water.

Pacific Community Deputy Director-General Dr Audrey Aumua said: “This community knows and understands disaster but what makes this relocation remarkable is the partnership led by Fiji government with SPC and the European Union to achieve real, measureable disaster resilience at the community level.

“We know this new community will protect not only the lives but the livelihoods of the Tukuraki community and we are immensely proud to be a key partner in this work.”

Community assisted
Along with the 11 homes and the evacuation centre, the Tukuraki community has also been assisted with a retaining wall (to prevent soil erosion), road access, site levelling and a playground.

The new location is closer to Nalotawa District School which means the community will have easier access to schools as well as health services.

European Union head of cooperation Christoph Wagner said: “We are proud to partner up with the Fiji government and the Pacific Community on this project as it not only has helped the people of this community, it has also established for the nation what a resilient rural community looks like.

“With the effects of climate change and rising tides threatening coastal communities all over the Pacific, Tukuraki stands as a great example of how effective partnerships can sustain development.”

Tukuraki is the first inland community to be relocated, a unique feature as the other 46 key priority communities for relocation are all coastal.

• Destruction and construction – Tukuraki’s lonely story of survival
• Other Bearing Witness project stories

Pacific Media Watch Newsdesk

Broadcast student journalists from the University of the South Pacific have contributed on France 24 as part of the ePOP multinational network of broadcasters, NGOs and researchers who are telling frontline stories of climate change.

“France 24 is essentially the French BBC and Koroi Tadulala and Telstar Edrie Jimmy participated in their programme The Observers,” says USP broadcast lecturer Dr Olivier Jutel.

He thanked Mina Vilayleck from the Noumea-based Institute for Research in Development (IRD) for “bringing this ambitious project to Suva” and giving the journalism students this opportunity.

“And of course Max Bale and Matthias Balagny from Radio France-International who have shared their internationalist vision with our students. I hope we can continue to strengthen institutional and media relationships in this incredibly important work.”

The ePOP (eParticipatory Observers Project) concept was conceived by RFI Planète Radio (France Medias Monde) and developed with the IRD in partnership with the Tara Expéditions Foundation, Pacific Islands Development Forum, Organisation internationale de la Francophonie (OIF) and the University of the South Pacific with the support of Pacific Centre for Environment and Sustainable Development (PaCE-SD) Professor Elisabeth Holland, co-recipient of the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize with former US Vice-President Al Gore.

ePOP says on its Facebook page:

“This innovative project is built around an international network of young volunteers from the Pacific region.

“With a cooperative and participatory approach, the ePOPers shoot and edit video clips that capture the feelings of local populations facing the direct consequences of worldwide changes and global warming.

“The initiative aims to collect the findings, doubts and questions of the older generations, often relatives or members of their families, in order to question the scientific world and to obtain understandable answers for the communities, especially the elderly, who endure and suffer these daily disturbances.

“In line with the declared will of the international organisations, this human and inter-generational approach aspires to nourish the archives of the intangible human heritage of this region, which is the most impacted by climate change.”

• France 24 Observers
• PMC’s Bearing Witness climate project

Two Auckland University of Technology students who took top communication studies prizes at an awards ceremony last night are off to Fiji next month on a climate change “Bearing Witness” project.

Julie Cleaver and Kendall Hutt were rewarded for their journalism at the School of Communication Studies annual awards event.

Cleaver, editor of AUT’s magazine Debate and a freelance writer for The New Zealand Herald, won the school award for final year Bachelor of Communication Studies excellence in communication theory.

Hutt, who works for AUT’s Pacific Media Centre as contributing editor of Pacific Media Watch, won the Radio NZ International Prize for top student in Asia-Pacific journalism.

They will fly to Fiji in the mid-semester break for a two-week assignment for the PMC in partnership with the Pacific Centre for the Environment and Sustainable Development (PaCE-SD) and the Regional Pacific Journalism programme at the University of the South Pacific, and AUT’s Te Ara Motuhenga documentary collective.

“This is the second year running that we have done this mission and we would like to build it up to cover several Pacific countries, especially the ‘frontline’ climate change nations,” said Professor David Robie, who initiated the project.

Cleaver, who is of Canadian and Māori descent, said her passion and interest for media topics were more rewarding than getting a good grade.

Raising awareness
The award would encourage her to raise awareness of other cultures in New Zealand.

Hutt, who travelled to Finland last year, said the journey had broadened her journalism horizons.

Hundreds of people packed AUT’s function hall for the ceremony, hosted by advertising supremo Mike Hutcheson, who told guests he welcomed the recognition of creativity and diversity.

