14
. (ommunkat!on ew8ttor Pacific Islands News Association Suva, Fiji East-West Communication Institute Honolulu, Hawaii Vol . 4 No. 4 September 197 4 PNA Gets Under Way, Names Usher Director - I r . - .-, .. J r 71 . . i . -. I S 14 Len Usher presided over an organizational meeting of the Pacific Islanus News Association in Suva. Others at the meeting (some partially obscured) included Falenaoti 1. Malietoa, Seona Martin, Tom Lloyd, Leota Pita Alailima, Henry Rarak, Austin Sapias, Michael Drollet, Stuart Inder, I.S. Chauhan, Joe Murphy, Kalati Mose, Robert McClelland, Douglas Lockwood James Boyack Jim Richstad John Moses Siosiua Fonua A new professional journalism of the South Pacific, Extension Memberships in the new organi- and communication organization-- Services, and the mailing address zation are coming in, Usher noted the Pacific Islands News Association-- is Private Bag, Raiwaqa Post Office, in a recent satellite meeting, but was formed after a week-long con- Suva, Fiji. The cable address is he is looking for more. Initial ference of about 50 delegates in PACINA, Suva, Fiji. funding for the group came with late June in Suva. $1,000 (Fiji currency) grants from r II, .h,,, f- -r executive -- " L . r T4., . ..A fl L .U. Jalici ............. director of the Fiji Times, was unanimously named Organizing Direc- tor of the Association. An Organi- zing committee of nine members also was named. The aims of the Association are to promote and protect press freedom and to foster high pro- fessional standards. In carrying out this program, the Association will emphasize basic news training programs for Island journalists, broadcasters and public information officer. Other functions will be to exchange professional information and advice, and to develop an ex- the New L,l,e r I 1j limes an the rapua New Guinea Post-Courier. The Organizing Committee is composed of Leota Pita Alailima (Chairman) general manager of the South Sea Star, Apia, Western Samoa; Henry Raraka, editor-publisher, Kakamora Reporter, British Solomon Islands; Siosius Fonus, editor, Tonga Chronicle; Falenaoti Malietoa, director, Extension Services, University of the South Pacific; Ian Johnstone, educational broad- casts officer, South Pacific Com- mission; Douglas Lockwood, editor, Papua New Guinea Post Courier; Jon Anderson, bureau chief, Micronesian change of regional news summaries. News Service, Saipan; James Boyack, Director Usher has established editor, Tahiti Bulletin, and Jim an office for PINA at the University (Continued pagel4)

Pacific Islands Communication Newsletter, …...(ommunkat!on ew8ttor Pacific Islands NewsAssociation Suva,Fiji East-WestCommunicationInstitute Honolulu,Hawaii Vol.4 No.4 September

  • Upload
    others

  • View
    15

  • Download
    0

Embed Size (px)

Citation preview

Page 1: Pacific Islands Communication Newsletter, …...(ommunkat!on ew8ttor Pacific Islands NewsAssociation Suva,Fiji East-WestCommunicationInstitute Honolulu,Hawaii Vol.4 No.4 September

.

(ommunkat!on ew8ttor

Pacific Islands News Association Suva, FijiEast-West Communication Institute

Honolulu, Hawaii

Vol. 4 No. 4September 1974

PNA Gets Under Way, Names Usher Director

-I

r.

-

.-, ..

J

r71 .

.i. -.

I S

14

LenUsher presided over an organizational meeting of the Pacific Islanus NewsAssociation in Suva. Others at the meeting (some partially obscured) included Falenaoti

1. Malietoa, Seona Martin, Tom Lloyd, Leota Pita Alailima, Henry Rarak, Austin Sapias,Michael Drollet, Stuart Inder, I.S. Chauhan, Joe Murphy, Kalati Mose, Robert McClelland,

Douglas Lockwood James Boyack Jim Richstad John Moses Siosiua Fonua

A new professional journalism of the South Pacific, Extension Memberships in the new organi-and communication organization-- Services, and the mailing address zation are coming in, Usher notedthe Pacific Islands News Association-- is Private Bag, Raiwaqa Post Office, in a recent satellite meeting, butwas formed after a week-long con- Suva, Fiji. The cable address is he is looking for more. Initialference of about 50 delegates in PACINA, Suva, Fiji. funding for the group came withlate June in Suva.$1,000(Fiji currency) grants from

r II,.h,,, f- -r executive - - "L. r T4., ...A fl

L.U. Jalici.............

director of the Fiji Times, was

unanimously named Organizing Direc-

tor of the Association. An Organi-

zing committee of nine members also

was named.The aims of the Association

are to promote and protect pressfreedom and to foster high pro-fessional standards. In carryingout this program, the Association

will emphasize basic news training

programs for Island journalists,broadcasters and public information

officer. Other functions will be

to exchange professional information

and advice, and to develop an ex-

theNewL,l,e r I1j limes an the rapua NewGuinea Post-Courier.

The Organizing Committee is

composed of Leota Pita Alailima(Chairman) general manager ofthe South Sea Star, Apia, WesternSamoa; Henry Raraka, editor-publisher,Kakamora Reporter, British SolomonIslands; Siosius Fonus, editor,

Tonga Chronicle; Falenaoti Malietoa,director, Extension Services,University of the South Pacific;Ian Johnstone, educational broad-casts officer, South Pacific Com-mission; Douglas Lockwood, editor,

Papua New Guinea Post Courier; JonAnderson, bureau chief, Micronesian

change of regional news summaries.NewsService, Saipan; James Boyack,Director Usher has established editor, Tahiti Bulletin, and Jim

an office for PINA at the University(Continuedpagel4)

Page 2: Pacific Islands Communication Newsletter, …...(ommunkat!on ew8ttor Pacific Islands NewsAssociation Suva,Fiji East-WestCommunicationInstitute Honolulu,Hawaii Vol.4 No.4 September

1 .

HNAs Organizing Guidelines; Training Focus1. That an organisation embracing (iii) To maintain a library

newspapers, broadcasting of training manualsorganisations and Government and other materialsinformation offices in the and keep membersPacific area be formed. advised of its contents.

