Previously it was reporting on governments or politics that brought trouble for Tonga’s journalists — now it’s reporting on drugs or gangs.

Tongan journalists are coming to terms with new pressures on media freedom over reporting on the country’s drug crisis, and the role of gangs in it.

This comes after a journalist at Kele’a Publications was threatened at gunpoint in Nuku’alofa, following reporting on drugs issues two weeks ago — the same week as World Press Freedom Day.

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While Tonga police are still searching for the suspect who threatened a journalist, the manager of the Kele’a Publications said police should do more to protect the press.

According to Teisa Cokanasiga, journalist freedoms were usually tested by previous governments when reporting on the police, but the current situation was different and represented a new type of challenge for Tonga’s media.

“The threat was regarding reports that we did about drugs and a specific gang member who is currently serving life in prison. So now we are aware that we have that kind of threat.

“In terms of freedom of the press, to report on political issues and controversial issues concerning the leadership in the country. I think we are fine with that.”

More awareness needed
Cokanasiga said there needed to be more awareness around this kind of threat as it could happen to any member of Tonga’s media.

“It’s just disheartening. And we are now aware that we can get that kind of challenge or risk, not only, I mean, from the public as well.”

For now, Cokanasiga said her team was supporting the journalist, and also being cautious while continuing daily duties.

“We’ve been trying to be, you know, encouraging of each other and at the same time give them space, especially the concerned journalist, and for her to slowly get back to working.”

Attack on Tongan’s constitutional rights
The Media Association of Tonga (MAT) said the incident was an assault not only on the safety of an individual journalist but on the constitutional right of every Tongan to receive information without fear or favour.

MAT’s president, Katalina Uili Tohi, said a climate of fear and intimidation targeting media personnel undermined democratic principles and silenced the very voices that hold power to account.

She said journalists must be able to work without the threat of violence or death.

Meanwhile, the co-chair of the Pacific Freedom Forum, Lepailetai Tosi Tupua has commended the courage and professionalism of the journalist and her colleagues and their swift reporting to police.

He said they awaited the outcomes of a thorough and impartial police investigation into this incident, ensuring public safety and including safety on the job for all media workers reporting these matters.

Police have yet to arrest anyone, but Cokanasiga said they remained in regular contact with both her and the journalist.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

A female journalist in Tonga has been threatened at gunpoint following the broadcast of a news story about an Australian criminal deportee serving a life sentence in Tonga for methamphetamine importation.

The incident, in which an unknown individual threatened the journalist at the Kele’a Publications office in Nuku’alofa 12 days ago — 23 April — is under investigation by police.

Kele’a Publications manager Teisa Cokanasiga told RNZ Pacific that the man featured in the ABC’s Foreign Correspondent documentary had plans to set up a chapter of the Comanchero, an Australian outlaw motorcycle gang in Tonga.

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Cokanasiga said the incident, which appeared to be an attempt to silence the press, had shaken her small team.

“It is a big concern, and it is very worrying to me that this happened to us, to a journalist in our small organisation,” she said.

Cokanasiga said Kele’a Publications lacked resources, such as security cameras, that could assist with the police work and investigations into the incident.

She has calling on Tongans to help them if they have any information about the man.

Cokanasiga said gang-related activity was a big concern in Tonga, as it was in many other Pacific Island nations.

“People in the country are worried about drug trafficking and [the] growing influence of gang-related crimes, and it’s a huge concern.”

However, she said journalists should be allowed to do their job, as it was the media’s role to inform the public about public interest stories.

RNZ Pacific has contacted police for comment.

Media Association ‘shocked’
Meanwhile, the Media Association of Tonga (MAT) has expressed its “profound shock and deep concern”.

“The presence of a firearm in what is understood to be an act of intimidation represents a dangerous and unacceptable escalation against press freedom in the kingdom,” MAT said in a statement on Tuesday.

“MAT views this incident as a direct assault not only on the safety of an individual journalist but on the constitutional right of every Tongan to receive information without fear or favour.”

