IKAT: The Indonesian Journal of Southeast Asian Studies Vol. 2, No.1, July 2018, pp. 119-146 ISSN 2580-6580, E-ISSN 2597-9817

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AsiaPacificReport:ANewZealandNonprofitJournalismModelforCampus-BasedSocialJusticeMedia

DavidRobie1

Abstract

For nine years, the Pacific Media Centre research and publication unit at AucklandUniversityofTechnologyhaspublishedjournalismwithan‘activist’edgetoitsstyleofreportage raising issues of social justice in New Zealand’s regional backyard. It hasachievedthisthroughpartnershipswithprogressivesectionsofnewsmediaandanon-profitmodelofcriticalandchallengingassignments forpostgraduatestudents in thecontextofcoups,civilwar,climatechange,humanrights,sustainabledevelopmentandneo-colonialism. An earlier Pacific Scoop venture (2009-2015) hasmorphed into aninnovative venture for the digital era, Asia Pacific Report (APR)(http://asiapacificreport.nz/), launched in January 2016. Amid the current globalclimateof controversyover ‘fakenews’anda ‘waron truth’anddeclining credibilityamongsomemainstreammedia,theAPRprojecthasdemonstratedonmanyoccasionsthevalueofindependentnichemediaquestioningandchallengingmainstreamagendas.Inthisarticle,aseriesofcasestudiesexamineshowthecollectiveexperienceofcitizenjournalism, digital engagement and an innovative public empowerment journalismcoursecandevelopauniqueonlinepublication.Thearticletraversessomeoftheregion’sthorny political and social issues—including the controversial police shootings ofstudentsinPapuaNewGuineainJune2016.

Keywords:AlternativeMedia,CampusMedia,CitizenJournalism,DigitalEngagement,IndependentJournalism

1ProfessorofJournalismandCommunicationStudiesandDirectorofthePacificMediaCentreintheSchool of Communication Studies, AucklandUniversityof Technology,NewZealand.He is also thefounding editor of thePacific JournalismReview research journal, editor ofAsia Pacific Report andconvenerofthePacificMediaWatchfreedomproject.Heistheauthorofseveralmediaandpoliticsbooks,includingMekimNius:SouthPacificMedia,PoliticsandEducation(UniversityoftheSouthPacific,2004)andDon’tSpoilMyBeautifulFace:Media,MayhemandHumanRightsinthePacific(LittleIslandPress,2014).Co-winnerofthe2015AMICAsianCommunicatorsAward,hewasaparticipantintheWorld Class Professor (WCP) program in partnership with CESASS, Universitas Gadjah Mada.Correspondinge-mail:david.robie@aut.ac.nz

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Introduction

Oneoftheironiesofthedigitalrevolutionisthatthereisanillusionofgrowing

freedomofexpressionandinformationintheworld,wheninfactoftenthereverseis

true.Thesearebleaktimeswithgrowingnumbersofjournalistsbeingmurderedwith

impunity,fromthePhilippinestoSomaliaandSyria.Theworld’sworstmasskillingof

journalistswastheso-calledMaguindanao,orAmpatuanmassacre(namedafterthe

townwhosedynasticfamilyorderedthekillings),when32journalistswerebrutally

murderedinthePhilippinesinNovember2009(Lingao,2010).

But increasingly savage slayings in the name of terrorism are becoming the

norm.InearlyAugust2015,fivemaskedjihadistsarmedwithmachetesenteredthe

DhakahomeofasecularistbloggerinBangladeshandhackedoffhisheadandhands

while his wife was forced into a nearby room. According to the New York-based

CommitteetoProtectJournalists,506journalistswerekilledinthedecadebetween

2002and2012,almostdoublethe390slaininthepreviousdecade(Robie,2015b).

(BothReportersSansFrontières[RSF]andFreedomHousealsoreportedescalating

deathtollsanddeclines inmedia freedomin2016).ThemostrecentRSFreport in

April2018warnedthata‘hatredofjournalism’wasthreateningdemocracies,andwas

highlycriticalofChina’sincreasinglyauthoritarianmediainfluenceintheAsia-Pacific

region(RSF,2018).

Whilethereappearstobefarmoredemocraciesintheworldthaneverbefore,

thecommittee’sexecutivedirectorJoelSimonbelievesthereisasinisternewthreat.

Thisisinsomerespectsmoretroublesomethantheoldstyledictatorships.Simonhas

describedthisnewscourgeinTheNewCensorship:InsidetheGlobalBattleforPress

Freedomasthe‘democratators’,thoseleaderswhoprofesstobedemocraticbutare

actuallysubvertingtheirmirageofopengovernance(Simon,2015).

Whatarethesedifferencesbetweendictatorsanddemocratators?Dictatorsruleby force. Democratators rule by manipulation. Dictators impose their will.Democratatorsgovernwiththesupportofthemajority.Dictatorsdonotclaimtobedemocrats—atleastcredibly.Democratatorsalwaysdo.Dictatorscontrolinformation.Democratatorsmanageit.(Simon,2015,p.33)

Simonpointsoutthatdemocratatorswinelectionsyetwhiletheymaybefree,

theyarenotreallyfair,meaningtheyaredecidedbyfraud(ashasbeenwidelyalleged

intherecentcaseofPapuaNewGuineainJune2017)(Juffa,2017).Hehasagrowing

listofleadersthatfitthislabel,includingLatinAmerican‘populists’likeRafaelCorrea

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ofEquadorandDanielOrtegaofNicaragua,‘Europeanbacksliders’likeViktorOrban

ofHungary andViktor Yanukovych, the deposed former presidentofUkraine, and

African leaders such as Paul Kagame of Rwanda and Jacob Zuma of South Africa.

