I wasn’t invited to the inaugural Vanuatu media awards a couple of weeks ago. Nor was I asked to participate.

Instead, I spent the weekend preparing the final draft of the Media Association of Vanuatu’s Code of Ethics and Practice. I am proud to say it was adopted by the MAV executive last Friday.

If I had been there, and if I had been asked to say something, this is what I would have said (seriously: when did I ever wait for someone to ask me for my opinion?): Journalism isn’t just a profession; it’s a public service. It consists of sharing, broadcasting or publishing information in the public interest.

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That’s the first paragraph in the new preamble of an updated Media Code of Ethics and Practice.

This code is integral to our work. It guides us from day to day. It tells us what we must do, what we should do, and what we should aspire to. It will help us serve the community better.

By describing how we should report the news, it helps us to decide what is news, and what’s not.

I agreed to help with this final draft because I know how important it is to think carefully about these things. Agonising over each word of this code has been an invaluable process for me. It’s taught me new things. It’s reinforced others. And it’s led me to do the one thing required of every reporter:

Challenge assumptions
Challenge every single assumption.

Reporting starts with asking questions. Who? What? When? Where? Why?

Socrates, one of humanity’s most famous inquiring minds, reportedly said, “The unexamined life is not worth living.”

The professional journey of every reporter begins with that phrase.

The Media Association of Vanuatu awards 2021. Image: MAV

In that spirit of examination, I want to take a moment to consider where we are as a media community, where we’ve come from, and where we need to go.

Vanuatu’s media can congratulate themselves for a number of things:

Our populace has a more nuanced and subtle understanding of the law and governance than many others. We joke about bush lawyers, but our interest in the law — and respect for it — is a product of how we in the media portray it.

We are bound to defend and protect the truth. The truth is the seed we sow. And from that seed, we reap a better democracY.

— Dan McGarry

Understanding politics
The same is true of our understanding of politics and Parliamentary procedure. Vanuatu follows Parliament the way some nations follow football. Our society is more engaged with the process of government than a great many others. The media plays a role in that, and we should be proud of it.

The status of women has advanced by leaps and bounds, both in media industry, and in society at large. Of course, the lioness’ share of the work has been done by two generations of fearless women who have campaigned tirelessly, selflessly to improve their lot.

But we have been there to mark their progress, to celebrate their wins, and to shine a light on the countless obstacles that still impede their progress.

The number of prosecutions and convictions for spousal abuse, sexual violence and other gender-based crimes is rising. These crimes are still happening far too often, but we can fairly say that the new, tougher sentences being handed out are a result of an awareness that we helped raise.

Our nation’s environmental awareness has been assisted greatly by the media. Again, we aren’t the ones saving the planet, but we are celebrating the people who do.

By giving space to the wisdom of kastom and the knowledge of science, we can exercise our right and our duty to protect this land.

The list of our achievements is long. I’m grateful that we finally found time to recognise and celebrate them. We have much to be proud of, and we should take this moment to applaud ourselves for a job well done.

About our failures
Now… let’s talk about our failures.

The Code of Ethics requires that we be frank, honest and fair. It also instructs us not to leave out any uncomfortable facts just because they don’t fit the narrative. But we cannot ignore the fact that we could do much, much more, and we could do far, far better.

Fear still dominates and diminishes us. Don’t pretend it’s not there. And don’t you dare tell me it hasn’t made you back off a story. Every single press conferences reeks of faltering confidence.

We’re all guilty of it. Every single one of us. Back in 2015, I made sure my ABC colleague Liam Fox was in the room when Marcellino Pipite announced that he had exercised his power as Acting Head of State and pardoned himself and his cronies.

I made sure he was there because I knew he would ask the one question that mattered: “Aren’t you just trying to save your own skin?”

I’m grateful to Liam for stepping up. But now I wish I’d been the one who had the courage to ask.

We have to find a way past our fear, and we can only do that together. If we all enter the room ready to ask hard questions, it’s easier for each one of us to quit wishing we could and just do it.

Stand up for each other
We have to learn to stand up for each other. Ten years ago, media pioneer Marc Neil-Jones was savagely assaulted by a minister of state.

