Category: Media

Source: Pacific Media Centre

Headline: ‘A cloud over Bukidnon forest’ – the Lumad indigenous rights struggle in Mindanao – Analysis published with permission of PMC

THE MOOD in the chapel on the outskirts of Malaybalay, capital of Bukidnon province was somber. Six datu (chiefs) and several delegates of the indigenous tribal Lumad people of the region were airing their concerns about a controversial New Zealand-backed $5.7 million forestry aid project for the Philippines. Ironically, less than 100 metres away, in a derelict building nestling amid a plantation of benguet pines on land earmarked for the project, were living about 80 “squatters” who in a sense symbolised the problem at the root of the scheme. Squatters would be the term used by some New Zealand officials and their technical advisers. But it was hardly appropriate, and reflected the insensitivity to many of the social and economic problems in the province. The homeless people belonged to the Bukidnon Free Farmers and Agricultural Labourers’ Organisation, or Buffalo, as it was generally known. Their story was one of injustice, victimisation and harassment, only too common in the Philippines.

The opening two paragraphs of Chapter 14 in David Robie’s 2014 book Don’t Spoil My Beautiful Face: Media, Mayhem and Human Rights in the Pacific (Auckland: Little Island Press) summarising his investigation in 1989/1990 into the the controversial $6 million New Zealand forestry aid programme in Bukidnon province, Mindanao, Philippines with a series of articles published in The Dominion and the NZ Listener and other publications.

MIL OSI

Source: Pacific Media Centre

Headline: ‘Decolonize Oceania! Free Guåhan!’: Communicating resistance at the 2016 Festival of Pacific Arts – Analysis published with permission of PMC

It’s time we confronted the fact that, for nearly 400 years, the state of the island has also been colonial.  It is the unchanged and unrepentant shadow cast upon our unshackled destiny.  (Pacific Daily News, ‘Transcript of Gov. Calvo’s remarks during the annual State of the Island Address,’ March 31, 2016, http://www.guampdn.com.)

Guåhan (Guam) Governor Eddie Baza Calvo made these remarks during the annual State of the Island Address delivered on March 7, 2016.  His speech also mentioned issues such as: self-determination, the US military buildup plans for the island, and the 12th Festival of the Pacific Arts. Calvo’s speech focused on the Festival, held in Guåhan from May 22-June 4, 2016:

Over 3,000 Pacific artists will join ours in the world’s most beautiful display of solidarity, fellowship, and progress. This is a time for us, my dear people, to rediscover our roots and bond in the glory of our history and our customs.  Celebrate the talent and courage of Guam’s greatest thinkers and masters of our traditions. Discover just how brilliant this Pacific Ocean shines with the cultures and talents of islanders throughout.

Calvo’s words touch on colonialism, culture, history, and tradition.  Such discourse at once signals the specificity of the struggle for Guåhan to face and confront its colonial political status and ongoing militarization, while also marking FestPac as an event that would hold expansive possibilities for connecting the island with other peoples throughout Oceania. 

Oceania Resistance

Researcher profile

MIL OSI

Source: Pacific Media Centre

Headline: Tanah Papua, Asia-Pacific news blind spots and citizen media: From the ‘Act of Free Choice’ betrayal to a social media revolution – Analysis published with permission of PMC