Undoubtedly,Fiji’sprimeministerVoreqeBainimaramaought tobeonthis list too

sincehavingbeenelectedinSeptember2014,endingeightyearsofmilitarybacked

dictatorship and providing a figleaf of legitimacy while continuing to manipulate

publicdebateandinformation(Robie,2016c).Anotherlistmembercouldarguablybe

PrimeMinisterPeterO’NeillofPapuaNewGuinea.Hispowerbasewasbeingtestedin

ageneralelectioninJune2017generalelectionafterhehadeffectivelyseizedcontrol

ofthecountrythroughanunprecedented‘constitutionalcoup’againsttheincumbent,

‘foundingfather’SirMichaelSomare,in2011(Pryke,2016).UsingtheCommitteeto

ProtectJournalists’criteria,theTrumpadministrationisalsobeingcondemnedforthe

alleged ‘fake news’ and ‘waron truth’ campaign and threats against amainstream

mediaalreadysufferingfromperceptionsofdecliningcredibility(Kolhatkar,2017).

Factsaretheenemyofcharlatansandconartists,henceTrump’sadviserandcampaignchairKellyanneConway’sofferof‘alternativefacts’(Bradner,2017)inthefaceofrealonesonthesizeofInaugurationDaycrowdsinWashington,DC.InTrump’smilieu,bonafidenewsreportsareconsidered‘fakenews’,whileConway’s lies (and those of the president) are simply ‘alternative facts’.(Kolhatkar,2017)

TheissueshighlightedbySimonaretosomedegreereflectedintheevolutionof

somejournalismprogrammesintheAsia-Pacificregion.Fortwodecades,[theauthor

has]beenaninitiatorofaseriesofindependentnewspapersbasedinprominentSouth

Pacific journalism programmes hosted at four universities in Australia, Fiji, New

ZealandandPapuaNewGuinea.Allofthepublicationshaveplayedan‘activist’rolein

raising issues of social justice and campaigning for more critical and challenging

assignments for student media in the context of coups, civil war, climate change,

developmentandneo-colonialism.Theyhavebeenbastionsoffreespeechandpublic

discourse,eventothepointofthreateneddeportationinthecaseofFijiforteaching

investigativejournalism(Robie,2003).

Allofthepublicationshavewonawardsfortheirbrandofjournalism.Starting

with the University of Papua New Guinea’s Uni Tavur in 1994 and the Sandline

mercenarycrisis,whenthenPrimeMinisterSirJuliusChanwasforcedoutofoffice,

themodelshaveprogressedthroughWansolwaraattheUniversityoftheSouthPacific

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(award-winning coverage of the 2000 George Speight attempted coup), to Pacific

ScoopforsixyearsatAucklandUniversityofTechnologywithextensivecoverageof

humanrightsviolations inFijiandWestPapua.ThePacificScoopventurehasnow

morphed into a new and distinctive independent venture for the digital era, Asia

PacificReport(http://asiapacificreport.nz/)launchedinJanuary2016.Inthisarticle,

aseriesofcasestudiesexamineshowthecollectiveexperienceofcitizenjournalism,

digitalengagementandaninnovativepublicempowermentjournalismcoursebased

at AUT’s Pacific Media Centre has developed a unique publication. This initiative

engageswiththeevolvingtheorybehindthepublications(Robie,2004a,2004b,2006,

2012, 2014c) such as reflected in Deliberative Journalism (DJ), Human Rights

Journalism(HRJ)andothermodels(Hackettetal.,2017;Nash,2016;Romano,2011;

Shaw,2011).

JournalismasCampus-BasedIndependentPublishing

OneofthemostinnovativejournalistsandmediaacademicsintheAsia-Pacific

regiontosuccessfullyintegrateinvestigativejournalism,journalism-as-researchand

independentcommunityjournalismwithanacademicprogrammeisWendyBacon,a

now retired professor of journalism at the University of Technology Sydney and

formerdirectoroftheAustralianCentreforIndependentJournalism(ACIJ).Shewrites

forNewMatildaandotherindependentmedia.Inoneofherearlierprogressivepapers

critiquing twenty-five years of journalism education and research in the academy,

Baconarticulatedhowjournalismeducationandresearchhadslowlywonacceptance

within thebroaderacademic fieldbut thatmany journalistshad felt ‘undervalued’

withinhumanitiesorsocialsciencefaculties(Bacon,2006).

It is ironical—and a sad statement about the declining status ofmainstream

journalism in Australia and New Zealand—that UTS in early 2017 announced the

closureoftheCentreaftera‘significantcontributiontojournalismand[as]astrong

advocate for the public right to know and the role of journalism in strengthening

democracy’ (Spongberg, 2017). An internal UTS memorandum on March 28 to

academicstaffacknowledged:

In itsover twenty-five-yearhistory,ACIJ collaborated inmajor investigationswith a wide range of media outlets and was involved in both national andinternational research collaborations such as the Global Environmental

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Journalism Initiative (via the Erasmus Mundus program overseen by theEuropeanCommission).(Ibid.)

Other ground-breaking investigations and analysis involved the reporting of

climatepolicyandclimatescienceinthemediabyBacon,andacelebratedstudyofthe

reporting of the 2011 News of the World phone hacking scandal in Australian

newspapers.More recently, key inquiries includedmedia reportingof the casesof

forensicpatients,withaBackgroundBriefingexposéforABCRadioNational(Bacon&

Nash,2017).

Baconhas ledbyexample inexaminingandpioneeringways that journalism

itself ‘might be regarded as research’ in academic context through establishing

research-based journalism projects (see for example her 2011 study for the ACIJ

auditing how tenAustralianmainstreamnewspapers reportedon a tense political

debateovercarbonpolicyinthecountry.Shefoundnumerousexamplesof ‘hostile’

mediacampaigningagainstthepolicyratherthanreportingandanalysingitandalso

misrepresenting climate change in defiance of a global consensus (Bacon, 2011).

Eventually, she and I established a ‘Frontline’ section in the New Zealand-based

journalPacific Journalism Review in 2012 to showcase examples of journalism-as-

research(Robie,2015b).IntheMayeditionthatyear,wepublishedtwoinvestigative

journalism articles with exegeses about nickel mining in New Caledonia and the

Freeport gold and copper mine in Indonesia’s most easternmost province Papua

(Abplanalp,2012;Gooch,2012).BaconfollowedthisupinthenexteditionofPJRwith

a theoreticalrationale for theneweditorialsection,explainingthat the journalhad

alwaysbeenconcernedtolink‘robustandinformedjournalism’withmediaresearch

that contributed to social development in the broader community, the media

industriesandinsidetheacademy(Bacon,2012).