That bullying act of injustice upset me deeply. It’s also what inspired me to take Marc’s place when his health forced him to step aside.

But what upset me even more was the failure of the media community to say one thing, and say it clearly: Violence against the media is never OK.

Never.

The only way we can be sure that those days of violent intimidation are past is if we hold that line, and condemn any act of coercion or violence loudly and in one voice.

To this day, I’m ashamed that we didn’t do at least that much for Marc.

Where is Marc’s lifetime achievement award? How much longer are we going to ignore his bravery, his leadership? Is his courage and determination going to be forgotten?

Not by me, it won’t.

Standing up to threats
I know how hard it is to stand up to disapproval, verbal abuse, threats of violence, abusive language, rumours, lies and prejudice. I know how hard it is to stand up to my own peers, to take it on the chin when I find out I’m wrong, and to refuse to bend when I know I’m right.

I’ve learned this lesson: They can take your job. They can take your livelihood. They can stab you in the back. They can grind you down. They can attack your dignity, they can shake your confidence.

But they can’t change the truth. Because it’s not my truth, or yours, or theirs.

You can find another place to work. You can find other ways to ply your trade. You can bear up under pressure, even when nobody else believes you can. You can learn to carry on.

You can do all of that, if you’re faithful to the truth. The truth is what we serve, not the director, the producer, the editor.

The truth is our republic. We have a duty to defend it. All of it. Not just the bits that please us. All of it. All the time. Even when it costs us. Especially when it costs us.

We are bound to defend and protect the truth. The truth is the seed we sow. And from that seed, we reap a better democracy.

Holding power to account
Democracy unchallenged isn’t democracy. The people can’t rule if they can’t ask questions.
This principle underpins the media’s role in keeping democracy healthy, and rebuilding it when it’s under threat. The role of the media is to hold power to account.

In Vanuatu, this basic idea needs to be better understood by the government and the governed alike. We can do this by helping journalists better understand their role, and helping them get what they need to fulfil that role more effectively.

The revised Media Code of Ethics and Practice is a milestone on that road. But it’s meaningless if we don’t stand by it.

To my media colleagues, I say: Forget your jealousies, your rivalries. Reject pride, collusion and corruption wherever you see it, even in yourself. Especially in yourself.

Stand with MAV. Uphold this code, and we will stand together with the truth. Because the truth is our republic.

Dan McGarry is former media director (pending an appeal) of the Vanuatu Daily Post / Buzz FM and independent journalist and he held that position since 2015 until the government blocked his work permit in 2019. His Village Explainer is a semi-regular newsletter containing analysis and insight focusing on under-reported aspects of Pacific societies, politics and economics.

A research paper by a National University of Samoa lecturer warns media freedom in Samoa still faces many challenges.

Media freedom has had a long, proud history in Samoa. Struggling against the odds, the country’s only daily newspaper, the Samoa Observer, founded in 1978, championed the free media cause under the leadership of its founder, publisher and inaugural editor, Gatoa’itele Savea Sano Malifa.

Now, as Samoa, enters into a new media generation, there is a pressing need for more training, better salaries, more women involved in media management, better technology facilities and more emphasis on media ethics and values in a Samoan context, argues Misa Vicky Lepou.

A 15-page research paper put together by Misa, an NUS journalism educator and practitioner, published by Pacific Journalism Review in its latest edition, has highlighted some key parts where local journalism practice suffers.

The paper, titled “Samoa’s media freedom climate: Shining the light”, is the introductory article for this special PJR edition on journalism education in Asia-Pacific to mark 10 years of the Pacific Media Centre.

The research traces the growth of journalism in Samoa since its first and still only daily newspaper was established in 1978 by Gatoaitele.

An editorial by Professor David Robie, a former head of the regional University of the South Pacific journalism programme, said: “While the United States was enduring its Vietnam war upheaval and the Watergate break-in challenge to the presidency, in one of the finest periods of truth-to-power global reportage, Misa Vicky Lepou brings alive Samoa’s own golden era of investigative journalism in the 1970s.