MAT president Katalina Uili Tohi said targeting of media personnel undermined democratic principles and silenced the voices that held power to account.

“The Media Association of Tonga is appalled by this brazen act of intimidation. Journalists must be able to carry out their work without the threat of violence or death,” she said.

The association is calling on the Minister of Police and the police chief to launch an urgent, thorough, and transparent investigation to apprehend the perpetrator.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

The Palau Media Council has condemned a political lawsuit against the publisher of the Island Times as an “assault on press freedom” with the Pacific country facing an election on Tuesday.

In a statement yesterday, the council added that the lawsuit, filed by Surangel and Sons Co. against Times publisher Leilani Reklai over her newspaper’s coverage of tax-related documents that surfaced on social media, was an attempt to undermine the accountability that was vital to democracy.

The statement also said the lawsuit raised “critical concerns about citizens’ access to information and freedom of the press.

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Palau recently topped the inaugural Pacific Media Freedom Index for press freedom.

“This lawsuit, combined with government’s statements endorsing that Island Times reported mis-information on its coverage of the tax related document and the decision to ban Island Times from Surangel and Sons [distribution] outlets, raises critical concerns about citizens’ access to information and the freedom of the press — both of which are cornerstones of a democratic society,” the statement said.

“The council sees this legal action as an assault on press freedom and an attempt to undermine the accountability that is vital to democracy.”

The statement said that Reklai, one of Palau’s senior journalists, was being targeted simply for reporting on documents that were already in the public domain.

“She did not originate the information but responsibly conveyed what these documents suggested, raising questions about the current administration’s narrative on corporate tax contributions,” the council said.

‘Journalistic duty’
“Reporting on such information is a journalistic duty to ensure transparency in tax policies and government incentives impacting the private sector.

“The Island Times, by publishing these documents, has provided a platform for clarifying public understanding of the new PGST tax law’s impact on major corporations and the actual tax contributions of Surangel and Sons.

“These issues are clearly within the public’s right to know, and the council emphasises that media plays a crucial role in reporting such findings and promoting informed debate.

The council said it stood in solidarity with Reklai and all journalists who strived to find and uphold the truth.

“In a healthy democracy, a free and open press is essential for informed citizens and responsible governance.”

There will be celebrations as well as self-contemplation in newsrooms around the world today to mark World Press Freedom Day 2023, with the Fourth Estate facing some of its biggest challenges yet.

It was only close to two years ago when Samoa’s constitutional crisis tested the resolve of the media industry, with the nation, as well as families and households, split along political party lines, to also put further pressure on journalists and media practitioners who were working hard on the frontlines to keep the nation abreast of the historical political developments.

Battered and exhausted from the weeks of political turmoil at that time, sandwiched between two political camps, the task of informing the nation and its citizens of a new government was left to the Samoan media industry.

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It was our job to pick up the pieces and report back to the nation as best as we can on what just occurred and to continue to give the message of hope and assurance to the general population that the seat of government didn’t change, it was just that the custodianship of the seat of government had changed hands.

And the journey of this great nation continues nonetheless.

So just over two years after the last general election, the trigger of the constitutional crisis, this newspaper demonstrates its ongoing commitment to improvement and growth by launching a new design to give our readers a more content-rich experience.

New features include “funday” pages and “news in numbers” while keeping a foot in the digital world with QR codes for “today’s top 10 stories” at a touch of a button on your smartphones.

Core business
This newspaper’s core business of informing, educating, and empowering its readership with the latest news and information has not changed.

In fact, the goal post hasn’t changed too with this newspaper committed to the values upheld by its founder, Gatoaitele Savea Sano Malifa to seek the truth, hold governments to account, and report without fear or favour.

The celebration of World Press Freedom Day 2023 today revolves around the theme “Shaping a Future of Rights: Freedom of expression as a driver for all other human rights”.

We believe the theme of today’s celebrations, set by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), succinctly highlights the importance of freedom of expression and its intrinsic link to the media and how it is through freedom of expression that we get to promote all other human rights.