This provided an impetus for the publicationof university-based radical and

independentmedia.AColumbiaJournalismReviewanalysisofthe‘transformation’of

Americanjournalismflaggedanerawherethedominanceofestablishedandlegacy

newsmediaandnetworkswasrapidlygivingwaytoarupturedandwidelydispersed

gathering and distribution of news through digital media and connective media

networks. The fundamental question being asked by the authors, Downie and

Schudson,wasthatofhowtocounterthethreattoindependentreportingthathad

been providing ‘information, investigation, analysis and community knowledge’ in

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bothlocalandglobalaffairs(Downie&Schudson,2009).Suchquestionshavebeen

similarlyaddressedby,amongothers,inNewZealandpoliticaleconomistGeoffKemp,

and inAustralia journalismresearchmethodologyadvocateChrisNash inhis2016

bookWhat is Journalism? and cultural studies theoristGraemeTurner inhis 2016

bookReinventingtheMedia.Bothtitleswerepublishedin2016.

Downie and Schudson (2009) acknowledged that many universities in the

UnitedStateswerepublishingthereportingofstudentjournalists‘onthestates,cities,

andneighbourhoods’wherethecampuseswerelocated.Frequently,thestudentwork

in journalismclassesandnewsserviceswassupervisedbyprofessional journalists

employed by the faculties. Sometimes the student work is published by the

universities’ownmedia,atothertimesitispublishedbyindustrymediaseekingto

supplementtheirowncoverage,occasionallyforapublishingfee.Amongthebetter

known US university daily newspapers is the Columbia Missourian

(www.columbiamissourian.com),whichhasbeenpublishingsincetheUniversityof

Missourijournalismschoolwasopenedin1908.TheGraduateSchoolofJournalismat

the University of California at Berkeley with local news outlets and the Walter

Cronkite School of Journalism at Arizona StateUniversity in Phoenix and its high-

profileCronkiteNewsService(cronkiteneww.jmc.asu.edu)areamongothers.Downie

andSchudsonnote:

Universitiesarealsobecominghomes for independentnonprofit investigativereportingprojectsstartedbyformernewspaperandtelevisionjournalists.Someare run by journalists on their faculties,while others, such asTheWatchdogInstitute at San Diego State University, are independent nonprofits that useuniversity facilitiesandworkwith facultyandstudents. (Downie&Schudson,2009)

Whilethismayseemratherencouragingforindependentcampus-basedmedia,

andDownieandSchudsoncitemanysuccessfulexamplesandmodels,thereisalsoa

downside to this development. Jonathan Peters has cautioned in the Columbia

Journalism Review that at the time of writing at least four university newspaper

advisershadbeenstrippedfromtheirrolesorfacedtheirpositionsbeingcurbedor

axedaltogether(Peters,2015).Hewarnedthatthisdevelopmentwasraisingconcerns

among independentmedia advocates about the survival of some university-based

publications.

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“Twoofthecaseshavepromptedlawsuits,andoneoftheformeradvisershasfiledagrievance.Atoneschool,theentirejournalismprogramwascancelledandfundingtoprintthestudentnewspaperwasslashed”(Peters,2015).

PeterscitedFrankLoMonte,executivedirectoroftheStudentPressLawCenter,

which provides legal and material support for student editors and journalists, as

saying:“It’saperfectstormoffinancialstressforcollegesanduniversities…Andthe

localconditionsareripeforcensorshipandretaliation”(ascitedinPeters,2015).

Atthetimeofwriting,theNewZealandmediaindustryhasclaimedtobeindire

straits,afterfailingtowrestafavorableverdictfromtheCommerceCommissionon

anapplicationfromthetwolargestnewspaperchainsinthecountry,NZMediaand

Entertainment(NZME)andFairfaxMedia,tomerge(CommerceCommission,2016).If

theyhadsucceededintheirbidtoput90percentownershipofprintmediaunderthe

umbrellaofasinglecompany,thepluralityofmediainthecountrywouldhavebeen

seriously undermined with untold damage to representative democracy. The

Commissiondeclaredinitsrulingon3May2017thatamergedidentitywouldhave

had‘directcontrolofthelargestnetworkofjournalistsinthecountry’,oneemploying

more editorial staff than the next three largest mainstream media organizations

combined.Includingitsradionetwork,themergedentitywouldhavea‘monthlyreach

of3.7millionNewZealanders’:“Thismergerwouldconcentratemediaownershipand

influence to an unprecedented extent for a well-established modern liberal

democracy”(CommerceCommission,2017).

AccordingtooneofNewZealand’sleadinginvestigativejournalists,NickyHager,

whoco-authoredthe2017bookHit&Runallegingacover-upofanSASatrocityin

Afghanistan in 2010 that killed six civilians, including a three-year-old girl, and

wounded15,theprevioustwoyearshadbeenaturningpointforthemedia(Hager&

Stephenson,2017).Theseyears,hesays,mayberememberedasmomentwhenNew

Zealand newsmedia stopped being able to carry out their Fourth Estate function

(Hager,2017).

2015wastheyearwhenTV3slashedseriouscurrentaffairsandinvestigativejournalism.ThesamehappenedatMāoriTelevision:twooutofthreemajorTVchannels at once, bothwith a strong smell of political interference.The NewZealandHerald,whichuntilrecently,hadthebestarrayofcolumnists,mergedits news with Newstalk ZB radio, cutting various critical commentators andreplacingthemontheHeraldwebsitewiththeopinionsoftalkbackhosts.2016saw plans for the mega-merger of the two main private newspaper/media

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companies, a further great, panicked rationalization. Government-friendlymediacelebritiesincreasedindominance.Clickbaitwassoubiquitousthatitwasceasingtobeapejorativeterm.(Hager,2017)

ThisshrinkingmainstreammediapluralityinNewZealandprovidesacontext

for examining publication of campus-based media based at AUT’s Pacific Media

Centre, where student and faculty editorial staff have successfully established an

independent digital press over the past decade. I have been involved with four

university-basedjournalismpublicationsovertwodecadesaskeyadviser/publisher

in PapuaNewGuinea (Uni Tavur, 1993-1998); Fiji (Wansolwara, 1998-2002); and

Aotearoa/NewZealand(PacificScoop,2009-2015;AsiaPacificReport,2016onwards)

(seeFigure1),andalsowithapublicationinAustralia(Reportage,1996).Iwasalso

oneofthetwofoundinglecturersofTeWahaNuiandtheassociatedNewsProduction

course at AUT during 2003-2007 and I written extensively about this experience

elsewhere(Berney&Robie,2008;Robie,2006).

