(PINA/IFEX) – The following is a PINA special bulletin: World Press Freedom Day Message, 3 May 2005, from the President of the Pacific Islands News Association (PINA), Apulu Lance Polu REGION: We, in the Pacific Islands News Association (PINA), join the world in commemorating World Press Freedom Day today, May 3. This year’s theme: Media […]
(PINA/IFEX) – The following is a PINA special bulletin:
World Press Freedom Day Message, 3 May 2005, from the President of the Pacific Islands News Association (PINA), Apulu Lance Polu
REGION: We, in the Pacific Islands News Association (PINA), join the world in commemorating World Press Freedom Day today, May 3.
This year’s theme: Media Freedom and Good Governance is no less apt and resounding as our island countries strive for good governance and transparency in the way our meager resources are administered and distributed by those in power – whether they be the national governments, churches or the local village councils.
The role of the media in delivering a governance agenda in our small island states cannot be overstated.
Today, we reflect on the role of the media in the democratic process in our island countries. It is not just an ideal, but one that has been proven time and again – the media’s role in the civic process as a watchdog on the workings of democracy. When the media holds those in power and responsibility to account for their actions as they influence and affect the lives of the ordinary citizens.
It was why the press and media had been called the ‘Fourth Estate’ by the British statesman Edmund Burke.
Media Freedom is not one that is specifically for those who work in the media. Rather, media freedom belongs to every citizen and is a core platform of democracy. It provides a solid platform for good governance, peace and social and spiritual development in our societies.
The business of the media is in search of the truth and many times, the truth they pursue hurts those that the media holds accountable. As we have seen in the Pacific, the media had been blamed for various reasons rather than addressing the political and social issues reported by the media. It is why we have seen efforts through the legislative process to curb media freedom and many such legislations exist in our island countries.
Other island states only pay lip service to media freedom while they engage in measures to erode it. Laws such as defamation, criminal libel, contempt, sedition and privacy all operate as mechanisms of censorship to gag the media. In some island countries, journalists are banned from entering to do their work.
We often have journalists bullied, jailed, or even killed for exposing truths which threaten the interests of the criminal and corrupt.
What happens in our societies without a vigilant and enquiring media? Imagine the abuse of power that may go unchecked without a Fourth Estate operating as a watchdog?
The media sometimes make mistakes. Despite their best efforts within their tight deadlines they will publish errors of fact and their editors and journalists will exercise errors of judgment. It is why efforts to remove restrictive legislation on media freedom must go hand in hand with self regulatory measures such as Codes of Ethics and practices to ensure the highest standards are achieved for the media to deliver for the public that they serve.
As the Pacific Islands Forum embarks on putting together a Pacific Plan, I have noted and have officially requested the Secretary General on the need for the Media to be a part of the Plan when it is submitted for the leaders to consider in Papua New Guinea in October.
As the Pacific Islands Forum pushes for a Good Governance agenda to achieve better standards of living for our island communities, such efforts will not be fully effective or even achieved without a free media.
The role of the media must not just be implied in the Pacific Plan but it must be explicit as there are major issues that need the political support within the level of the Forum in order for the Pacific media to fully achieve its role in the workings of our respective island democracies and in delivering a good governance agenda.
In the course of recent history, it has been noted that the nations with the most vibrant and investigative media have offered the best models of democracy. In such democracies, its citizens have been the best informed when they exercise their choice in vote.
A free media in our island societies is a guarantee for every citizen’s freedom. Let us join together in defending it.
Apulu Lance Polu – PINA President