2. That 'Pacific area be defined (iv) To prepare trainingas the area covered by the manuals and styleSouth Pacific Commission. books especially

3. That the name be Pacific applicable to theislands News Association. Pacific.

4. That the aims of the P.I.N.A. Cv) To organise the ex-be: change of journalists(I) To promote and protect and broadcasters with-

freedom of expression inthe association area.

(II) To foster responsiblejournalism and profes-sional standards inPacific news media.

5. That the functions of theP.I.N.A. be:(A) TRAINING

(i) To organise and co-ordinate journalismtraining at alllevels, for print,broadcast and infor-mation people.

(ii) To provide suchtraining.

-'

r

141

in the P.I.N.A. area,and between the areaand other countries.

(B) INFORMATION EXCHANGE(i) To maintain a file

of Pacific publica-tions to be providedby members.

(ii) To prepare and cir-culate Pacific newssummaries and back-ground material.(Main source wouldbe the member publi-cations, but supple-mentary materialcould come from thePEACESAT news exchangeand commissionedarticles).

(iii) To prepare and issuea newsletter dealingwith news matters.(The new body couldtake over the East-West CommunicationInstitutes presentPacific Islands Com-munication Newsletter).

(iv) To record and cir-culate details oflegal actions inwhich members areprofessionally in-volved.

(v) To record for appro-priate action Govern-ment or other re-straints involvingmembers professionally.

(C) CLEARING HOUSE SERVICEST-0'll To -lect technical

information and re-cord sources of suchinformation.

(ii) To develop the pres-ent Pacific IslandsPress Directory toinclude broadcastingand official infor-mation services, andto keep it up-to-date(possibly in loose-leaf form).

(iii) To record, and advisemembers of, scholar-ship opportunitiesfor Pacific islandsjournalists.

(iv) To survey and recordsources of newsprintand other supplies

101

Ratu David

and to explore thepossibility of bulkordering for members.

(v) To record, and cir-culate to members,details of new andused equipment avail-able for sale orgift.

(D) ADVISORY SERVICESfTio give advice and

assistance in tech-nical matters.

(ii) To give advice onlibel, parliamentaryprivilege, contemptof court and otherlegal matters ofprofessional concern.

(iii) To give advice onmanagement.

(E) GENERAL(i) To organise and spon-

sor professionalseminars and con-ferences.

(ii) To seek to enrol alleligible groups andindividuals in theassociation.

(iii) To raise the fundsneeded to carry outthe associationsfunctions.

6. That membership be in fourcategories:

(a) Media units that providenews for general circu-lation, e.g. newspapers,periodicals and broad-casting services (includingprivate, statutory orgovernment). In cases ofpublishing and broadcast-ing organisations con-sisting of more than onemedia unit or where commoneditorial responsibilityis exercised over separatepublications or broad-casting stations, only theparent or common body iseligible to join.

Any media unit which fallsformally in this categorymay choose to join anothercategory.

(b) Specialised publishers,or sources of informationfor news media or forlimited circulation, e.g.Government departments,statutory bodies, orpublic relations or otherfirms which issue pressreleases within specialisedarea.

(c) Newspapers or other organ-isations, including newsservices, located outsidethe association area butinterested in it. e.g.,Newspapers, magazines and

(Continued next page)

Page 3: Pacific Islands Communication Newsletter, …...(ommunkat!on ew8ttor Pacific Islands NewsAssociation Suva,Fiji East-WestCommunicationInstitute Honolulu,Hawaii Vol.4 No.4 September

(Continued from page 2)broadcasting bodies inNew Zealand, Australiaand the U.S.A. This cate-gory also including foun-dations and parallelinternational organisations

(d) Free-lance journalistsand others who would joinas individual members.

7. That news exchange and similarservices be made available tonon-members on terms to befixed.

8. That only members in category6(a) above would have votingrights, but that all memberswould have the right to speakon association matters. Eachmember in category 6(a) wouldhave one vote.

9. That fees for members in cate-gory 6(a) above be based onthe number of the membersemployees:Proposed classes of minimumannual subscription:

(a) 1 - 5 employees $50 (Fiji(b) 6 - 10$100 Cur-(c) 11 - 20$500 rency)(d) 21 - 50$1000(e) Over 50$2000

All full-time staff involvedin editorial aspects of news-paper production and broad-casting would be counted, butnot part-time collators orstringers.

10. That annual subscriptions forother members to be:6 (b) - $506 (c) - $1000 (to include news

service)6 (d) - $10 (including news-

letter and directory).11. That subscriptionsin 9 and 10

above come into operation ona date to be decided by theOrganising Committee.

In the period before such time,that the following fees bepayable:

Category 6(a) Members

(a) 1 - 5 employees $20 (Fiji(b) 6 -10 $40 Cur-(c) 11 -20 $100 rency)(d) 21 -50 $200(e) Over-50

$400

Other Categories

6(b) $10 (Fiji Currency)6(c) $2006(d) $2

12. That the headquarters of theassociation be in Suva.

13. That the initial staff shouldbe:(a) Director(b) Journalist, who would

prepare news summariesand could be involved in

organising trainingprogrammes.

(c) Librarian-archivist.(d) Secretary-book-keeper.Any of the first three shouldbe able to relieve if one ofthe others should be absent.One of the three should be bi-lingual in English and French,and be responsible for facili-tating French language mediaparticipation for the associa-tion's activities.

14. That a decision on whetherthe training staff be perma-nent staff members or recruitedfor short terms for specificpurposes, be left for laterdecision.

15. That the association be managedby a five-member board (includ-ing a Chairman) elected byassociation members in category6(a). The board should, as faras possible, provide represen-tation of the areas listedbelow:(a) Samoa, Tonga, Cook Islands,

Niue, Tokelaus, Pitcairnand Fiji.

(b) Papua New Guinea, SolomonIslands, New Hebrides,Norfolk Island.

(c) Guam, Micronesia, Gilbert& Ellice Islands, Nauru.

(d) Tahiti, New Caledonia,Wallis and Futuna.

The chairman to beelected by all members inCategory 6(a).

The board have the power toco-opt.

Board members to be electedevery two years.

Board members to serve nomore than two consecutiveterms.