Figure1.PapuaNewGuineapoliceblockadingtheentrancetotheUniversityofPapuaNewGuinea,wheretheaward-winningUniTavurwaspublishedandwhereAsiaPacificReport

hasanetworkofcorrespondents.(Source:UniTavur)

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TheAsiaPacificReportPublishingEthosInmid-2007, thePacificMediaCentreOnlinewasestablishedas theumbrella

website for AUT’s Pacific Media Centre in providing independent research tools,

publications and resources for the region (www.pmc.aut.ac.nz). It also initially

became the publication outlet for students on the postgraduate Asia-Pacific

JournalismStudiespaper,establishedthatyearasthefirstcourseofitskindatany

New Zealand university. The PMC Online website was closely associated with the

Pacific Journalism Review research journal’s website (www.pjreview.info) and the

Pacific Media Watch monitoring service and database

(www.pacmediawatch.aut.ac.nz)(Robie,2014a).

BoththePMCandScoopMediaLtd, collaborated to launchPacific Scoop as a

specialistnewsandanalysisoutletcoveringtheSouthPacificregion.Itwasalsoboth

an educational outlet and a publication open to contributing academics and

journalists.Catering for thisniche fieldwasacollaborativeeffortof thenScoopco-

editorSelwynManningandme.InAugust2009,thepartnershipbetweenthePMCand

theScoopMediagroupresultedinthelaunchofPacificScoopasajointcollaborative

publicationattheAUTMāoriExpo.Thiswasararedevelopmentbetweenanindustry

mediagroupandanacademicinstitution.

By late2015, themedia scapearoundPacific Scoop had changed.Co-founder

SelwynManninghadresignedasco-editorin2011andconcludedhisroleonScoop

Media’sboardinthesameyear.Throughhisnewindependentcompany,Multimedia

InvestmentsLtd,Manning founded in2012security-intelligenceanalysissite36th-

Parallel.com, open-source intelligence sites ForeignAffairs.co.nz, LiveNews.co.nz,

NewsKitchen.eu and de.Newskitchen.eu. In 2013, he co-founded the popularDaily

Blog,whichrecruitedanever-growingstableofprogressiveandleftistcolumnistsand

commentatorsandcollaboratedwithRadioWaateatoofferNewZealand’sonlydaily

current affairs television program, the half-hour Fifth Estate. In 2014, Manning

foundedandlaunchedEveningReport.nzwhichcombinesreportageandanalysiswith

publicinterestwebcasting.

ThePacificMediaCentrehadbythenstartedtoseekanewplatform.Anactive

digitalcollaborationwithLittleIslandPresspublisherTonyMurrowtoproducethe

microsite‘EyesofFire:30YearsOn’,anextensionofthe30thanniversaryeditionof

mybook,EyesofFire(Robie,2015a)abouttheRainbowWarriorbombinginJuly1985,

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wasakeyfactorinthepioneeringnewventure.Weproducedaseriesoforalhistories

by some fortyAUT journalismand televisionstudents.A subsequentmeetingwith

SelwynManningconfirmedourdecisiontopressaheadwithestablishingAsiaPacific

Report.Reflectingonthe2009 launchofPacificScoop,Manningarguesthat ‘itwas

quiteasuccessfuleffortatbrandinganicheservice’,buthecautionedthatperhapsit

benefitted strongly from being attached to Scoop (Selwyn Manning, personal

communicationwiththeauthor,6July2016).

MultimediaInvestmentsLtd,theparentcompanytoEveningReport.nz,ownsor

partownsanetworkofcomplementarynewsoutlets,eachoccupyingaspecificniche,

andcumulativelyexportingmorethan30,000published itemspermonthtoglobal

aggregationcompanies.ThenonprofitjointventurebetweenMultimediaInvestments

LtdandthePacificMediaCentre’sAsiaPacificReportplugsthewebsite’s‘Asia-Pacific-

rich’contentintothisnetworkandenablesittoachieveconsiderablereach,adding

valuetothereadershippotentialtoeachitempublished(Figure2).InMay2018,the

publicbroadcasterRadioNewZealandannouncedacontentsharingagreementwith

thePacificMediaCentreandAsiaPacificReport inrecognitionofthemasa‘natural

partner’inAsia-Pacificnewsandcurrentaffairscoverage(RNZ,2018).

Figure2.AnAsiaPacificReportfrontpageonlinefeaturingWaitangiDay;corruptionin

PapuaNewGuinea,theCatholicChurchcondemningPhilippinesPresidentDuterte’s‘reignofterror’whichhasalreadyledto7600assassinationsinsevenmonths;andAustraliaand

Indonesiadiscussingcyber-securitybutfailingtoaddressWestPapua.(Source:APR,6February2017)

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Establishing this opportunity of reach and the opportunity to create a

contemporary online environment where the PMC and AUT Asia-Pacific students

developtheirprofessionalandpolitical talentswasakey factordrivingAsiaPacific

Reportwithinarichlearningenvironment.Ourwebsitepolicydeclaredthatthefocus

wasstudentsreportingon‘arangeofAsia-Pacificissuesrangingfromclimatechange

andtheenvironmenttoeducationandhealthtopolitics,media,lawsocialjusticeand

sustainablebusiness’(AboutAsiapacificreport.nz,n.d.).TheNewZealandreportageis

inpartnershipwithstudentsat theUniversityofSantoTomas,Philippines,andthe

UniversityoftheSouthPacific,Fiji.Thecoreobjectives:

1. [Providing]anindependentAsia-Pacificvoicetellingtheuntoldstories2. [Providing]aneducationalmediaresourceboostingthequalityonregional

reporting3. Addressingjusticeforthemarginalized,and4. ProvidingAsia-Pacificjournalisminternships

Figure3.AnAsiaPacificReportfrontpageonlinefeaturingtheBattleofMarawiCityinMindanaointhesouthernPhilippines;acontroversial‘battleofPagaHill’indigenouslandrightsstruggledocumentary;closureofacanneryinAmericanSamoa;andPapuaNewGuineapoliceopeningacommunicationscommandcentrefortheJune2017general

election.(Source:APR,29May2017)

What doesAsia-Pacific Report offer that had not already been part ofPacific

Scoop?Thenewventurehasafarstrongerandmoreradical‘Asia-Pacific’contentmix

with wider and more relevant Asia content, especially human rights, with the

occasional piece, usually analysis, that is truly global. In one year thewebsite has

climbed to a monthly audience of more than 23,000. Among the more successful

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audiencereachesinthepasteighteenmonthsofpublishingwasduringthePhilippines

presidential electionon 9May 2016whenAsia PacificReport ran a live feed from

Rappler in Manila (with the anchor page having 1786 views that day) (LIVE:

#PHVote2016, 2016). Between the 2006 and 2012 national census, the Filipino

diasporacommunity inNewZealandmorethandoubled from15,285to37,302. In

2013, 40,350 people claimed Filipino ethnicity (Story: Filipinos, n.d.). Asia Pacific

Reporthasalsorunseveralinsightfularticlesaboutthetough-talkingpresident-elect

RodrigoDuterte.ThiswasbothbeforehewassworninonJune30andsincethen,as

thenumberof‘warondrugs’extrajudicialkillingshasreachedmorethan7800people

andmartiallawhasbeendeclaredonthesouthernislandofMindanaointheso-called

‘BattleofMarawiCity’againstjihadistrebels(Robie,2016a)(seeFigure3).

ThelargestaudienceforasingleAsiaPacificReportstoryhasbeen7540on15

March2017aboutanattackoutsideacourtroomonayoungwomanreporterworking

forthestate-runFijiBroadcastingCorporation(Figure4).ReporterPraneetaPrakash

was‘shootingfootageofamansentencedinacorruptionrelatedcaseinSuvawhena

remandprisonerbeingescortedbypolicetothecellblockthrewastoneatherwhich

struckherstomach’(Vacala,2017).Theassault tookplaceunderthegazeofpolice

officerswhodidnothing.

Figure4.PresenterAmritaSagaroftheFijiBroadcastingCorporationNewsnarratesthe

attackonreporterPraneetaPrakash.(Source:AsiaPacificReportembeddednewsbulletin,15March2017)

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DiscussionofCaseStudiesThefollowingsectionssketchshortcasestudiesofsomeoftheexemplarissues

duringAsiaPacificReport’sstart-upyear.Theyaretypicalexamplesofcoverageonthe

websiteanddemonstrateissuesthatarerarelyinthemainstreamNewZealandmedia

discourse,evenwhentheyhavebeenadoptedinaglobalmediascape.Sincethelast

weekof January2016withthelaunchofAsiaPacificReportbyPacificCooperation

FoundationchairmanLauluMacLeauanae,thewebsitehasprojectedastrongclimate

changeandenvironmentalfocus.

Case 1: February-March 2016: De Brum, Nuclear Zero Lawyers and ClimateChange

Thewebsite’sfirststorytoreach2000views,shortlyafterbeinglaunched,was

anexclusivereportaboutMarshall IslandsForeignMinisterTonydeBrumandthe

NorthernPacificrepublic’slegalteamNuclearZerobeingnominatedforaNobelPeace

Prize for their ‘courageous step’ in filing lawsuits against the nine nuclear nations

(Archer,2016).AshighlightedinanewdocumentarybyJohnPilger,TheComingWar

withChina,theUnitedStatestested60nuclearbombsintheMarshallIslands,23of

thematBikiniAtoll,and‘vaporised’threeislets(Pilger,2016).Theywerenominated

bytheOslo-basedInternationalPeaceBureau,which isdedicatedtothevisionofa

worldwithoutwarandisitselfaNobelPeaceLaureate.In2015,TonydeBrumwas

oneofthefourwinnersoftheRightLivelihoodAward,alsoknownasthe‘Alternative

NobelPrize’.ThepeopleoftheMarshallIslandswerejointrecipients.Asanine-year-

oldboy,deBrumwitnessedthe‘greatest-everHellfireignitedbytheUSA’—theCastle

Bravo bomb, one thousand times more powerful than the Hiroshima bomb and

detonatedin1954(deBrum,2015).Hehasdedicatedmuchofhislifeto‘banningall

nuclearweaponsandfightingglobalwarming’.Condemningtheexistenceof16,000

nuclear warheads, he says: ‘we are witnesses as nuclear nations modernize and

expand their arsenals…There canbeno rightof ‘unlimitedpossession’ (deBrum,

2015).DeBrumandNuclearZerodidnotsucceedinwinningeithertheNobelofthe

lawsuits,buttheywonaremarkableglobalmoralvictory(AFP,2016).

BetweenFebruary15-17,AsiaPacificReport comprehensivelycoveredthe ‘In

theEyeoftheStorm’climatechangeconferenceinWellington,particularlythrough

the work of a freelance journalist, Thomas Leaycraft, in collaboration with Scoop

Media(Leaycraft,2016).InApril,thePacificMediaCentredispatchedtwojournalists,

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TJAumuaandAmiDhabuwala, toFiji in themid-semesterbreak toworkwith the

University of the South Pacific’s Centre for the Environment and Sustainable

Development(PaCE-SD)toresearchandreportona‘BearingWitness’climatechange

assignment.Aspartofthisproject,theyvisitedavillage,Daku,intheRewaRiverdelta

and witnessed first-hand how the villagers have been empowered by adaptation

strategies(FijiReport-BearingWitness,2016).Theprojectcontinued inApril2017

withAsiaPacificReportdispatchingKendallHuttandJulieCleavertotheremoteViti

LevuislandvillageofTukuraki,whichisbeingrelocatedbythegovernmentafterbeing

destroyedsuccessivelybytwocyclonesandalandslide(Hutt&Cleaver,2017).