“Tracing some of the proud moments of Savea Sano Malifa’s trailblazing investigations and struggle for press freedom with the Samoa Observer, Misa laments an erosion of ethics and media professionalism in contemporary times.”

Media growth
Journalism though has come a long way since then. According to the report, there are now 17 media organisations in Samoa run locally either private or government-owned.

With such a growth, Misa believes it calls for a much high push for better practice and education.

“As a sole provider of journalism education in Samoa, the National University of Samoa has addressed demands from the industry to enhance training curriculum by forging a strong relationship with the media industry,” said Misa.

“The existing Media and Journalism programme requires more resources in order to become a fully-fledged programme,” she added.

“Hence, the National University of Samoa pushing forward with the establishment of a Bachelor of Arts degree in Media and Journalism programme with the hope it will roll out soon.”

The report has also highlighted a strong need for ethical journalism practice in Samoa.

With the Journalists Association of Samoa (JAWS) adopting a new Code of Practice and the incoming Media Council, Misa claims ethical journalism depends on more training and higher education.

Press freedom struggle
The Samoa Observer’s struggle for press freedom also paid the price for not upholding the Code of Practice as highlighted in this research. The infamous front page of a suicide story in 2016, which clearly violated ethical guidelines is also highlighted in this research.

“There are still a lot of ethical guidelines to be observed in conjunction with the law. Journalists and any media practitioner must be knowledgeable and understand the contexts of what the new Code entails and the available laws that protect the work of the media not as organisations but the journalists as individuals.”

Along with other case studies highlighted in this research, Misa also sees the need for sensitivity by journalists in their work when it comes to professionalism.

“Most of the journalists interviewed in this research concurred that journalists should uphold higher standards of journalism as well as physical presentation.”

“The programme under NUS would serve as the go to provider for up-skilling and development of journalism in Samoa. It’s just a matter of those wanting to do journalism and existing journalists to take up the available opportunities to keep abreast of doing journalism in Samoa.”

The research concluded that several challenges became apparent about media working conditions which will be the subject of a future paper.

Poor salaries highlight the need for increases, more women should be involved in media management, and better technology facilities are needed in media offices because not every reporter has access to the internet, better assignment transport is needed, and much more training is needed.

Areas that require particular training attention are photography, digital and social media, radio news presentation, and the values and ethics of doing journalism in Samoa.

Training involving media ethics and standards needs to be observed if Samoa is to maintain its proud record in defence of media freedom, says Misa.

Misa Vicky Lepou is head of the Media and Journalism School at the National University of Samoa (NUS) in Apia. She is also president of the Media Educators Pacific (MEP). An earlier version of this article was presented at the World Journalism Education Congress (WJEC) conference in Auckland, New Zealand, on 14-16 July 2016. Her presence at the conference was funded by a UNESCO scholarship.

• The special edition of PJR on Journalism education in the Asia-Pacific
• Pacific Journalism Review research papers

Pacific Media Watch News Desk

Journalists, reporters and media practitioners in Papua New Guinea have been urged to use the industry’s revised code of ethics to guide their conduct during next month’s 2017 General Election.

The General Code of Ethics for the News Media was reviewed and updated by the Australian Press Council in October last year after the MCPNG approached and asked for their assistance, due to the growth of the PNG media industry and the arrival of social media and online news services.

The MCPNG board met and agreed to give the revised edition of the code its stamp of approval in December last year and distribute it to all media personnel on the eve of Papua New Guinea’s 2017 general election.

“I must thank the Australian Press Council for the collaboration and partnership by agreeing to review and revise our General Code of Ethics for the News Media — especially Professor David Weisbrot, chair of the Australian Press Council, who played a major part in the review,” said MCPNG president Alexander Rheeney.

“The revised code covers all aspects of a growing PNG media industry including online news services. I appeal to all media personnel to use it as a guide when covering the 2017 general elections, as it will ensure that the news content you produce will be of a high standard for your Papua New Guinean listeners, readers and viewers.”

The release of the revised code coincides with the launching of the MCPNG’s new website

Rheeney said the availability of the new website would ensure that the code, the work as well as the goals and objectives of the MCPNG was now available for media industry people and the PNG public to check.

