AUCKLAND (Pacific Media Watch): Three journalists working on Pacific issues are expressing hopes for better media coverage of the Pacific region.
Former Radio New Zealand International senior reporter Sara Vui-Talitu has been at the radio station for close to a decade.
She said although New Zealand’s influence in the region had declined, the country’s media were still very important in the Pacific context.
Vui-Talitu, who is currently working at AUT Univeristy as a journalism tutor, also said “there is definitely a place for indigenous reporting”.
She said that often the mainstream media did not cover indigenous issues, and that was where indigenous reporting could have a place.
“Maori TV have a great show Native Affairs. That show picks up on a lot of stories mainstream media would not touch.
“They have stories that really affect native communities, like the pollution of waterways where indigenous Maori get their food.”
New Zealand as a watchdog
Interim chair of the Pacific Islands Media Association (PIMA), Will ‘Ilolahia, said New Zealand had done a very good job as a watchdog in the Pacific.
“When Samoa was criticised for the government misspending of the tsunami aid, a lot of Samoans got their information through a channel I was managing Kiwi TV, and we had on-demand from Campbell Live.
“A lot of Samoans didn’t get their information locally because their government was trying to hide what they were doing, actually got it through New Zealand,” ‘Ilolahia said.
However, ‘Ilolahia also said that in order to better cover Pacific stories, New Zealand journalists needed to gain a deeper understanding of the “island way such as the fano process,” a process where consensus in any issue is deeply emphasised.
Contributing editor of Pacific Media Watch Daniel Drageset argued news media would benefit from bringing qualified Pasifika people into newsrooms
He added there were many “blind spots” in the current Pacific media coverage, where a higher representation of Pasifika or other ethnicities could contribute in uncovering the "blind spots".
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Lei Shi