Case2:KilmanGovernmentvsVanuatuDailyPostonAirSafety

Meltek Sato Kilman, a francophone, was a compromise prime minister in

Vanuatu inearly2016,havingbeenelected in June2015barelyaweekafterbeing

sackedasforeignminister.FormerprimeministerVanua’akuPatiJoeNatumanwas

oustedinano-confidencevote,largelyblamedonCyclonePam,whichdevastatedthe

country inMarch, and thegovernment’s failure to responddecisively.The country

dependsheavilyonitstourismindustry,withatleast65percentofgrossdomestic

productearnedthroughthissector.LessthanayearafterCyclonePam,Vanuatuand

its troubled tourism industry faced a crisis over aviation safety. After theVanuatu

Daily Post reported a front page story on 27 January 2016 exposing a Port Vila

international airport safety issue, caretaker Prime Minister Kilman accused the

newspaperofbringinghis‘nameintodisrepute’,andof‘partisanbias’(CaretakerPM,

2016). Editorial director Dan McGarry rejected this attack and penned a fresh

editorial:

…[T]heaccusationthatwehavesomehowpoliticisedtheissueissimplyfalse.Theentirepieceisanargumentagainstpoliticisingthistopic.Yes,MrKilman’sgovernment ishardlytheonlyoneguiltyofplayingpolitical footballwiththelives ofour travellers.We agree on that point. The key point in the editorialwas:‘Threedifferentgovernments, threedifferentplans.That’snoway to runacountry.’(McGarry,2016)

RepublishingthiseditorialasanewsstoryincollaborationwithMcGarrymeant

thatthisitemwasthefirstonAsiaPacificReporttonudge2000views.Suchinterest

indicatedthatthisissuewasimportantfortheregionandwhileNewZealandmedia

onlyreportedAirNewZealandpullingout itsscheduled flights,AsiaPacificReport

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133

providedbroader,morenuancedcoverageaboutthepoliticsandmediafreedomand

freedominformationbehindthesafetyissues.Tenwell-informedarticlesontheissue

over the next few weeks concluded with a report on May 8 declaring that the

BauerfieldAirporthadbeen‘rehabilitated’anda‘newtourismera’wasbeingushered

in (Vanuatu airport, 2016). The Asia Pacific Report coverage was thanks to

collaborationwiththeVanuatuDailyPostandcontributionsbycitizenjournalistsand

socialmediathroughVanuatuDailyDigest.

Case3:May-June2016:UniversityUnrestinPapuaNewGuinea

HistorywasapparentlyrepeatingitselfinPapuaNewGuineaduringJune2016.

Someinternationalnewsmedia—notlocal—notablyTheGuardianAustralia,reported

onJune8thatfourstudentshadbeenkilledwhenpoliceopenedfireonthematthe

UniversityofPapuaNewGuinea(Davidson,2016).Thisfollowedthedeathsofthree

studentsinsimilarcircumstancesin2001.However,the2016reporteddeathswere

incorrect(Figure4).Whilesome23people—fourcritically—werereportedwounded

byhospitalauthorities,theyallsurvived.Inthesixweeksleadinguptotheshootings,

thehashtag#UPNG4PNGbecamea‘hot’twitterthemeasthecountry’suniversities

mounted a series of peaceful protests and class boycotts seeking to force Prime

MinisterPeterO’Neilltostepdownfromofficeinthefaceofpersistentallegationsof

corruption.Thestudentscited‘multiplecriminalinvestigationsagainsthim,attempts

toshutdownthepoliceforce’scorruptionunit,andpoorfiscalmanagement’(Pryke,

2016b). This climaxedwhen PNG police opened fire on a peaceful demonstration

when they failed to arrest the Student Representative Council president Kenneth

Rapa,andlateratUnitechonJune25whenoff-campus‘marauders’killedastudent

withbushknives(Kama,L.,2016).Studentsatthecountry’suniversities,particularly

UPNG,were the latest in a ‘long list of those in the firing line for denouncing the

leadership of Papua New Guinea’s seemingly impregnable Prime Minister Peter

O’Neill’(Kama,B.,2016).ThestudentswantedO’Neilltoresignandalsoforthepolice

commissionernottosuppressinvestigationsintocorruptionallegationsimplicating

theprimeminister.ThestudentshadbeenonstrikesincetheendofApriluntilfinally

thefrustratedUPNGadministrationabandonedtheacademicyearanddisbandedthe

SRC,strippingitofitscampusauthority(Aupong,2016).

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Figure5:HelenDavidson’sarticleinTheGuardianwronglyheadlined‘PapuaNewGuinea:fourstudentsreporteddeadafterpoliceopenfireonmarch’,8June2016.Thiswaswidely

rehashedinothernewsmedia.(Source:TheGuardian,8June2016)

However, in spite of the students’ persistent campaign, includingmounting a

lawsuit against the UPNGmanagement, and their historical track record of being

politicaldissidents,therewaslittlechancethatO’Neillwouldstepdown.Inananalysis

of the struggle in the Lowy Institute’sThe Interpreter andCafé Pacific, Australian

NationalUniversitylegalstudiesdoctoralcandidateBalKamaassessedtheirstrength.

Henotedhowtheyhadbeena‘powerfultoolforpoliticalactivismonnationalissues’

since Independence in1975. In1991,studentshadbecomeembroiled ina ‘violent

protestagainst thegovernment for increasingMPs’salary.Sixyears later,students

teamedupwiththePNGDefenseForceto‘protestagainsttheSandlinemercenariesin

theBougainville crisis’.They demanded the resignation of then PrimeMinisterSir

JuliusChan,whowithdrewthemercenariesandresigned.In2001,studentsprotested

against theprivatizationof stateassetsanda landmobilizationprogramme (LMP)

administered by Sir Mekere Morauta’s government. While Mekere withdrew the

policies, which had been part of aWorld Bank structural adjustment programme

(SAP)(Kama,B.,2016),thesuccesscameataseverepoliticalcost.Securityforceswere

accusedofhavingshotdeadthreestudents.