Hutcheson’s comic anecdotes left guests amused and inspired — “be the voice of creativity”, he said.

Her trip to Fiji last year during the first Bearing Witness mission and a passion for global journalism had won her this award, she said.

“If we want a diverse culture in New Zealand we should have more international students address or share knowledge in other cultures.”

Scholarships awarded
Communication Studies postgraduate scholarships were awarded to Shirin Brown, Jayakrishnan Sreekumar, Rebecca Trelease and Chao Zhang.

Another AUT journalism graduate, Janie Cameron, was named top postgraduate student in creative practice and won The New Zealand Herald prize. She shared her insight, telling the audience that for such a “small country we have a lot of problems” and her role as a journalist was a “unique voice for the voiceless”.

Ophelia Buckleton won the National Business Review award for outstanding journalism graduate in the Bachelor of Communication Studies degree.

The awardees were given cash, a plaque of recognition and internships based on their specialisation.

Queenie Jose is a final year Bachelor of Communication Studies student journalist working on Te Waha Nui.

• Earlier story on the awards
• Full list of award winners

As part of a collaborative venture between Auckland University of Technology’s PMC and Te Ara Motuhenga (documentary research collective), and the University of the South Pacific’s Pacific Centre for the Environment-Sustainable Development (PaCE-SD) and regional Pacific journalism programme, two new journalists are going to Fiji to take up the challenge.

Julie Cleaver, a Communication Studies Honours student journalist, and Pacific Media Watch contributing editor Kendall Hutt have been selected to go on the two-week project this year.

The pair say they are looking forward to experiencing the effects of climate change first-hand.

They follow in the footsteps of former PMW editor TJ Aumua and postgraduate student journalism Ami Dhabuwala who went to Fiji last year.

Many small island states such as Kiribati, the Marshall Islands and Tuvalu live daily with the impact of sea level rise, while water and food supplies are plagued by salt water intrusion.

Cleaver, who has not “really experienced the true Pacific outside of hotels”, says seeing such effects will be a fascinating and eye-opening experience.

‘People’s stories’
“I’m really looking forward to going to Fiji to hear people’s stories, meet local people, and report on what is happening in the country,” she says.

“The story of our Pacific neighbours is extremely important, and it is my job as a journalist to tell the world what is happening.”

Cleaver is no stranger to the Asia-Pacific region, having volunteered throughout Southeast Asia in countries such as Cambodia, Indonesia and South Korea.

Next month will mark Cleaver’s first “proper” time in Fiji, however.

She first travelled to Fiji when she was just a four-year-old, but due to the George Speight coup in 2000, her family did not get beyond the airport.

Pacific Media Watch’s Kendall Hutt, who has yet to experience the Asia-Pacific, says she is looking forward to being on assignment in the region where her passion for journalism lies.

“Writing about the Pacific and climate change is one thing, being able to experience it yourself, first-hand, that’s another.

Forefront of climate change
“Pacific nations are at the forefront of climate change.  Islands are being inundated by rising sea levels, people are being forced to migrate, so we can’t really continue to deny climate change’s existence anymore.

“Bringing this to the wider public’s attention, that’s key for me.”

Pacific Media Centre director Professor David Robie, who initiated the project, said “live” assignments like this were a major boost for young journalists’ professional development.

He paid tribute to PaCE-SD’s communications consultant Sarika Chand and USP journalism coordinator Dr Shailendra Singh and his team, and Te Ara Motuhenga’s Jim Marbrook for their support for the project in Fiji.

“Their help enables us to carry out challenging projects like this.”

• Watch for the “Bearing Witness” stories and multimedia reports on the PMC’s current affairs site Asia Pacific Report.

Kendall Hutt talking climate change on Radio 95bFM’s Southern Cross today.

Name: Jale Samuwai Curuki

Age: 30

Occupation: PhD candidate, University of the South Pacific

Passion: Accounting, climate financing

Country: Fiji

Climate change activist, Jale Samuwai Curuki, sends a powerful message from Fiji to the sceptics of climate change.

“I come from the second largest island in Fiji, Vanua Levu,” says the 30-year-old.

“There’s a village there called Vunidogoloa and [this is] the first village in the world to be relocated due to climate change.

“I’ve been to Vunidogoloa and seen the consequences. The entire village is gone and it’s not habitable anymore, they have had to shift so that in itself is a testament that climate change is real.”

“We’re not making this up,” he says. “If you are still a climate denier, I feel sorry for you.”

Currently completing his PhD in climate financing at the University of the South Pacific in Suva, Curuki can often be found clicking away at the keyboard, getting stuck into his thesis.