16. That two trustees be electedat the same time as the firstboard is elected.

17. That the Organising Committeehave discretionary power inthe implementation of theserecommendations.

Adopted by the Conferenceon Friday, June 28, 1974

THE EAST-WEST CENTER is anational education institution es-tablished in Hawaii by the UnitedStates Congress in 1960. Formallyknown as The Center for Culturaland Technical Interchange BetweenEast and West, the federally fundedCenter is administered in cooper-ation with the University of Hawaii.Its mandated goal is to promotebetter relations between the UnitedStates and the nations of Asia andthe Pacific through cooperativestudy, training, and research.

Each year about 1,500 men andwomen from the United States andsome 40 countries in the Asian!Pacific area exchange ideas andcultural insights in East-Westprograms. Working and studyingwith a multinational Center staffon problems of mutual East-Westconcern, participants includestudents, mainly at the postgraduatelevel; Senior Fellows and Fellowswith research expertise or practicalexperience in such fields as govern-ment, business administration orcommunication; mid-career profes-sionals in non-degree study andtraining programs at the teachingand management levels; and au-thorities invited for internationalconferences and seminars. Theseparticipants are supported by feder-al cd grants, supple-mented in some e'ds by con-tributions from Asian/Pacificgovernments and private foundations.

A fundamental aim of all East-West Center programs is to fosterunderstanding and mutual respectamong people from differing culturesworking together in seeking solutionsto common problems. The Centerdraws on the resources of U.S.mainland universities, Asian-Pacificeducational and governmental insti-tutions, and organizations in themulti-cultural State of Hawaii.

Center programs are conductedby the East-West Communication,Culture Learning, Food, Population,and Technology and DevelopmentInstitutes; Open Grants are awardedto provide scope for educationaland research innovation, includingemphasis on the humanities and thearts.

* *** *

EDITORS NOTES ....

This issue of the Pacific Is-lands Communication Newsletter isnoted for at least two things.

First, it is the first jointlypublished newsletter, with the newPacific Islands News Associationand the Communication Instituteserving as co-publishers. As read-ers will note, PINA was formed inlate June, and one of its functionswill be to provide a newsletter for

the Association members. It wasagreed at Suva that PINA couldeventually take over completely thePacific Islands Communication News-letter, but for the present it willbe a joint effort. Most of thecopy for this issue originated fromthose eligible for PINA membership,and the next issue should be large-ly prepared through the PINA officein Suva. (Continued on page 14)

Page 4: Pacific Islands Communication Newsletter, …...(ommunkat!on ew8ttor Pacific Islands NewsAssociation Suva,Fiji East-WestCommunicationInstitute Honolulu,Hawaii Vol.4 No.4 September

Training Guidelines Set Up by PINAPREAMBLE:

Knowing the urgency and seriousneed for training in all fields of

press and broadcasting and infor-mation work at all levels, and

knowing the need to be flexiblebecause of the thrust of change in

the Pacific and the world, the sub-committee recommends that the as-sociation use the following guide-lines for its training programme:

GUIDELINES

To identify local needs; suchneeds to come from the peoplethemselves. Training is tobe provided only on requestfrom members. Requests must

specify the type and period of

training required. This isto determine the kind of tutor.The furnishing of a tutor isto come after the associationhas given consideration to theneeds and priorities in thearea. Availability of fundsand personnel is to be a con-sideration.To consider requests in thecontext of broadcasting, press,and information work simulta-

neously, wherever possible.To determine priorities in the

light of urgency, availabilityof tutors, funds transport,accommodation and immigrationapproval, etc.To arrange for travellingtutor(s) to give training to

broadcast, press and information

people, working with the peopleon the job.

1

..

'A'

Western Samoan delegation atPINA included Faalogo Pita Faalogoof the Samoa Times and Kalati Noseof Savali.

5. Ttutor programme with a systemof specially devised kitsetlessons and exercises relevantto the special needs of Pacificpeoples.

6. To stress the importance of thelanguage used in istruction.Simplicity to be a price con-sideration when kitset lessonsare prepared.

7. To prepare appropriate manualsand stylebooks.

8. To negotiate the use of existingtraining facilities and ter-

tiary institutions within theassociation area.

9. To use seminars and workshopsas important avenues of train-

ing.

11

12

satellite communication net-work.To encourage the establishmentof scholarships for continuingtraining.To encourage exchanges of per-sonnel within and beyond theassociation area.

Decisions of the associationare to be final on all trainingpriorities.

The above guidelines must bereviewed from time to time in theterms of the changing needs anddevelopments in the area.

Adopted June 28, 1974.

NZBC NAMES TOP EXECUTIVES

The four top executives havebeen appointed to control broad-

casting in New Zealand from some-time next year.

This follows a decision of theLabour Government to divide the pre-sent New Zealand Broadcasting Cor-

poration into two television chan-nels, one radio corporation and a

Broadcasting Council

y Director-General of Radio NewZealand will be James L. Hartstonge,currently an NZBC Executive Director

with responsibility for News andCurrent Affairs.

Television One will have a for-

mer NZBC radio Chief Producer, AlanMorris, as its Director-General.At present he heads Entertainmentfor Australian Broadcasting Commis-

sion Television.Another expatriate New Zealand-

er, Allan Martin, will be Director-

11'cI

*

-

:.) :

- -

:

-s--

A seaward view of the Organizing Committee at tee rauewinasHotel, with Len Usher again presiding.

o supplement the travelling 10. To emphasise the use of ti

General of TV-2. He is head of theABCs Department of Public AffairsTelevision.

The other major appointment inthe re-constituted broadcasting set-

up for New Zealand is that of Secre-

tary to the new Broadcasting Coun-cil. He is Keith Hay, a presentExecutive Director for the NZBC.

CLOSED CIRCUIT TVFrom July PIN

Japanese industrialist Mr.Hukashi Momose, and his wife, made

a special trip to Tonga in May to

present a colour television setand a video-cassette-recorder to

King Taufaahau. A camera to gowith the outfit is also on the way.The King, who was reported to beenthusiastic about the gift, is now

self-contained as far as TV services

goes although there is no black andwhite or colour transmission in

Tonga.