ThePNGConstitutionprovidesfortherighttoprotest,toholdpublicassembly,

andforfreedomofexpression.However,thesearequalifiedrights,meaningtheycan

berestrictedifitappearsthataprotestwouldcausedisharmonyandinstability.The

lawsweretightenedupafterthebloodyoutcomeinthe2001protestagainstMekere’s

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135

governmentwhen two youngUni Tavur student journalists gave testimony to the

Commission of Inquiry (Wakus, 2001). The 2016 protestswere essentiallywithin

universitycampusesbecauseoftherestrictionsandtheassociatedrisksintakingto

thestreets.IntheabsenceofreportingofthestudentsversusO’Neilldevelopmentsby

New Zealand media (apart from Radio New Zealand Pacific), Asia Pacific Report

extensivelycoveredtheunrestincollaborationwithdigitalmedia,suchasLoopPNG

andPNGToday,andcitizenjournalists,includingonesenioracademicstaffmemberat

UPNGwhosupplieduswithregularqualityimages(Images:Studentsaccused,2016).

Case4:June2016:SamoaObserverFront-pageSuicideControversy

InSamoanlanguage, thewordfa’afafine includestheprefix ‘Fa’a’,meaning ‘in

themannerof’,andfafinemeaning‘woman’(Milner,1966,p.52).This‘thirdgender’

iswell-acceptedinSamoancultureandtheyaretraditionallytrainedfromayoungage

todo‘women’sdailywork’inanAiga(Samoanfamilygroup)(Danielssonetal.,1978).

On19 June2016, theSundaySamoan editionof theSamoanObserver reported the

death of a young Samoan transgender woman in Apia on the front page. The

newspapershowedafull-lengthimageof20-year-oldJeanineTuivaiki’slifelessbody

hangingfromtheraftersinacentralApiachurchhall.Intheaccompanyingnewsstory,

thenewspapermisgenderedthetragicyoungwoman.Mountingpublicangeroverthe

newspaper’spublishingactionspreadtoNewZealandwithaprominenttrans-rights

campaigner, Phylesha Brown-Acton, condemning the coverage “I am absolutely

disgusted by the Samoa Observer and their front page photo of a young fa’afafine

woman,’ she said, describing the reporting as ‘completely inappropriate and

disrespectful”(Gato’aiteleSaveaSanoMalifa,2016).

Whereistherespectforthisyoungpersonandherfamily?Theuseofsuchanimagetosellnewspapersisthelowestformofsalestacticsandtheeditorandthereportershouldbeheldaccountableforsuchdegradingjournalism.(Ibid.)

TheSamoaObserver followedupwithan initial frontpageapologyonJuly20

headed‘Andifyou’reoffendedbyitstill,weapologise’thatcriticsregardedasself-

justification,andthispromptedfurtherwidespreadcriticismonsocialmedia.Finally,

editor-in-chiefGotoa’iteleSaveaSanoMalifawroteapersonalapology—hehadnot

beeninvolvedintheeditorialdecisiontopublishthefrontpageimageandstory—to

SamoaObserverreaderspublishedintheJuly21edition.‘Thetruthisthatlastweek,

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136

wemadeasadmistakewhenwepublishedastoryonthelateJeanineTuivaiki,onthe

frontpageoftheSundaySamoan.Wenowacceptthattherehasbeenaninexcusable

lapseofjudgmentonourpart,andforthatwearesincerelyregretful(SamoaObserver,

2016).

However, this sincere apology, along with Savea also pointing out that the

newspaperhadbeenastrongsupporteroftherightsofthefa’afafineovermanyyears,

did not stem the deluge of hostile letters and social media attacks. This situation

promptedKalafiMoala,chiefexecutiveoftheTaimi‘oTongagroupanddeputychair

of thePasifikaMediaAssociation(PasiMA), topenhisownpersonalmessage inan

attempttobringsomeperspectivebackintothedebate:‘Abrotherhasmadeaterrible

mistake.Hehas,however,takenresponsibilityforitandhasapologised.Thoseofus

whoareoffendedneed tooffer forgiveness in the spiritofPacific compassion, and

moveon.’

MoalaalsonotedhehadknownSaveaforalmost30years,anddescribedhimas

oneofthemostprofessionalandenduring journalists in thePacific.Saveahadalso

beensuccessfulinbuildinganewsorganisation,andadailypublicationthathad‘made

allofusPacificpeopleproud’.SamoaObserveralsohasacodeofethics,andSaveais

regardedasa‘passionateadvocate’forstrongnewsmediaethics.Moalaadded:

Reaction to the Sunday Samoan report has been largely fair, and reasonable.Mediaisoftentheharshestcriticofitself,butcriticismisusuallyleftwithaclose-endedcondemnationwithoutanysolutions.(KalafiMoala,2016)

AsiaPacificReporthadnosolutionseither,butratherthan joiningthe ‘blame

game’thatmanymediaindulgedin,stirringevengreateroffence,thisnewswebsite

anditssisterproject,PacificMediaWatch,attemptedtotreattheeditorialmistakeas

alearningexperienceandtoembedconstructivevideoresourcesandlinksavailable

toPacific journalists (Figure6).Pasifikamedia canplayakey role in leading ‘safe

messaging’ about reporting suicide to Pacific communities. In partnership with

PasifikamediainFebruary(LeVa,2016),launchedthe‘Pasifikamediaguidelinesfor

reportingsuicideinNewZealand’,awhiteboardvideoprovidinganoverviewofthe

guidelines.TheguidelinecanbedownloadedfromLeVa’swebsite(www.leva.co.nz).

Pasifika journalist Sandra Kailahi and twenty-three Pasifika media organisations

contributedtoco-developingtheguidelines.