Climate financing is one of the issues that affect small island countries in their effort to combat climate change, Curuki explains.

Climate financing
“The issue of climate financing is new. No matter how you spin it, no matter how many fancy words you apply to it, all comes down to money.”

Curuki followed the climate finance track at the 2015 COP21 conference in Paris, which he attended as apart of a selected delegation for Fiji.

“To actually live and experience how agreements and how treaties are made on the highest level is something else, it’s totally mind-blowing,” he says.

He recalls busily running from meetings to negotiations that would sometimes finish in the early hours of the morning.

“We can really appreciate the effort all these diplomats and negotiators do on our behalf,” he says.

Curuki encourages all Pacific communities especially those in New Zealand and Australia to mobilise and take action against climate change.

He makes it clear that if you’re still not convinced, the Pacific isn’t far away for people to come and see the effects for themselves.

“[We are all linked and] for now we might be crying, tomorrow it might be you.”

• Pacific profile: Jenny Jiva

By TJ Aumua

The effects of climate change on Pacific island nations like Samoa are leaving young people faced with uncertainty about being forced to leave their homelands and migrating to other countries.

The chair for Ōtara-Papatoetoe local board in Auckland, Fa’anānā Efeso Collins is also a former broadcaster and recently returned from Samoa.

He “feels” for Pacific youth who are unsure about the existence of their homeland in the future.

“There is a lot of fear about whether or not they will be able to have their own children, their own families and grow up safety in Samoa over the next few decades,” he told Asia Pacific Report.

“We know that in countries like Kiribati, Nauru and Tuvalu, there’s been more international travel – so they’ve migrated more in the last 10 years than any other period in their history. I think Samoan young people are starting to think about the same thing.”

This is ironic for Pacific Islanders living in New Zealand, with hopes of many eventually to return back home.

But Fa’anānā says that with the increasing impact of climate change there may not be a home to go back to.

“I know for New Zealand-born Samoans like myself, we often talk about wanting to go back, or our parents retiring back to Samoa because the land is special to our parents generation – and it’s special to us.

“We are going to lose that sense of ‘specialness’ if we are thinking whether we are safer long-term in New Zealand.”

Health impacts
Unknown to many outside the region, climate change also has major health impacts and is contributing to the level of illnesses in the Pacific.

Fa’anānā says the health ministries in Samoa are focusing on infections like malaria, typhoid and dengue fever, which are all, transmitted by mosquitos.

‘You pick illnesses up a whole lot easier because of cyclonic activity,’ he said. ‘So the ministry is looking at how to dry up large areas of waste water where mosquitos breed’.

“And in Samoa they don’t have the western, first-world facilities to be able to deal on mass with those issues.”

Fa’anānā says the World Health Organisation (WHO) is working with the health ministry in Samoa to address diseases enhanced by climate change.

“When you are living with those sorts of things in the back the your mind, of course you are going to think about moving countries, for long term investment.”

Fa’anānā says New Zealand’s response to Pacific climate change is slow and both Pacific and mainstream media outlets need to bring this issue to the forefront.

“New Zealand can do it,” he says.

“We are a good community, we can care enough about each other, and now it’s just about us being relaxed enough to say, ‘yeah lets join together and support what’s going on in the Pacific’.”

Ami Dhabuwala and Pacific Media Watch contributing editor TJ Aumua are in Fiji on a two-week “Bearing Witness” climate change journalism project with the University of the South Pacific.

• Fa’anānā Efeso Collins speaking on Waatea Fifth Estate

Two New Zealand-based journalists from the PMC will arrive in Fiji later this month to participate with students, staff and researchers in Fiji on a “bearing witness” project that aims to report on the effects of climate change in the island state.

USP’s head of journalism Shailendra Singh said climate change was chosen as the focus for this project because it was a major public interest issue that needed to be at the forefront on a constant basis.

He said the project was part of a long-standing partnership between Auckland University of Technology, where the PMC is based, and the USP journalism department as an initiative to broaden student learning.

However, students also have the advantage of covering these issues because they are reporting for independent media.

“They are not tied down so much by the priorities and considerations that mainstream media are beholden to, such as ratings and profits. In many respects, they are more free to report than mainstream media,” he said.

“They are future journalists.”

Exciting challenges
Ami Dhabuwala, a postgraduate journalist studying Asia-Pacific journalism at AUT, and Pacific Media Watch contributing editor TJ Aumua have been selected to go to Suva on the project.

Dhabuwala, who previously worked as a journalist in India, said she was excited and eager to take up the challenges she might face reporting on this issue in Fiji.