Page 5: Pacific Islands Communication Newsletter, …...(ommunkat!on ew8ttor Pacific Islands NewsAssociation Suva,Fiji East-WestCommunicationInstitute Honolulu,Hawaii Vol.4 No.4 September

PACIFIC ISLANDS NEWS ASSOCIATION

APPLICATION FOR MEMBERSHIP

CATEGORY OF MEMBERSHIP ................................................................................................

(See notes below)

NAME OF MEMBER

ADDRESS

ADDRESS FOR CORRESPONDENCE AND ACCOUNTS

PUBLICATIONS WHICH WILL BE SUPPLIED

Amount Enclosed

SIGNATURE .....................................................................................................................

Position ................................................................................................................

Date................................................................................................................

Notes

Membership Categories.

CATEGORY A. Media Units that provide news for general circulation. e.g.newspapers, periodicals and broadcasting services (includingprivate,statutory or government). In cases of publishingand broadcasting organisations consisting of more than onemedia unit or where common editorial responsibility isexercised over separate publications or broadcasting stations,only the parent or common body is eligible to join.

Annual Fees: Formation Period

1 - 5 employees6-10 "

11-2021-50Over 50

(Fiji Currency)$20$40$100$200$400

After Formation(Fiji Currency)

$50$100$500$1000$2000

Page 6: Pacific Islands Communication Newsletter, …...(ommunkat!on ew8ttor Pacific Islands NewsAssociation Suva,Fiji East-WestCommunicationInstitute Honolulu,Hawaii Vol.4 No.4 September

d

.

Full-time staff involved in editorial aspects of newspaperproduction and broadcasting to be counted, but not part-timecollators or stringers.

CATEGORY B. Publishers of specialised publications, or sources ofinformation for news media or for limited circulation, e.g.,Government departments, statutory bodies, or public relationsor other firms which issue press releases within specialisedareas.

Annual Fees: Formation Period

$10

After Formation

$50

CATEGORY C. Newspaper or other organisations, including news services,located outside the association area but interested in it.

e.g. Newspapers, magazines and broadcasting bodies in NewZealand, Australia and the U.S.A. This category alsoincludes foundations and international organisations parallelto P.I.N.A.

Annual Fees Formation Period

$200

After Formation

$1000

(to include news service)

CATEGORY D. Free-lance journalists and others who would join as individualmembers.

Annual Fees Formation Period

$2

After Formation

$10

(including newsletter anddirectories)

Page 7: Pacific Islands Communication Newsletter, …...(ommunkat!on ew8ttor Pacific Islands NewsAssociation Suva,Fiji East-WestCommunicationInstitute Honolulu,Hawaii Vol.4 No.4 September

NEWS EXCHANGE EXPERIMENTUTILIZES ATS-l SATELLITE

An experimental news exchangeprogram conducted by the SouthPacific Commission is nearing theend of its first three-month testperiod. The first weekly exchangeoccurred June 11J12,with an earlierplanning session on the ATS-l sat-ellite on May 15/16.

Ian Johnstone, SPC EducationalBroadcasting Officer, organized theexperiment in cooperation with theUniversity of the South Pacific.Countries linked by the USP Educa-tion satellite system and the Peace-sat system were invited to parti-cipate.

The exchanges begin with shortbulletins from each of the parti-cipating terminals, with time fordiscussion of the items from otherterminals.

The exchanges are taped, andcan be used by the news media inthe various countries--both printand broadcast. In the Cooks, theschool system is using the tran-scripts as a kind of current text-book for certain classes.

Johnstone said that during theexperiment those taking part wouldcompare satellite exchanges withother methods of news and informa-tion exchange, and also of ways ofcombining satellite and other com-munication media.

Johnstone noted the experimentis not intended to reduce in any waythe existing use of various methodsand channels for the circulation ofregional news.

PACIFIC JOURNALISM TRAINEESGET PRACTICAL EXPERIENCE

Broadcast journalism studentsfrom Papua-New Guinea and theSolomon Islands are gaining prac-tical experience by working vaca-tions in small New Zealand RadioNewsrooms.

The eight students are part ofa group of twelve attending theWellington Polytechnic this year,under a New Zealand GovernmentForeign Aid Scheme.

Four of the whole group areattending a magazine journalismcourse, the others are full-timestudents in the news journalismsection.

To give the new studentspractical experience, the New.Zealand Broadcasting CorporationTraining Section is working withthe Polytechnic to provide a totalof three weeks experience in smallnewsrooms.

In the May vacation each ofthe eight students joined a two orthree man NZBC newsroom in pro-vincial centres around the country.They were able to observe the moreexperienced journqlists as theymet deadlines for local , regionaland nationwide network radio andtelevision bulletins.

Where possible, the studentswere assigned stories and assistedjournalists at meetings and otherevents.

The first terms work at thePolytechnic concentrated on thebasis of journalism, common toprint and electronic media. Inaddition, the Pacific studentsattended specialist broadcastingsessions weekly organised by theNZBC Head of Staff Training, RegRuss.

This term, the students willparticipate in a special broad-casting option devoting double thenormal amount of time availablefor this and continue with theirweekly sessions which also involveclose contact with the NZBC's NewsTraining Officer, Ron Wilkinson.

In the August vacation, theywill go back to the same newsroomsin which they worked in May and willbuild on their previous experienceby putting in a further fortnightswork.

While out in newsrooms, thestudents have been accommodated inthe homes of broadcasting staff.

The students have returned fromthe May vacation work excited aboutthe practical experiences. In par-ticular, they mention the concise-ness of commercial radio bulletinsand the wide use of telephones forone air and recorded interviews.

NZBC MAN TO CONDUCT NEWS COURSE

Ron Wilkinson of NZBC will con-duct a News Presentation Course forUNESCO at the Broadcasting TrainingCenter in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia,in November.

Some 16 broadcast journalistsfrom Asia and the Pacific willattend the four-week program.

Wilkinson is the News TrainingOfficer at NZBC.

YOU NEVER CAN TELL WHO'S LISTENING

WVUV recently received whatappeared to be a routine letterfrom Ekkehard Wande who had listenedto about 30 minutes of a May 14broadcast.

"I liked your program becausethe music was very, very good.'Wande said. "I was very happy topick you up, because you can't hearWVUV in GERMANY every day."