According to UNESCO, four fundamental freedoms are outlined in the Preamble of the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights: freedom of speech, freedom of belief, freedom from fear, and freedom from want.

But it is the freedom of speech that comes first as it is the fundamental freedom that enables all the other rights.

“The right to freedom of expression and its corollary, the right to access information, allow us to seek, receive and impart information, ideas, concepts, and beliefs across borders and cultures.

Essential role
“And in this exercise, the media and journalists play an essential role: they help verify and disseminate facts, they create spaces for ideas to be debated and for the voiceless to be heard, and they render complex matters intelligible for the public at large.”

And we hope too for more press conferences convened by leaders in the government to enable us in the media to do our jobs and a better understanding and appreciation of the role of the media and its contribution to Samoa’s development.

On that note, we take this opportunity to wish our colleagues in Samoa’s media industry Happy World Press Freedom Day 2023 celebrations.

Seeing colleagues appear on television, listening to them on the radio, or seeing their bylines in their online content confirms that we’ve just got on with the business of informing the nation despite the challenges we’ve faced.

And there is no better gift to this nation of 200,000 than to maintain our focus on our primary responsibility to bring them news on issues that directly impact their lives.

Even though we fall and stumble sometimes, as we go about our work to keep the country informed, let’s strive to better ourselves for the good of our readers, listeners, and viewers.

The Samoa Observer has traditionally been one of the leading Pacific newspapers fighting for press freedom.This editorial was published on 3 May 2023 – World Press Freedom Day — and is republished with permission. 

Pacific eyes will be on the World Press Freedom Index 2023 when it is launched today as concerns grow over the slip in the US ranking in past years.

Fiji will hope to see an improvement in its ranking from 102nd last year with the change of government last December and a commitment by the new administration to greater press freedom with the scrapping of the draconian Fiji media law last month.

However, the index survey is based on the 2022 research by the Paris-based Reporters Without Borders (RSF) media freedom watchdog and is unlikely to yet reflect the current changes in Fiji.

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The US has signalled its greater engagement with media freedom issues with Secretary Antony Blinken participating in the live launch of the 2023 Index rankings in Washington today.

“The United States has a responsibility to promote and embody the values of press freedom around the world,” said RSF’s Washington bureau executive director Clayton Weimers.

“Secretary Blinken’s participation in this live event is a welcome commitment to those values.

“We look forward to continuing to work together to create even more concrete action that makes journalists around the world safer and protects everyone’s right to information.”

Protecting journalists
RSF is a member of the Washington Post’s Press Freedom Partnership, which brings together nonprofit organisations working to protect journalists and raise awareness for the issues journalists face.

RSF’s World Press Freedom Index has become an important global tool to measure press freedom, scoring and ranking 180 countries and territories.

Each year’s Index prompts reactions from officials around the world, including the White House’s reaction in 2018 to the US drop in ranking.

The US is ranked 42nd in the 2022 World Press Freedom Index, published by RSF.

This position is due to a small number of outlets controlling the media narrative, the disappearance of local news, as well as polarisation and distrust in the media.

As one of the world’s oldest democracies and the country of the First Amendment, the US has the potential to develop as a stronger leader in the promotion and protection of press freedom around the world, while also setting a better example at home,” said the RSF in a statement.

“RSF hopes the 2023 Index launch will mark the start of further collaboration with the Biden administration to find ways for the United States to improve its own record domestically while also using its considerable influence abroad to promote press freedom.”

• Tune into the event on Wednesday, May 3, 2023 at 9 am ET. Register to watch the virtual livestream at wapo.st/wpfdmay2023

Le Classement mondial de la liberté de la presse publié par @RSF_inter paraît le 3 mai. À Washington, où le secrétaire d’Etat Antony Blinken participera à un débat organisé avec le @washingtonpost, nous avons apposé 50 bannières publicitaires sur la voie publique. #PressFreedom pic.twitter.com/6TEgk0zG3p

— Christophe Deloire (@cdeloire) May 2, 2023