For five decades Tanah Papua, or the West Papua half of the island of New Guinea on the intersection of Asia and the Pacific, has been a critical issue for the region with a majority of the Melanesian population supporting self-determination, and ultimately independence. While being prepared for eventual post-war independence by the Dutch colonial authorities, Indonesian paratroopers and marines invaded the territory in 1962 in an ill-fated military expedition dubbed Operation Trikora (‘People’s Triple Command’). However, this eventually led to the so-called Act of Free Choice in 1969 under the auspices of the United Nations in a sham referendum dubbed by critics as an ‘Act of No Choice’ which has been disputed ever since as a legal basis for Indonesian colonialism. A low-level insurgency waged by the OPM (Free West Papua Movement) has also continued and Jakarta maintains its control through the politics of oppression and internal migration. For more than five decades, the legacy media in New Zealand have largely ignored this issue on their doorstep, preferring to give attention to Fiji and a so-called coup culture instead. In the past five years, social media have contributed to a dramatic upsurge of global awareness about West Papua but still the New Zealand legacy media have failed to take heed. This article also briefly introduces other Asia-Pacific political issues—such as Kanaky, Timor-Leste, Papua New Guinean university student unrest, the militarisation of the Mariana Islands and the Pacific’s Nuclear Zero lawsuit against the nine nuclear powers—ignored by a New Zealand media that has no serious tradition of independent foreign correspondence.

Researcher profile

MIL OSI

Source: Pacific Media Centre

Headline: WPFD, Indonesia and media ‘open door’ to West Papua – Analysis published with permission of PMC

PACIFIC MEDIA CENTRE SEMINAR 3/2018:
WPFD, INDONESIA AND MEDIA ‘OPEN DOOR’ TO WEST PAPUA
As the world marks World Press Freedom Day on May 3, Pacific Media Centre’s director, Professor David Robie, talks about the challenges of “press freedoms” in the world’s most populous Muslim nation, Indonesia. David was one of only two New Zealanders among the 1500 global journalists, media policy makers and communication researchers present at the last WPFD conference in Jakarta last May. He was also a keynote speaker at the “Press Freedom in West Papua” seminar in Jakarta organised by the Papuan chapter of the Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI) in spite of attempts by local authorities to gag the issue at the conference. David also visited a progressive new research library founded by celebrated Australian author, researcher, activist and Indonesian affairs expert Max Lane in the cultural and educational city of Yogyakarta on this trip. he also spoke to Papuan university students at Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM) while he was in Yogya.

He will share his experiences and reflect on media freedom issues in Indonesia amid a disturbing and growing intolerance towards the secular traditions of the republic and the implications for West Papua.

David’s trip to WPFD was funded by the School of Communication Studies and he has had research papers published in Media Asia and other publications about the issues. David is editor of Pacific Journalism Review and Asia Pacific Report and convenor of Pacific Media Watch freedom project at AUT.

World Press Freedom Day 2018 in Ghana – ‘Keeping Power in Check’

An Indonesian oasis of progressive creativity emerges in culture city

Who: Professor David Robie, director of the Pacific Media Centre

When: May 3, 2018
4.30pm-6pm

Where: Sir Paul Reeves Building
Auckland University of Technology
City Campus
Room WG907

Contact: Professor Robie

Event on Facebook
 

MIL OSI

Source: Pacific Media Centre

Headline: Micronesian militarism – considering climate change – Analysis published with permission of PMC

PACIFIC MEDIA CENTRE SEMINAR 4/2018:
MICRONESIAN MILITARISM – CONSIDERING CLIMATE CHANGE
Pacific Media Centre’s postdoctoral research fellow, Dr Sylvia C Frain, explores the connections between climate change and United States (US) militarism in Micronesia and how both impact the daily life of Micronesians living in Hawai‘i. She is most interested in the everyday experience of Micronesians in relation to climate change and US militarisation from local perspectives. So often media narratives are dominated by outside interests and the US military, which overshadows discussion on climate change. Dr Frain seeks to highlight Micronesian narratives and the role that new media plays in sharing these experiences.

Dr Frain is traveling to the North Pacific in April/May and will report back after attending the 7th International Environmental Futures Conference, held at the East-West Center, University of Hawai’i at Mānoa, as well as speaking with students and faculty at the University of Hawai‘i, participants with the Jobs Corps programme on Māui, and those living in the Marianas Archipelago on the islands of Guam, Saipan, and Tinian.