Wande lives in Wiesbaden,West Germany, almost half a globeapart from American Samoa. He isa member of the Budapest ShortwaveRadio Club.

He must be looking for a Samoandictionary to be better preparedfor the next WVUV broadcast he hopesto listen to.

MAGAZINE COVERS ASIAN MEDIA

Media, a new publication cover-ing Asia's communication industry,started operations early this year.It is. published in Hong Kong, andthe editor is Jack Glattbach. Sub-scriptions, at U.S. $10.00 surfaceand $24.00 airmail, can be obtainedfrom Media Publishing Ltd., 603,6th Floor, Kayamally Building, 22Queen's Road Central, Hong Kong.The magazine covers journalism,broadcasting, public relations andadvertising, and includes Australiain its coverage.

PMG BROADCAST TRAINING

A territorial Training Courseon Broadcast Production and Presen-tation was scheduled for PortMoresby from August 19 to September13. Ian Johnstone, EducationalBroadcasts Officer for the SouthPacific Commission, was to directthe course. Mr. R. Beaumont ofthe Centre for the Development ofEducation Overseas was listed asa consultant. Subject matter in-cluded programing, recording,scripting and editing techniques

SAMOAN SUN DUEThe Samoan Sun in Pago Pago

was due to begin publication inAugust after some mechanicalproblems with setting copy, JohnF. Gallien, managing editor,reported.

3,IJeW,fl,PUBLISHED G GUAM-. WHERE AMERICA'S DAY BEGINS

Page 8: Pacific Islands Communication Newsletter, …...(ommunkat!on ew8ttor Pacific Islands NewsAssociation Suva,Fiji East-WestCommunicationInstitute Honolulu,Hawaii Vol.4 No.4 September

Government and Media in American Samoa

The Territory of AmericanSamoa presents, as do most of thePacific Islands, unique problemsfor both public and private newsmedia. Government involvement inAmerican Samoa is heavy. Over 55per cent of the total work forceof the territory is employed by thegovernment. All essential publicservices are provided by the govern-ment, including, historically, news,both written and spoken.

The Office of Samoan Informa-tion, which is a branch of theExecutive Department of the Govern-ment of American Samoa, operatesWVUV radio station, which broad-casts music, announcements andlocal and world news to the 28,000persons in the territory. OSI, asthe office is commonly known, alsopublishes a daily News Bulletin,which carries local announcementsand, via UPI wire service, nationaland world news and sports. OSIpublishes a number of other items,including the bi-monthly magazine,Amerika Samoa as well as govern-ment booklets, annual reports andother needed publications.

The Department of Educationoperates KVZK television, which isan instructional television stationduring the days and an entertainmentstation during the evenings. Local-ly produced public affairs programsand NBC programing are carried atnight. KVZK also has a news depart-ment and wire service and broad-casts news in both Samoan and En-glish nightly.

Of the four printing plants inAmerican Samoa, the largest is theGovernment Print Shop, which ispart of the Department of MaterialManagement.

With this high amount of in-volvement in the dissemination ofnews, printing, radio and television,it is not surprising that there hasbeen criticism of the governmentand a misunderstanding of the govern-ment news media.

Private news operations havenot been wildly successful inAmerican Samoa. Part of the reasoncould be the free public servicesprovided by the local government.However, several new developmentshave taken place in the last yearand the future of private newsoperations look, if not rosy, atleast promising.

The Samoa News, which has beenin operation for a number of years,has recently enlarged its staffand increased its size. Advertisinghas also increased considerably.Relations between publisher JakeKing and the Government of AmericanSamoa have not always been cordial.In the past year, however, thereseems to have been an improved

By Lawrence Bracken, Assistant Director, Office of Samoan Information

attempt at cooperation, which hasbenefited all concerned.

The Samoan Sun, which will bepublished by Transpac Corporation,is, hopefully, about to begin pub-lication. If successful, it willgive Pago Pago two private news-papers. Both will be weeklies,but will hopefully expand to bi-weeklies.

A proposal to sell WVUV radioto a private firm, Radio Samoa,Inc., is currently pending beforethe FCC. Major changes in theoperation of WVUV are soon to takeplace, regardless of the FCC ruling.For several years WVUV has operatedwith a minimum of staff and budget.Announcers have often been poorlytrained and programming has beenerratic. If Radio Samoa, Inc. takesover the operation, there will bebasic changes as the station con-verts from a public operation to aprivate commercial operation. Ifthe Government of American Samoakeeps WVUV, the entire operationwill need to be up-graded andimproved.

A number of individuals andfirms have expressed interest inthe WVUV operation, but the saleof the station has been opposed bymembers of the Legislature ofAmerican Samoa and by AmericanSamoa's Delegate-at-Large, A. U.Fuimaono. The obvious fear is thehigh cost of paid announcements ona private commercial station. Theradio is still the most importantmeans of news dissemination inAmerican Samoa, as much of WVUVsprograming is in Samoan. Englishis the second language of mostSamoans.

Three private printing firms--Transpac Printing, Island PrintingCompany and Samoa News PrintingCompany--currently operate in Amer-ican Samoa, printing both privatejobs and the over-flow from thegovernments print shop. At present,the printing needs of the community,both private and public, far out-strip the capabilities of theselocal firms. There is a completelack of color printing facilitiesand many jobs must be sent off-island.

In recent months, several newpublications have appeared in Amer-ican Samoa. Writer Frank Pritchardhas begun a rather scholarly maga-zine, the Samoan Islands Journal.The Community College of AmericanSamoa has begun a quarterly pub-lication called Faasamoa Pea,which is concerned with the Samoanculture. Almost all of the localhigh school journalism classes pub-lished slick student newspaperslast year, complete with photos.

The policy of the Governmentof American Samoa and the Officeof Samoan Information is to promotework in the field of communications,wherever possible. Attempts havebeen made, and are continuing to bemade, to give full cooperation tolocal public and private nesE"and other news media, which operateunder the laws of the territory.

