Fonua Talei
SUVA (Fiji Sun / Pacific Media Watch): Participants of the Media and Democracy symposium have heard that improved communication skills from Pacific media outlets is needed to attract "engagement" from people.
Pacific Institute of Public Policy researcher Talita Tu’ipulotu said better engagement would lead to robust media and better engagement of people in the community.
She said governments also played a vital role in sharing information which helped journalists spend less time having to search for basic information but getting critical information.
Tu’ipulotu said media organisations and journalists also had the tendency to lose sight of original stories when talking about media freedom in the Pacific.
The media symposium at the University of the South Pacific also heard that traditional journalism fuelled conflicts because of criteria that focused on superficial, visible effects of conflicts.
Speaking at the symposium, academic Shailendra Singh said media irresponsibility was the Fiji government reason for censorship.
He said government, however, played an influential role in the media sector, adding that the Fiji media paradox was a champion of democracy but also a threat.
He said the media allegedly “misrepresents” conflicts and that Pacific media lacked in-depth scholarly investigation.
Pacific Media Watch