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137

Figure6:LeVa’sPasifikamediaguidelines‘whiteboard’videoembeddedinAsiaPacificReport’sarticlesrelatedtotheSamoaObservertransgendersuicidecontroversy,June

2016.(Source:AsiaPacificReport,June2016)

Conclusion

Fewgenuinelyindependentnewspapers,especiallyprogressiveones,existinin

NewZealand.Forjournalismeducators,thismakesitdifficultforcoursefacilitatorsto

pointtosuccessfulalternativepublishingmodelsinanAntipodeancontext.However,

after the initial success of Pacific Scoop over six years, Asia Pacific Report has

outstrippeditspredecessorinbothaudiencereach,contentandqualityinjustovera

year.AnalystandcommentatorKeithJacksonwroteonhisauthoritativePNGAttitude

websitethatAsiaPacificReportwasmakingacontributiontotheregionatatimewhen

keystrategicissuesatstake.TheseincludedgreatpowerrivalrybetweenChinaand

theUnitedStates,climatechange,mineralsandagriculture,humandevelopmentand

a stable South Pacific areawhose componentnations could collaborate, share and

prosper.

Consideredagainstsuchabackdrop,andtheoverallfailureofnewsmediatopaymuch attention to this area, Asia Pacific Report offers an invaluable andindependentsourceofnewsandinformation…AndAsiaPacificReportpractiseswhatitpreaches.(Jackson,2017)

David Robie

138

Many issues that impact on Polynesia often have parallels in Melanesia and

SoutheastAsia.AsiaPacificReporthasbeenabletoembrace,advocate,andreporton

theentireregion,wherevertheneedforreportageandaradicalperspectivearises.

SignificantrelationshipshavebeenestablishedbetweenthePacificMediaCentreand

newmediaoutletsinSoutheastAsia.AsManningargues, ‘Animpressivenumberof

students have benefited from international internships in this sector. Asia Pacific

ReportreflectsthisinitsdigitalDNA’(Manning,2016).

However, how truly sustainable is this independentmodel? A campus-based

publicationofthisnotonlythrives,butdepends,onitspoolofcreative,dedicatedand

talentedstudents.Intermsofactualfunding,acurrentpostgraduatestudentorrecent

graduate,preferablywithanAsia-Pacificheritage,isemployedasacontributingeditor

forbetweentenandtwentyhoursaweek.Fundingforthisroleissharedbetweenthe

universityandexternal grants; this issupplementedwith royalties fromdatabases

andsaleofresearchbooksandpublicationsproducedbytheCentre.Itwouldbean

idealprojectforasponsorshipfromafoundation.

UnlikemostmediainNewZealandthathavealimitedinternationalfocus,Asia

PacificReportactuallyfocusesonmediacoverageandanalysisofthisregionwithan

impactfactorwithinNewZealand.Theriskfactorisalsomuchgreater,asaddressed

by Joel Simonwhile discussing the problemof ‘democratators’ and the ‘illusion of

democracy’intheintroductiontothisarticle.TheAUTAsiaPacificJournalismStudies

postgraduatepaperistheonlyinternationalstudiescourseofitskindinNewZealand.

InspiteoftheformerNational-ledgovernment’spolicytoinvestinSoutheastAsian

politicalorsocialcapitalaswellasbusiness(hence fundingbeingprovidedfor the

establishmentofaNZInstituteofPacificResearch inearly2016andaproposal to

establishacomparableSoutheastAsianStudiescentreofexcellencein2017),thereis

littleinterestinmainstreamNewZealandmedia.TheAsiaNewZealandFoundation

hasestablishedanAsianMediaCentretoprovideresourcesforNewZealandmedia

andAUTUniversityhasbecometheonlytertiaryinstitutiontoestablishanIndonesia

Centre,whichhasfosteredtheintroductionofBahasaIndonesialanguagecoursesand

is encouraging bettermedia coverage. The public broadcaster Radio New Zealand

Pacificprovidesexcellentcoverageofthemicro-statesoftheregion,butAsiaisnot

actuallypartofitsbrief.DevelopingneighbourTimor-Leste,whichhasstrongtieswith

thePacificaswellaswithAsia,isalsonotpartofRNZPacific’scoveragezone.

Asia Pacific Report

139

TheAsiaPacificReportinitiativeseesitselfasstrategicallypositioningitselfasa

primary provider of content—both text andmultimedia for the region, especially

wherehumanrightsandpeace journalismareconcerned. Indonesiahas frequently

figured among the top five audiences on Asia Pacific Report (usually behind New

Zealand,Australia,PapuaNewGuineaandtheUnitedStates),especiallyat timesof

strongWest Papuan coverage. At other times, Fiji, Papua New Guinea or Vanuatu

might rank in the top five. In onemonth (May 1916, at the height of the student

protestsagainstPrimeMinisterO’Neill),PapuaNewGuineawastop.

TheventureisuniqueintheNewZealandmediascapeandovertimeitshould

contributetoraisingissuesofsocialjusticeandprovidingabroader,moreprogressive

media education in the context of Pacific coups, civil war, climate change,

development,humanrightsandneo-colonialism.Itisanonprofitmodelthatcanbe

replicatedelsewhere.Increasingly,intheTrumperaof‘waronmedia’itisvitaltohave

publicationbrandsthatcanbetrusted.Universitymediaschoolshaveacrucialroleto

playinthis.

Acknowledgements

Theauthorhasinitiatedanddevelopedindependentstudent-drivenprogressive

pressandonlineAsia-PacificprojectsinAustralia,Fiji,NewZealandandPapuaNew

Guineaformorethantwodecades.Hewouldliketoacknowledgecolleaguesinvolved

inthevariousprojects,includingSelwynManningofEveningReport.nz,DrShailendra

Singh of the University of the South Pacific, and Dr Philip Cass, of Auckland, New

Zealand.Inaddition,hewouldliketothankcontributingpostgraduatestudentsonthe

Pacific Media Watch independent news project over the past decade, which has

includedIndonesiaandthePhilippines:TaberannangKorauaba,JosephineLatu,Alex

Perrottet,DanielDrageset,AnnaMajavu,AlistarKata,TJAumuaandKendallHutt.

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