However, there has been muchmisunderstanding of the purpose ofthe daily OSI News Bulletin. It is,for instance, not a newspaper, butrather an announcement sheet, whichcarries local government announce-ments and non-commercial items ofpublic interest. Since there is nodaily newspaper which carries worldand national news and sports, theNews Bulletin does carry this.However, the News Bulletin does notcarry any announcements which couldbe carried on a commercial basis bylocal newspaper. If an announcementis being carried already by the localnewspapers, OSI will put it in theNews Bulletin, but only if it isassured that it is not taking moneyfrom the private sector. In fact,such announcements are referred tothe local private newspapers.

Local newspapers, as well asKVZK television, are welcome to carryany stories from the News Bulletin.This is often done and OSI approvesfully of the practice. The objectis, as OSI sees it, is to reach asmany people possible, by any means.

In a recent edition of thisnewsletter, writer Glen Wrightstated that the government had acommitment to cease publishing theNews Bulletin when the territoryis served by a "competently andresponsibly operated, financiallystable newspaper." He also wrotethat Two different weeklies havefailed to measure up in the govern-ments eyes to this standard: theSamoa Times and the Samoa Newsboth under different ownerships.

The only criterion that theOffice of Samoan Information uses--and it is hardly a standard ofjournalistic excellence--is simple:any newspaper which will meet theneeds of the community by providingdaily local, national and worldnews (five days a week) will putthe News Bulletin out of business.In fact, OSI would welcome this.

Given the growing economy andthe growing demand for news, bothin newspapers and magazine and onradio and television, it is hopedthat this will soon happen. Untilsuch time as it does, however, theOffice of Samoan Information willcontinue to provide news to thepublic and will continue to promoteand assist all local public andprivate news organizations.

Page 9: Pacific Islands Communication Newsletter, …...(ommunkat!on ew8ttor Pacific Islands NewsAssociation Suva,Fiji East-WestCommunicationInstitute Honolulu,Hawaii Vol.4 No.4 September

NEW QUARTERLY PROMOTESSAMOAN CULTURE

Students at the CommunityCollege of American Samoa recentlybegan publication of a quarterlymagazine, Fa'Asamoa Pea to promotethe preservation of Samoan cultureso it may be passed on to futuregenerations. Fa'Asamoa Pea--whichmeans continuation of the Samoanway--is printed in both Englishand Samoan.

Mike Gabbard, the magazine'sadviser, sunuied up the publication'sgoals in his introduction to the72-page inaugural issue:

"We see this first efforts ofours as more than the birth of amagazine. It is the beginning ofa new movement of young peoplebecoming actively involved in dis-covering and maintaining theirculture.'

AUSTRALIAN, N.Z.JOURNALISTS AT EWC

Max Hollingsworth, news editorof the Australian, and BruceCrossan, a chief reporter of theNew Zealand Broadcasting Corpora-tion, are among eight Asian/Pacificjournalists selected for the 1974Jefferson Fellowship program atthe East-West Center in Honolulu.

The program is for mid-careerjournalists, and runs from August 4to December 1. Fellows are attend-ing seminars, doing individual studyprojects, and will travel on theU.S. Mainland for four weeks, start-ing October 18, and visit Japan for10 days in late November.

Other countries representedinclude Korea, Japan, Hong Kong,Thailand, Indonesia and India.

Jefferson Fellowships are opento Pacific Island journalists.Austin Sapias, then with the PostCourier in Port Moresby, was aFellow in 1972. Those interestedin the 1975 program can write toJim Richstad, Jefferson FellowCoordinator, Communication Institute,East-West Center, Honolulu, Hawaii96822, U.S.A.

BELL PRIZE WINNER

T. Gordon McBride, winner ofthe Bell Journalism Prize in NewZealand, is taking part of hisstudy/travel program with the Com-munication Institute at the East-West Center. McBride is doing asurvey of electronic editing andother new devices in newspaperingwhile at the Center, and hopes tovisit newspapers on the U.S. Main-land that have such systems inoperation. He arrived at the Centerin late July.

The content of each issue isresearched and written by studentswho visit villages throughout Ameri-can Samoa and record a variety ofthings typically Samoan. For ex-ample, the first issue includedseveral articles describing thehistory, uses, significance, andthe art of making Samoan fine mats.Other stories dealt with the originsand meanings of village names. Poemsby local students were also featured.

Additional information and sub-scriptions may be obtained by writingFa'Asamoa Pea Community College ofAmerican Samoa, Pago Pago, AmericanSamoa, 96799.

WVUV STONED OFF THE AIR

Radio WVUV in Pago Pago unex-pectedly went off the air theevening of May 28 when angry resi-dents protesting the noise of anelectrical generator began stoningthe broadcast facility.

Due to an electrical outage inthe Western District that night,WVUV started up an emergency gasolinegenerator to continue the regularlyscheduled programs. However, nearbyresidents apparently did not likethe generator's noisy operation.They began stoning the station.

The lone announcer on dutysummoned police who then escortedhim home after the Samoan Office ofInformation--which operates WVUV--ordered the station shut down forthe night.

Previous protests against thegenerator included unexpected sta-tion "blackouts" when the fuel wasmysteriously turned off, thevandalism of staff vehicles as wellas the stoning of station personnel.

The power shortage has alsoforced cancellation of Samoan tele-vision broadcasts at times, and eventhe publication of the daily NewsBulletin on at least one occasion.

CENSORSHIP CAUSES STIR

From June Pacific Islands MonthlyThe deletion in early May of a

contentious paragraph in a radionews item on the Solomons' PublicService Advisory Board (PSAB)annual report for 1973, and theorder that any radio stories atpresent about political partiesmust be referred to the ChiefSecretary and the five Chairmen ofGoverning Council for "approval",leaves open to speculation thefuture of freedom of comment inthis country.

The order governing radiostories appears to have arisen outof the sensitivity of some Govcomembers to the reporting of movesamong politicians to form or breakthe infant political parties now

READING PROGRAMS DEVELOPED

By Mrs. Mildred S. CouncillSupervisor, Library Services

In 1972, the Office of LibraryServices initiated what is now knownas the Reading Center program inorder to motivate reading and studyamong the people of American Samoa.

The traditional life style andhousing of Samoans allow neitherplace, light or privacy for indi-viduals to read for pleasure orstudy in the evening. Since instruc-tion has been entirely by televisionuntil the last few years, the intro-duction of books, AV materials, andperiodicals has been an innovation.