“I urge the public to log on to our website and check out the code so you are aware of the conduct that all media practitioners including journalists are expected to benchmark themselves against when covering news in Papua New Guinea.”

Should there be instances of abuse of the revised code; said Rheeney, the aggrieved member of the public should not hesitate to contact the respective media organisations or the MCPNG to take it up on their behalf.

• New MCPNG website

The president of Papua New Guinea’s media council says there is a need for the country’s media ethics codes to be revised, Radio NZ International reports.

Alex Rheeney, president of the Media Council PNG, said local media were under fire recently over coverage of recent police shootings of students at the University of Papua New Guinea.

Rheeney, who is also editor of the Post-Courier newspaper, said there had been many changes in the industry over the years including the rise of social media.

He said the current code of ethics which was implemented nearly 30 years ago needed to be changed.

“Social media has funnily become a movement in Papua New Guinea,” he said.

“How do we work within the code of ethics and apply – how can journalists in Papua New Guinea apply that to their profession today. You know, we need to have a code of ethics that actually reflects those changes,” he said.

He was among an 11-strong Asia-Pacific contingent organised by the Pacific Media Centre at the World Journalism Education Congress in Auckland last week.

• PNG’s media council says recent campus events a ‘wake-up’ call

Do changes to climate change reporting need to happen? Does the media itself need structural change to face the new challenge? Kendall Hutt seeks some answers to the debate for Asia Pacific Report.

A worldwide call has gone out by academics and journalists for news media to change its approach on reporting climate change.

Current coverage of climate change leaves the public ill-informed on the issue and largely cynical, say some academics.

Also of concern is a tendency for media to frame climate change as an international rather than local issue, which leads it to be defined as a problem for others and not one of national sovereignty.

The need for improvement was highlighted at a public talk delivered at Auckland University of Technology last month, in which Professor Robert Hackett of Simon Fraser University discussed whether certain “touchstones” of journalism, such as objectivity and the public sphere, apply in covering what he dubbed a “climate crisis”.

The topic of a forthcoming book with several colleagues titled Journalisms for Climate Crisis, Hackett proposes several alternative reporting models that could potentially allow greater, more in-depth coverage of the climate change issue.

However, Dr Hackett concluded his talk by stating structured media reform was needed for climate crisis journalism to flourish. He stressed that the industry needs space to discuss such reform in order to foster change in defiance of a lack of political will.

Speaking with Asia Pacific Report, Dr Hackett has expanded on this conclusion, saying such structural media reform would “encourage and expand better journalism practices and coverage to the scale that is needed in a situation of global crisis”.

He added media reform would also reduce commercial pressures on journalists to generate clickbait and reduce concentrated corporate ownership.

But this is not a view shared by others.

Oxfam New Zealand’s senior campaigns and communications specialist Jason Garman rejects the idea of media reform.

“I think passing the buck that media should be solving this problem by doing better is not the way to go,” he says.

I think everyone needs to come to the reality that climate change is affecting all of us and we all should be playing a constructive part in making sure we have a world that’s liveable for everyone.”

Garman believes improvements to the way climate change is reported needs to come from – and return to – journalism’s fundamental role in educating and informing the public.

This is a view shared by science communication specialist and former journalist, Dr Jan Sinclair.

Dr Sinclair says it is mainly the media’s responsibility to inform the public of the extent and reality of the risks of climate change.

“It’s the journalist’s responsibility to tell people whether their lives or property are at risk.”

Like Garman, Dr Sinclair rejects Dr Hackett’s idea of media reform being the way for media to improve its climate change coverage moving forward.

Dr Sinclair is wary of reform due to the vested interests of fossil fuel industries and “sceptical lobby” which have plagued, and continue to plague, coverage of climate change.

She says such well-funded and powerful lobbying has promoted a culture of climate change being framed as “uncertain”, both within the media and social world.

Evidence of such lobbying can be seen by looking at ExxonMobil, one of the leading opponents of climate change science, which also once happened to be one of its leading proponents.

A video by AJ+ recently revealed that ExxonMobil spent US$61 million between 1998 and 2005 challenging scientific consensus surrounding climate change.

