Media
Reporting on the Road to Peace
Bougainville, Fiji, Solomons Feature in Workshop
They put the Pacific Islands on the map of international hot spots. The war on Bougainville, ethnic conflict in Solomon Islands and coup crisis in Fiji became known around the world.
Now Pacific Islands journalists are to look again at these conflicts in the context of peace. Journalists will take part in a four-day workshop, Media and Violence: Designing Coverage to Foster Peace, as part of this month¹s Pacific Islands News Association (PINA) convention in Papua New Guinea.
The workshop is designed to give practical knowledge on how news media coverage of violence can affect trauma and how the news media can provide sensitive coverage and reduce trauma.
It is the beginning of what is hoped will be broader understanding among Pacific Islands media of reporting violence and of the impact of reporting on violence on the victims and the journalists. Key support for the workshop has come from America's Cox International Center for Mass Communication Training and Research and UNESCO.
The workshop will be held October 11-14. It is hosted at Madang by PINA member Divine Word University, one of the region's leading journalism schools.
Information sent out by PINA's Secretariat in Suva says: "This workshop is designed to give Pacific Islands editors, news directors and reporters practical and theoretical knowledge on how news media coverage of violence can affect trauma and how the news media can provide sensitive coverage and reduce trauma of the victims and of news personnel."
"This is recognized as an immensely important and difficult task, and this workshop is just the beginning of what is hoped will be broader understanding among Pacific Islands media of reporting violence and of the impact of reporting on violence on the victims and the journalists themselves."
"The central premise of the workshop is that more sensitive coverage of violence lessens the likelihood it will occur in the future and increases the chances of peace."
Sessions include Violence and Trauma, Reporting at the scene of violence, Interviewing the victims of crime, Writing about violence, Using images of violence, violence in the Pacific, Special problems in reporting about violence involving children, and Special problems in reporting about sexual violence and assault.
The participants will also include a journalist from East Timor.
Give us our freedom, say state broadcasters
Papua New Guinea National Broadcasting Corporation (NBC) employees warned of strike action if the management did not respond to their petition over media freedom.
The petition, drawn up after a series of meetings following the suspension of NBC news director Joseph Ealedona, called for:
for the managing director, Dr Kristoffa Ninkama, to be present in his at office at all times, - for the managing director to stop going to National Executive Council meetings,
- and the Prime Minister's office and for the National Executive Council not to interfere with news. The employees also set up a working committee comprising six members, drawn from each of the departments in the corporation. to lead the workers' bid to settle the issue.
Executive members of the Communication Workers Union also met with the employees to show support for their cause.
Ninkama suspended Ealedona for allowing on air reports on the student unrest about privatisation and land mobilisation, broadcasting the launching of the union backed Labour Party and reporting on the PNG Defence Force stand-off with the government.
"We know the board approved last month that the MD (Managing Director) will sanction all news items and that is totally against our long-standing ethics," a statement from the workers said.
"We will deliver our demands as soon as the working committee officially finalises the papers and when that is done we will await the management's response."
"If we are not happy with the reply then with support from the union we will conduct a secret ballot."
The Media Council of Papua New Guinea said it was monitoring the suspension of Ealadona.
The Media Council said it was not the role of the council to interfere with or regulate the day-to-day operation of its members. But "it is however deeply concerned if the suspension is politically motivated."
"The concern is reinforced given the same swift removal of the former NBC managing director," council president Peter Aitsi said.
"The Media Council will seek to gather information relating to the suspension. If there was any suggestion of political pressure, the council will undertake to reveal this to the public and will approach the relevant agencies to seek redress."
The council has recently completed the drafting of a code of ethics that will be settled into the industry within weeks, he said. It will guide journalists and allow the industry to be self regulating while upholding its mandate to be the ears and eyes of the community.