The Community College, born in1970, has created an additionalgroup of readers and students.Children and adults are eager toread and excited about the new ma-terials available to them. Booksand materials purchased with ESEATitle II funds are now availableduring evening hours at four branchlibraries, main library and in 19of the outer village schools.Teachers or principals who operatethe Centers assist patrons in useand selection of materials as wellas providing tutorial assistance.During the past 12 months, 15,579people attended a Reading Center.

The Reading Center personnelhave been paid by Library Servicesand Construction Act Title II, butthe amazing success of the projecthas stimulated local financialsupport for the 1976 fiscal year.

The Children's Summer Readingprogram operated at the Main Libraryin 1973 was so well attended thatit is being expanded to BranchLibraries, and to villages viabookmobile. This helps childrenretain English over the summer,since many Samoan families do notuse English in the home and thechildren were losing the languageduring summer vacation.

that the first Chief Minister andhis government are close to beingnamed.

The PSAB report hits out at analleged desire by "some GoverningCouncil members for political par-ticipation in the board's work."It also expressed concern over thepresence of three Govco memberson the committee established lastyear to review progress in locali-zation, and said that the PSAB,which was doing its utmost towardslocalization, should be independentof politics.

The censoring of parts of thereport raises the question ofwhether any statutory authorityestablished by government should befree to defend itself as it seesfit, and to state its opinions.The PSAB was defending its statusand independence..

Page 10: Pacific Islands Communication Newsletter, …...(ommunkat!on ew8ttor Pacific Islands NewsAssociation Suva,Fiji East-WestCommunicationInstitute Honolulu,Hawaii Vol.4 No.4 September

NEW FIJI DAILY PLANNED

In News From Fiji

Fiji is to have a second nationaldaily newspaper, the managing directorof Newspapers of Fiji Limited,Philip Harkness, announced in Auck-land in late May.

The Suva-based tabloid news-paper will be called the Fiji Sunand will be published in the after-noon. Harkness is a major share-holder in the company with Aw Sian,a Hong Kong newspaper publisher,and Raymond Burr, the American filmand television actor.

Twenty-five per cent of theshares will be offered to the publicof Fiji.

Harkness said the company ex-pected to start about October,depending on how soon a new four-unit off-set press can be shippedfrom Australia to Fiji.

20 FIJI CIVIL SERVANTS ATTENDPUBLIC RELATIONS 'CRASH COURSE

By Luke WaqalevuInformation Officer

A five-day seminar about therole of government information ser-vices and their relationship withthe news media was attended bytwenty Fiji senior civil servantsJuly 22 to 26 in Suva.

The course, officially openedby Fiji's Minister without Port-folio, Ratu David Toganivalu, wasconducted by Robert McClelland, aNew Zealand journalist and a formerFellow of the East-West Communica-tion Institute of Hawaii.

The course covered public rela-tions, basic journalism and otherprofessional factors associated withnews. Apart from the lectures,written press release assignmentsand discussions, an impressive fea-ture of the course was a "shadowpress conference to which membersof the local news media were in-vited.

Seminar recommendations whichhave been submitted for Government'sconsideration include:

(i) review of the role of theGovernment's Public Rela-tions Office to meet localconditions;

(ii) appointment of an infor-mation officer for each

of the ten Governmentministries; and

(iii) training of informationofficers.

Ratu David, who also officiallyclosed the seminar, summed up foreveryone when he said, 'the course,although a 'crash one, had been'crashed on' very successfully.'

. 5. ,Ar

41

GHbert andEliece Islands

HANKS TO G&E

From Radio ActiveMay 1974

The Supervisor of Education inSouth Australia Kelvin Hanks is onsecondment to the Gilbert andEllice Islands.

Hanks will stay a year in theGilbert and Ellice Islands to helpin the setting up of a school broad-casting service. He is working withthe Department of Education thereand giving guidance on script-writingand production, as well as visitingschools to assess their needs andthe kind of help radio can givethem.

NEW AIRSTRIPS PLANNED

Timai Tekaai of the informa-tion office on Tarawa wired thatphase 1 of the airfield construc-tion program entails establishmentof three further airstrips on Mara-ki in northern Gilbert, Nonouti andBeru in southern Gilbert. Ministerfor Communication, Works and Utili-ties, Honbwetake Areita, said workon Marakei would begin early Octo-ber 1974 and is expected to be com-leted in January. He said Nonoutiairfield would be finished June 1974.

Guam

UNIVERSITY OF GUAM SEEKSTO ESTABLISH COMMUNICATION PROGRAM

The University of Guam Divisionof Language Arts has recently ap-plied to the Gannett Foundation fora two year grant to help establisha curriculum for an interdiscipli-nary major and minor in Communica-tion.

Both daily newspapers on Guam,the Pacific Dateline and the Pacific

Daily New are owned by the Gannettnewspaper group, and have expresseda willingness to the University ofGuam to assist the school in devel-oping a broad-based communicationstudy program out of which potentialisland journalists might emerge.

The University of Guam hasoffered sporadic journalism coursesin the past, but has never inte-grated communication offerings intoan academic or professional empha-sis.

Directing the program for theUniversity would be Dr. James Reed,divisional chairman, with theassistance of Mrs. Delores Johnsonand Mr. Frank Cunningham, bothprofessors with a strong journalisticbackground.

Assisting in the coordinationof the program from the professionalmedia are Mr. Robert Udick, pub-lisher, and Dr. T.J. Brislin, edi-tor of the Pacific Dateline whoearned his Ph.D. in CommunicationStudies from The Ohio State Univer-sity.

The University program wouldinclude a strong professional prac-ticum aspect in which students wouldbe placed with various professionalmedia outlets on the island foractual "hands on" experience.

JOURNALISTS STUDY CHAMORRO

The onset of political cam-paigning on Guam brought a very realand immediate problem: Althoughstaff journalists of the two Guamnewspapers (Pacific Dail News andPacific Dateline are we 1 trainedan exceptiona in their profession,they are for the most part "imported"from the mainland United States, andunable to understand many of theisland political speeches which aredelivered in the local language ofChamorro.

To help alleviate this languagebarrier, the publisher of the twonewspapers, Robert E. Udick, arrangedfor company-sponsored languagelessons.

