PRESS RELEASE - For immediate release
±«Óătv Media Action is pleased to announce the launch of an ambitious project, funded by the UK Government, to help address critical challenges facing public interest media across six Pacific Island countries: Fiji, Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Tonga, and Vanuatu. This initiative aims to foster a healthier information ecosystem, ensuring a consistent flow of trusted and engaging public interest media content that empowers audiences.
The project aims to support local media to better serve communities using both broadcast and digital platforms. With growing access to social media in many Pacific islands, communities are now increasingly relying on social media for information. This brings opportunities and challenges for local media to adapt to new ways of production and content creation. For audiences – social media brings a wider choice of content, but growing amounts of online misinformation and low levels of digital and media literacy can also make them vulnerable.
As in other parts of the world, public interest media in the Pacific region face challenges to viability - as traditional revenue generation models are no longer effective. The Pacific media industry also faces high staff turnover, low production capacity, distribution challenges, language barriers and a need for stronger editorial skills. Media freedom in the region is challenged in some countries by legal limitations on freedom of information, and government influence affecting media coverage. And gender discrimination and violence in the region have contributed to low representation of women in newsrooms, with inadequate coverage of gender-related issues.
This project will focus on media viability, strengthening a skilled and professional media, and creating a more enabling environment for public interest media.
“Trusted, public interest media are essential to democratic stability and governance in the Pacific region – people need to know who and what they can trust for news and information, and to have platforms for peaceful, respectful discussion and debate. Through this project, we will support Pacific Islands nations’ media to deliver trusted, impartial information and content to their audiences. We’re looking forward to working with local media partners, media associations and other stakeholders, and grateful to the UK Government for funding this important work,” said Rachael McGuin, ±«Óătv Media Action Country Director, Pacific Islands.
The project will begin with comprehensive audience and stakeholder research to understand audiences, to support local media in understanding and connecting more strongly with their audiences. With capacity strengthening and strong partnerships at its core, the project will include training, mentoring, workshops, and grant awards for Pacific media.
The project aims to promote open, accountable, and diverse media at local, regional and national levels, creating a healthier information ecosystem in which accurate, trusted, and engaging public interest media content reaches and engages all audiences, while building resilience to misinformation and disinformation.
±«Óătv Media Action began a pilot project of work in Solomon Islands in 2023, supporting the national broadcaster SIBC to launch its first-ever series of community debates ahead of elections in summer 2024. This project will expand and build on that work, which has also covered reporting in emergencies, on climate change and adaptation, and gender-sensitive reporting.
About ±«Óătv Media Action:
±«Óătv Media Action is the ±«Óătv’s international charity - we believe in the power of media and communication for good. We work in more than 30 countries supporting independent media essential to democracy and development. Last year, our projects and programmes reached more than 100 million people facing poverty, inequality and insecurity with information they could trust, helping to improve health, protect livelihoods and our planet, bridge divides, challenge prejudice, and save and change lives.
We are not funded by the ±«Óătv TV Licence Fee and we rely on our donors and partners to carry out our work.