ExxonMobil has also been largely responsible for creating the uncertainty Dr Sinclair describes, with the oil company spending US$30 million on a network of think tanks and researchers who have challenged climate change science.

Dr Sinclair says any improvements to current reportage are a question of ethics and should be seen as a matter of integrity for journalists.

Question of ethics
“If journalists could perhaps have a discussion on which ethics are important, and then link speaking truth to power to the problem of interpreting scientific results… I think that might be beneficial.”

The journalistic adage of “speak truth to power” does not do climate change reporting any favours, she adds, as this “political” focus is detrimental.

This is something Dr Sinclair has also noted in her research into comparisons of what information the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reported and what The New York Times reported across a 17-year period from 1990 to 2007.

Dr Sinclair noted: “Journalists are encouraged to privilege political discourses over scientific advice”, in direct correlation with the adage.

In contrast, Taberannang Korauaba, a doctoral candidate with the Pacific Media Centre and editor of the Kiribati Independent, believes stories on climate change need to focus more on the positive and calls attention to the Pacific.

Positivity needed
“The same message is repeated, sea is rising, people will be displaced, sea encroaching land, temperature is getting hotter these days on the islands.”

Yes, Pacific people are victims of climate change, he says, but stories should focus on adaptation and media attention shift to investigate the distribution of adaptation funding.

“What is happening now on the ground, I think the focus should be there. How much money given to these islands to help build their resilience, how it is spent, who is getting what?”

Korauaba says the media needs to adopt strategies to better report climate change and one of those is deliberative journalism, journalism that is acknowledged as empowering local people and leading to greater, popular decision-making.

In his research, he regards deliberative journalism – what he terms in the i-Kiribati-language as Te Karoronga – as allowing the community to be part of climate change adaptation and raising understanding and awareness of actions, so the people themselves can take action to help save their islands.

Despite such varied calls for the media to reframe its coverage of climate change, such as by Pacific Journalism Review in a special edition in 2014 on “failed states” and the environment, not all coverage is, or has been, inherently bad, Garman and Hackett stress.

Not inherently bad
Professor Hackett says some media organisations have been doing “remarkably good work” and “exercising a sense of agency”.

One such organisation is the Desert Sun, he adds, Palm Spring’s daily in southern California due to the host of feature articles it has produced.

Garman, however, highlights the media’s growth and acknowledgement in framing climate change as a human rights issue.

“If you’d asked me that question [growth] ten years ago I would have said, ‘No, absolutely, people see climate change as an environmental issue only, something that’s happening to polar bears and may affect humans at a long-off point in the future’.

“Whereas now I do think people understand that climate change is happening now, it’s affecting people now, it’s a human rights issue.”

Although no consensus exists as to what form reframing should take, Korauaba has noted it will take time for any changes to come into effect.

“The world can’t change overnight, at least we do something, and keep doing it regularly in our coverage.”

Kendall Hutt is a graduate journalist from AUT University, currently completing her Honours year in Communication Studies. She is on the Pacific Media Centre’s Asia Pacific Journalism course.

Samoa’s Media Council law, passed by Parliament earlier this year, will come into effect as soon as Prime Minister Tuilaepa Aiono Sailele Malielegaoi formally endorses it. While some journalists and media commentators say there is a need for such a regulatory body for the Samoan media, others say the government’s involvement puts a strain on freedom of the press, reports Asia-Pacific Journalism.

Pacific Scoop:
Report – By Mata Lauano

Now that the Samoan government has passed the Media Council legislation what does it mean for the media in Samoa, where freedom of the press has come under fire many times in past years?

The Media Council Bill, says acting Press Secretary Renate Rivers, was not pushed through hurriedly.

“There were a number of in-depth consultations that were held by government and the Journalists Association of (Western) Samoa (JAWS) over the course of three years.”

Rivers says that what should be highlighted is that the Media Council will be “media-led”.

“The Journalists Association of (Western) Samoa, or JAWS, is comprised of journalists and they will choose the council members from among themselves and the community. This is important for journalists/media in Samoa as they will ultimately determine the quality of reporting in the country.”

