Elenoa Osborne
SUVA: The Pacific Islands News Association (PINA) has dismissed claims that it has only a handful of members across the Pacific, and mainly from Melanesia countries.
The claim was made in an interview by executives of the newly established Pacific Media Association (PacMA) who claim PINA has lost its core values and has seen its membership reduced.
However, PINA manager Matai Akuola says they currently have 21 paid members across the Pacific and they are not worried about the establishment of PacMA.
“We have more paid members this year. It’s surprising but we have more members this year than for any other year for the last five years. We have 21 fully paid members.”
PacMA has also accused PINA of failing to speak out on issues such as Fiji’s Media Decree and media freedom.
However, Akuola says PINA is just doing things differently.
“The statement put out by the PINA president is that we are not wrong but are doing things differently. In regards to media freedom we are having dialogue with governments and no longer are we putting out statements to please some people. We are working and having dialogue with government. We’ve had meetings with the current Fiji government. So, that is progress. That is a move forward. That’s why we are saying we are not wrong, we are just doing things differently.” - Fiji Broadcasting Corporation/Pacific Media Watch
Pacific Media Watch
