Karoronga, kele’a, talanoa, tapoetethakot and va: expanding millennial notions of a ‘Pacific way’ journalism education and media research culture

Abstract

As critical issues such as climate change, exploited fisheries, declining human rights, and reconfiguration of political systems inherited at independence increasingly challenge the microstates of Asia-Pacific, approaches to news media and journalism education are also under strain. University-based journalism education was introduced to the South Pacific in Papua New Guinea at independence in 1975 and in Fiji at the regional University of the South Pacific in 1987, while Technical Vocational Educational and Training institutions have been a more recent addition in the region. Some scholars argue there is little difference between Pacific and Western approaches to journalism, or that some journalism schools are too focused on Western media education, while others assert there is a distinctive style of journalism in Oceania with cultural variations based on the country where it is practiced and parallels with some approaches in Asia such as “mindful journalism.” This paper examines a “Pacific way” journalism debate which echoes a regional political concept coined by the late Fiji president, Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara. The paper argues for a greater appreciation of the complexities of media cultures in Pacific nations and proposes a more nuanced, reflexive approach to journalism in the Pacific region. This is reflected in a “talanoa journalism” model that he advocates as a more culturally appropriate benchmark than monocultural media templates.

Keywords:

• Fourth Estate
• indigenous research
• Pacific journalism
• South Pacific
• talanoa journalism

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Documentaries

Anote’s Ark (2018). Directed by Matthieu Rytz. EyesSteelFilms. [Documentary]. Trailer at www.youtube.com/watch?v=UE2_maYEqF8[

Banbans of Rabi: A Story of Survival (2018). Directed by Blessen Tom and Hele Ikimotu. Pacific Media Center. [Documentary]. www.youtube.com/watch?v=5r6ijUnhAqE

Notes

1 The author was head of journalism at the University of Papua New Guinea in Port Moresby between 1993 and 1998, and of the University of the South Pacific regional program in Suva, Fiji, 1998–2002. He has been the director of the Pacific Media Center at Auckland University of Technology, New Zealand, founding it in 2007.

2 The five TVETs involved in the Australian AID and Australian Broadcasting Corporation-assisted activity are Fiji National University (FNU, formerly called the Fiji Institute of Technology), National University of Samoa (NUS), Solomon Islands National University (SINU, formerly called Solomon Islands College of Higher Education), Tonga Institute of Higher Education (TIHE), and Vanuatu Institute of Technology (VIT). This PACMAS Journalism Initiative (2014–2019) activity “continues and builds on past program(me) activities with the TVETs in the Pacific,” such as the Pacific Media Communications Facility (PMCF) which implemented and supported entry level media and journalism training from 2004 to 2007, and PACMAS Phase 1 (2008–2010).