The largest newspaper group, and the only daily newspaper in Samoa, the Samoa Observer, doesn’t believe this is the case. Stating that their position is simple: they’ll support a Media Council if the government is not involved.

“If it is one set up by the government, which in this case it is, we will not have anything to do with it,” says editor Mata’afa Keni Lesa.

“I’m also mindful that there are many people who don’t like our work and will look to exploit the existence of the Media Council to agitate and deny media freedom. If we needed to be careful before, we now need to be extra careful.”

Regulation needed
The draft Media Council Bill 2014, which was circulated to members of the media last year, was reported to be set up to investigate public complaints as well as introduce a Code of Practice and Code of Ethics.

Misa Vicky Lepou, a member of JAWS and a lecturer at the National University of Samoa, says the Media Council being set up was in terms of the need for a regulatory body to help set guidelines for the media in Samoa on a professional level.

“I do support quality training and uphold professional standards of journalism in Samoa. We’ve had lawsuits in the past against the media due to unethical and unprofessional standards. One aspect I would support the Media Council in, is to support the industry to continue providing training for the media,” says Misa.

“It has been a long-standing project of more than 10 years. This will also give the national association a legal entity status and become a stronger institution that would assist all media in Samoa.”

Contributing editor to Pacific Media Watch, Alistar Kata, who was on internship in Samoa last month working alongside the local media when the legislation was passed, says there was definitely a place for a set of standards. However, she was also aware of possible consequences or downsides.

“Some of the journalists I spoke to were a bit tentative or didn’t really agree with what was happening because there could be a gagging effect, or the penalties for journalists speaking out of turn may be too harsh.”

Democracy or dictatorship?
The director of the Pacific Media Centre and convenor of the Pacific Media Watch freedom project, Professor David Robie, is also concerned about the origin of the law, and can appreciate the reluctance of the Samoa Observer to support it.

“If it’s a government initiative to bring in this legislation, and I think there are major concerns, and that’s why the Samoa Observer is not subscribing to it. So any self-regulatory or legislative process that is going to be resisted by the news media such as the Observer is going to mean a mockery of it really. ”

The problem, Dr Robie says, is Samoa’s form of government. The Human Rights Protection Party (HRPP) has been in power since 1982, apart from a brief period in 1985 – 33 years.

“It is effectively a one-party state and the government is effectively dictatorial.”

When a party is in power for too long it paves the way for possible abuse of power.

“However, under this new law they’re removing criminal defamation. So that’s a good step, at least there are some improvements. But I think the media’s going to have to be very vigilant about this law and see how it’s going to work out.”

The government has two media outlets, Radio 2AP and the Savali newspaper, and the Opposition Party – Tautua – also has a newspaper called Tautua Lelei. However, the majority of Samoa’s media industry is private, which includes the Samoa Observer, which has been a bastion of press freedom since its establishment in 1978.

Striking a balance
The media and the government will need to find a balance, says Dr Robie.

There needs to be checks and balances for the media, he says. While it is the watchdog for the wider society, the media itself does need some form of accountability.

He points out that many countries have media regulatory models that while being set up by government maintain independence from state control – for example, in New Zealand while newspapers are accountable to the self-regulatory Press Council, broadcast media answer to the government-established Broadcasting Standards Authority.

A NZ Law Commission recommendation in 2013 for a one-stop independent media complaints body serving print, broadcast and online media – and even bloggers – through a News Media Standards Authority was ultimately rejected.

A media self-regulatory process ought to contribute to raising professional standards

“We’ve got to be very careful about when we’re talking about media freedom in Samoa,” Dr Robie said.

“On one hand you’ve got the government trying to impose potentially an unfair law, which may perpetuate some of the problems in Samoa, on the other hand you’ve got resistance that’s basically a media saying, ‘we do no wrong, we need to fight for media freedom’” but go about some things in an unprofessional manner.

“We don’t want the government interfering in the business of the media on one hand, but on the other the media do need to raise their professional standards.”

Mata Lauano is a student journalist at AUT University on the Asia-Pacific Journalism Studies paper. She is completing a Postgraduate Diploma in Communications (Journalism).

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