Ben Bohane: China? No, let’s face the elephant in the Pacific room
BRIEFING: By Ben Bohane in Port Vila China … China … China … All the talk is of increasing Chinese influence in our region. But this is to wilfully see past the elephant in the room. Contrary to most commentary, the biggest destabilising player in Melanesia over the past five years is not China but […]
Read More →Baseless rumours: why talk of Chinese military base in Vanuatu misses point
How the Vanuatu Daily Post reacted to the Australian “news” of a possible Chinese military base plan. Image: VDP BRIEFING: By Dan McGarry in Port Vila The “news” this week that Vanuatu was to be the site of a Chinese military base caught most people by surprise. Government officials with detailed knowledge of relevant matters […]
Read More →France committed to backing ePOP Pacific climate storytelling
French Ambassador to Fiji Sujiro Seam takes a selfie with ePOP participants at the University of the South Pacific last week. Image: Wansolwara News By Elizabeth Osifelo in Suva The French government is committed to the fight against climate change in the Pacific and hopes programmes such as the eParticipatory Observers Project (ePOP) will shed […]
Read More →Why data power of social media giants like Facebook troubles human rights
By Sarah Joseph in Melbourne Facebook has had a bad few weeks. The social media giant had to apologise for failing to protect the personal data of millions of users from being accessed by data mining company Cambridge Analytica. Outrage is brewing over its admission to spying on people via their Android phones. Its stock […]
Read More →Asia-Pacific media must ‘empower people’ on climate action, says PMC
Apriline Widani of the Centre for Southeast Asia Social Studies (CESASS) at the Universitas Gadjah Mada talks to the Pacific Media Centre director Professor David Robie about climate change, the media and the Bearing Witness project in Fiji. Video: CESASS Pacific Media Watch Newsdesk News media need to empower people over climate change and to […]
Read More →Rainbow Warrior takes on fresh eco mission to Papua, Indonesia
By Astari Pinasthika Sarosa in Jakarta The Greenpeace flagship Rainbow Warrior is sailing throughout Indonesia – including West Papua – as a vehicle for environmental campaigns. Rainbow Warrior has often sailed to remote areas to directly see the environmental issues in the region and immediately act against its destruction. Recently in the Philippines, this is […]
Read More →NZ Foreign Minister questions China’s influence in the Pacific
Foreign Minister Winston Peters flags a stronger NZ Pacific aid policy and prime ministers Jacinda Ardern and Malcolm Turnbull discuss New Zealand and Australia friendship and differences in policies. Video: Qldaah/ABC New Zealand’s Foreign Minister Winston Peters has again hinted the Ardern government may exit China’s One Belt One Road initiative as Wellington “resets” its […]
Read More →Sounds of Caribbean planned for Auckland’s first steelband festival
Pacific Media Centre Newsdesk Auckland’s popular Silo Park will come alive to the sounds of the Caribbean next week. Part of the Summer at Silo Park events, the Aotearoa-New Zealand Steelband Festival on Saturday, February 24, will bring together seven local steelbands and feature two special guest steelbands from Australia. It is the first event […]
Read More →RSF condemns new gagging threats to outspoken Philippine media outlets
The National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) is now organising regular “Black Friday” demonstrations in support of media outlets that have been the victims of government hostility. Image: RSF Pacific Media Watch Newsdesk Kodao Productions, a Philippine alternative news website, is still down after being the target of a cyber-attack six days ago […]
Read More →A timely climate media strategy to empower citizens
BOOKS: By David Robie, editor of Pacific Journalism Review At the time of reviewing this important and timely book, Hurricane Irma had just ripped a trail of unprecedented destruction from Antigua, Barbuda and Saint Barthélemy in the eastern Caribbean to Florida with at least 81 deaths. Florida involved one of the largest mass evacuations in […]
Read More →Latest France rugby crisis sparks sense of deja vu for Les Bleus
Just as they did in Frédéric Michalak in 2001, France have put faith in a teenager who can act as a shining light at a time when darkness surrounds Les Bleus – Matthieu Jalibert. Image: L’Equipe By Jack De Menezes in Paris French rugby is going through a difficult period. The national team lacks direction, […]
Read More →Michael Powles: ‘Recolonising’ the Pacific would stir security backlash
Australian Foreign Policy White Paper … “Opportunity, Security, Strength” but a step too far for New Zealand. Image: Aust govt ANALYSIS: By Michael Powles with Anna Powles Australia’s recent Foreign Policy White Paper says that Australia’s approach in the region will focus on “helping to integrate Pacific countries in the Australian and New Zealand economies […]
Read More →Why is Israel so afraid of 16-year-old Palestinian girl Ahed Tamimi?
OPINION: By Ariel Gold and Taylor Morley Sixteen-year-old Ahed Tamimi was back in court last Thursday, with the judge ruling for the third time that her detention be extended – this time for another five days. Over the past week and a half, Ahed has been shuffled between numerous Israeli prisons and police stations. She […]
Read More →Glittering time at Toulouse, but Novès’ sacking smacks of scapegoating
Guy Novès … “his sacking smacks of scapegoating … after two decades of terrific rugby his Toulouse teams gave to us all.” Image: NewsDuJour TRIBUTE: By former Planet Rugby editor Danny Stephens Not three hours had passed since last week’s message from Queen Elizabeth II said she was “…hoping that they [the French] rediscover their […]
Read More →Murray Horton: Independent foreign policy? Fine words, but not reality
OPINION: By Murray Horton The Aotearoa Independence Movement (AIM) congratulates Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern for explicitly defying President Trump’s bullying in relation to New Zealand’s United Nations vote against the US declaration of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. She went on to say that “New Zealand has, and always has had, an independent foreign policy“. Fine […]
Read More →True Christmas story: What history really tells us about the birth of Jesus
Your average Christmas card featuring a peaceful nativity scene bears little resemblance to what happened in that “first Christmas”. Image: Lifesite News ANALYSIS: By Robyn J. Whitaker in Melbourne I might be about to ruin your Christmas. Sorry. But the reality is those nativity plays in which your adorable children wear tinsel and angel wings […]
Read More →Australia, Pacific nations sidestep overwhelming UN vote on Jerusalem
Palestinians react to the Security Council vote on Jerusalem vetoed by the US earlier this week. Video: Al Jazeera Pacific Media Watch Newsdesk Australia and other Pacific nations did not join almost 130 countries in an overwhelming vote at the UN demanding the United States drop its recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, reports RNZ […]
Read More →RSF media freedom round-up for 2017 – 65 journalists killed, 326 in prison
Al Jazeera’s Neave Barker reports from London. Video: Al Jazeera/RSF Pacific Media Watch Newsdesk Reporters Without Borders has documented the number of journalists killed or jailed this year. It says Syria and Mexico are among the most dangerous places for reporters to work. Sixty percent of journalists killed are targeted because of their journalistic work. […]
Read More →Gideon Levy: New Zealand, one state for two nations
ANALYSIS: By Gideon Levy in Auckland Late-morning light bathed the landscape in bold colors. It’s early summer here, and the sun was already very strong, broiling. It’s also the season in which the pohutukawa trees burst into crimson blossoms along the roadside. The view from the heights of this Auckland suburb of Orakei is breathtaking, […]
Read More →Tributes flow for NZ’s Arab Spring journalist Yasmine Ryan
Yasmine Ryan … a “global” freelance journalist who died tragically in Turkey last month. Image: PMW Pacific Media Watch Newsdesk New Zealand journalist Yasmine Ryan, credited with being the first reporter writing in English about the Arab Spring from her base in Tunisia, has been farewelled at a funeral held in Auckland today, reports Stuff. […]
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