Radio New Zealand - Te Reo Irirangi o Aotearoa

Pacific issues not adequately covered by NZ and Australia media - academic

Posted at 21:16 on 16 October, 2012 UTC

The director of the Pacific Media Centre, David Robie, says the South Pacific cannot continue to rely on New Zealand and Australia media to get the message out for critical Pacific issues.

Professor Robie made the comment during an address at the Auckland University of Technology titled, ’coups, conflicts and human rights - Pacific media challenges in the digital age.’

Dr Robie says a Pacific issue like climate change is not adequately covered by New Zealand or Australia media.

“Most of the sort of reporting is being covered from an Australia and New Zealand perspective which is completely different, and it’s lost in the process. So if the Pacific media rely on their big brothers media organisations in Australia and New Zealand, a lot of the critical issues get lost.”

David Robie says West Papua is another example where there is not enough exposure coming from Australian and New Zealand media.

He says there needs be a lot more collaboration between news organisations in the Pacific, to build up their own expertise, and critical thinking about media and development issues for the region.