She said climate change was no longer just an environmental issue – it had become a human rights issue.

“As a journalist, I have always tried to be a voice for the unknown people. I would like to discover the untold stories of the Fijian people and their suffering because of climate change. I am interested in the issues of the people and possible solutions.”

Pacific Media Watch’s TJ Aumua, who graduated last year with an honours degree including a research dissertation on Fiji media, said this project was an opportunity to share the Pacific’s perspective on climate change with those who live outside the region.

“Living in New Zealand we are so sheltered and unaware of the direct affects of climate change. But for people living in island nations they see and have to live with the effects of climate change every day.

“The bouts of extreme weather and tropical cyclones that have caused destruction in Fiji recently are an example of this. I’m hoping the reportage from this project will be a wake a call for people who still believe climate change is a myth.”

PCF exchange
Aumua was also in Fiji last year on a Pacific Cooperation Foundation exchange.

Professor David Robie, director of the PMC, said he was delighted that AUT was able to send journalists to Fiji in another collaborative project.

“We had two student journalists in Fiji for the 2014 general election and then another couple a year later last September for the Pacific Islands Development Forum and other activities. They did tremendously well to face many challenges.”

He praised the AUT Research Office for providing a climate change grant that helped fund the journalists on their mission.

The project articles and multimedia reports will be published jointly in USP’s Wansolwara newspaper and online editions, and the PMC’s new current affairs website Asia Pacific Report.

Report by Pacific Media Watch

Item: 9498

David Robie
France detonated 193 nuclear tests in the South Pacific, at Moruroa and Fangataufa atolls, before halting the tests in 1996 in the face of Pacific-wide protests. On 10 July 1985, French secret agents bombed the Greenpeace flagship Rainbow Warrior in Auckland Harbour, killing photographer Fernando Pereira, in a futile bid to stop a protest flotilla going to Moruroa. Journalist David Robie, who was on board the Rainbow Warrior for more than 10 weeks of her last voyage, coming ashore in Auckland just two days before the bombing, told his story in the book Eyes of Fire. Here he reflects on the 20-year legal struggle to prevent the French spies from gagging reportage of their guilty plea from public television and the lingering secrecy about the health legacy of nuclear tests in the Pacific.

SYDNEY: (Pen Sydney/Pacific Media Watch): EXCERPT: This seems to be a remarkable year of memories and reflection for freedom of speech and bearing witness struggles  in  the  Pacific  region.  The  townsfolk  and  children  of  the  remote  Timor-Leste border town of Balibó have recently marked the 40th anniversary of the murder of five young Australian-based television newsmen dubbed forever as the Balibó Five.

On  16  October  1975,  the  five  journalists  –  Greg  Shackleton,  Gary  Cunningham  (New  Zealand),  Tony  Stewart, Malcolm Rennie and Brian Peters (both British) from  channels  Seven  and  Nine  –  were  reporting  on Indonesian  special  forces  incursions  into  independent Timorese territory.

They were brutally killed with impunity. Weeks later, a sixth journalist from Australia, Roger East,  who  ventured  to  Timor-Leste  to  investigate  the murders and set up an independent Timorese news agency, was himself executed by the invading Indonesian forces on  8  December  1975.  Their  fate  has  been  told  in  the compelling 2009 Robert Connolly film Balibó.

But the impunity lingers on, not only for the journalist atrocities but for more than 150,000 Timorese victims of the 24 years
of Indonesian occupation.

In July, President Joko Widodo of Indonesia appeared to have turned a new leaf on media relations over the two Melanesian provinces that collectively make up the West Papua  region  by  declaring  an  “open  door”  visa  policy for foreign journalists. This is far from the reality. Māori Television recently sent a television crew there – the first New Zealand TV journalists to visit West Papua in more than 50 years – to bear witness.

But their stories, such as a report on a New Zealand aid-assisted thriving kumara (sweet potato) industry in the Baliem Valley, were hardly a testimony to media freedom.

Bearing witness
For me, as a journalist and media educator who has worked in the Pacific region for almost four decades, the issue of media freedom and bearing witness that has outweighed all  others is  the  bombing  of  the  global  environmental Greenpeace  flagship Rainbow Warrior by  French  secret agents on 10 July 1985 and the death on board of Portuguese-born Dutch photojournalist Fernando Pereira.

The 30th anniversary of the sabotage, which was New Zealand’s first and only example of state terrorism, came and went in a rather muted fashion (compared with events marking 20 years, for example).

Read the full article

Source: Pacific Media Watch 9498