Dr Frain will also facilitate a new media workshop open to all community members in the Marianas Archipelago who are interested in using new media platforms to disseminate research. She will assist the participants in converting their research into a format that is shareable across new media platforms (including, but not limited to: Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Change.org).

Who: Dr Sylvia C Frain, research fellow at the Pacific Media Centre

When: May 30, 2018
4.30pm-6pm

Where: Sir Paul Reeves Building
Auckland University of Technology
City Campus
Room WG903A

Contact: Dr Frain

Event on Facebook

MIL OSI

Source: Pacific Media Centre

Headline: Asia Pacific Journalism projects and internships 2018 – Analysis published with permission of PMC

The Pacific Media Centre is running several Asia-Pacific projects again this year and along with Asia Pacific Journalism (Semester 2) we have a new special paper to match – International Journalism Project (JOUR810).

The deadline for applications is Friday, March 2, at 4pm.

Send applications to: jessie.hsu@aut.ac.nz
Copy to: david.robie@aut.ac.nz

This year’s projects on offer:

Bearing Witness climate change project: Two weeks in Fiji in mid-semester break to experience and cover climate issues. Based at the University of the South Pacific. The PMC pays for return airfares, accommodation and a living koha. Apply and if selected, this counts towards JOUR810 international Journalism Project. More information. Contact: david.robie@aut.ac.nz
Possibly a Fiji elections project in the Second Semester mid-semester break (watch this space).

Pacific Media Watch freedom project: 10 hours a week, paid at HRT08 rates, reporting and editing on media freedom, ethics, educational, training and ownership issues for the digital websites Asia Pacific Report and Pacific Media Watch. More information. Contact: david.robie@aut.ac.nz

NZ Institute for Pacific Research reporting Pacific research project: A part-time internship with the University of Auckland’s Centre for Pacific Studies, but working out of AUT. Organised by the Pacific Media Centre in collaboration with NZIPR. 10 hours a week, paid at HRT08 rates. This assignment involves researching and news gathering and writing profiles about Pacific researchers and their projects. More Information. Contact: david.robie@aut.ac.nz Managed by Research Operations Manager Dr Gerry Cottrell at NZIPR.

Asia Pacific Report international news website: Internships are available on application. More information. Contact: david.robie@aut.ac.nz

Postgraduate students are preferred but there may be opportunities for final-year journalism major students.

Below: Kendall Hutt, one of the 2017 Bearing Witness climate journalists, talks to David Robie about the project. Video: PMC

MIL OSI

Source: Pacific Media Centre

Headline: Lumad people’s resistance – defending Indigenous communities – Analysis published with permission of PMC

PACIFIC MEDIA CENTRE SEMINAR 2/2018: INDIGENOUS LUMAD PEOPLE’S RIGHT TO EDUCATION, AUTONOMY AND DIGNITY

The Indigenous Lumad people’s Our Right to Education, Autonomy and Dignity (READ) Programme in the Philippines is rooted in the vision that every child deserves the basic human right of an education.

Today the majority of Lumad children in the southern island of Mindanao remain illiterate and have limited access to education.

Salupongan International is committed to sustaining culture-responsive basic education programmes and schools that help Lumad and Moro students and communities obtain a quality education.

SI currently supports hundreds of indigenous scholars, teachers and faculty from Salupongan Ta Tanu Igkanugon Community Learning Centers (STTICLC), Mindanao Interfaith Services Foundation Inc. (MISFI) Academy and other community schools throughout Mindanao.  STTICLC and MISFI Academy has provided free, quality culture-responsive education to underserved indigenous, Moro and rural communities throughout Mindanao for over a decade.  

Two Lumad advocates visiting New Zealand will speak on the issues at the Pacific Media Centre seminar at Auckland University of Technology. Jointly organised by Philippine Solidarity, Asia Pacific Human Rights Coalition (APHRC) and the PMC.

Contact: Del Abcede

When: 4 April 2018, 4.30-6pm

Where: TBC

MIL OSI