For the past several months,reporters, editors, and the publisherhave been studying the Chamorrolanguage in intensive two hour ses-sions held weekly.

The instructor for the class isMrs. Bernadita Dungca, director ofthe bi-cultural education programof the University of Guam. Mrs.Dungca studied at the University ofHawaii with the East-West Centerand the Pacific and Asian LinguisticsInstitute, where she assisted in thewiting of "A Chamorro ReferenceriGraniser" by Dr. Donald Topping,director of the Institute. Toppingis also the author of "SpokenChamorro," published by PALl, whichis the text for the special lan-guage course.

10

Page 11: Pacific Islands Communication Newsletter, …...(ommunkat!on ew8ttor Pacific Islands NewsAssociation Suva,Fiji East-WestCommunicationInstitute Honolulu,Hawaii Vol.4 No.4 September

MICRONESIAN MEDIA: A 1974 VIEW

The following article describ-ing the news media in Micronesia istaken from a longer report onInformation and Education for Self-Government in Micronesia," a casestudy by David I. Hitchcock, Jr.Dr. Hitchcock visited Micronesiafor 17 days in March, as part of anindividual study while he was withthe U.S. State Department's SeniorOfficer Seminar in Foreign Policy.The views in the paper are notnecessarily those of the StateDepartment. Dr. Hitchcock earlierdid a comparative study of theMalaysian press and the Philippinepress.

By David I. Hitchcock, Jr

The success of any Micronesianplebiscitewill hinge on the effec-tiveness of Education for Self-Government (ESG) efforts over thenext year or more to reach--and ex-plain the political issues to--areasonably large majority of theMicronesian people.

In the remainder of this paper,we will examine the available chan-nels of communication and considerwhat could be done to assure theirmost effective utilization. Someof the ideas are new; some comefrom Micronesians; and some probablycould not be carried out soon enoughto be helpful in a plebiscite, butmay nevertheless be useful in thelong run.

* Use of Radio *

While the subject of consider-able criticism, Micronesian radiocan nevertheless make an importantcontribution to ESG. In 1965, E.J.Kahn reported that some 5,000Micronesians had radio sets. Todaythe number has vastly increased;the Deputy District Administratorfor Truk estimates that on Trukeseislands, in every village with aboutten houses, probably 50% have radios.This average would obviously be muchhigher in and near the districtcenters. Congressman Luke Tman es-timates that radio reaches 80% ofhis people. "People on the outerislands own the most radios."Slowly but surely, radio transmissionfrom each district is being strength-ened. But the task is time-consumingand delays could seriously hinderESG. All six district centers havehad one-kilowatt stations for someyears now. A five-KW transmitterhas been installed in Truk for 18months, but lacks certain partsneeded to replace the one-KW trans-mitter; and in the Marshalls' dis-trict capital of Majuro, construc-tion of a new ten-KW transmitterstarted over three years ago is 90%complete, but is not yet operating

because certain parts are lacking.Only in Ponape is a ten-KW stationin actual operation, and even there,the close to 4,000 people of Kusaie,over 300 hundred miles from thedistrict center of Kolonia, canoften only hear the radio at night(and then for about thirty minutesin their own language of Kusaiean).Five-KW transmitters in Yap andSaipan are planned over the nexttwo years.

Staff and content of thesestations varies slightly. But ingeneral, they are manned by abouteleven Micronesians, mostly tech-nicians trained in Saipan. Withthe exception of from thirty minutesto several hours of U.S. Armed ForcesRadio news and taped feature packets,Voice of America world news (usuallytaped for rebroadcast), one weeklyMNS news round-up from Saipan, andMNS daily teletyped news, the sta-tions are on their own. They relymainly on a heavy dose of local andAmerican-style recorded music, pluslocal news and announcements. Localpublic affairs programs consistmainly of verbatim tapes of occa-sionally inaudible District Legis-lature proceedings. In Ponape, aparticularly enterprising stationmanager does obtain news actualitiesand has produced special politicalinterviews (about thirty in twoyears); but in general, publicaffairs interviews, round-tablediscussions or news analysis--localor from Saipan--are rare.

Inter-district news exchangeis infrequent; a radio station maypossibly file a news story to MNSfor relay to other stations once aweek; and rarely is any substantivedescription of developments in theother districts exchanged. Equip-ment at some stations such asportable tape recorders, turntables,turntable-to-recorder hook-ups andisland-wide remote control systemsfor live broadcasting is old or non-existent. Perhaps the biggest prob-lem is the shortage of trained,broadcast journalists who know howto gather news and produce substan-tive public affairs programming.Also lacking--and a key impedimentto effective political education--are good translators. MNS materialis transmitted in English only, witheach station and local public affairsoffice expected to handle transla-tions--for radio as well as forpublication. In Truk, local offi-cials estimate that of the $13,000they have been allocated for ESG(from the original U.S. Congressionalappropriation of $100,000), $4,000must be used to hire two good trans-lators, leaving $9,000 for all otherlocal ESG expenses!

In its 1973 Annual Report, theU.N. Trusteeship Council VisitingMission concluded: ". . . we arenot convinced that radio stationsare being used as fully as theymight be to foster the development

of political awareness among thepeople."

Few societies probably rely asmuch on radio as Micronesia does forknowledge of the world beyond thelocal reef; as a supplement toface-to-face discussion, radio canbe enormously useful to ESG, es-pecially if two-way interaction andfeedback are fully developed.

* Use of Television *

According to Carl Heine,"Micronesia is a listening and see-ing society; people don't bother toread; T.V. would be the best medium."The T.T. government was studying thepossibilities for television in theislands as early as 1965. Nine yearslater, there is one T.V. station, inSaipan. It is commercial and oper-ates eight hours daily. Other thanCBS news, local MNS news, SesameStreet and the Electric Company,content is almost entirely devotedto re-runs. There is not localproduction and no attempt to developlocal news. Twenty percent of itsprogramming is supposed to be de-voted to public affairs and educa-tion, local and otherwise; but theT.T. administration actually usesabout one hour per week. The stationcan be viewed in Tinian (whilenearby Rota--also in the Marianas--is able to catch Guam's T.V. sta-tions). So far, the station hasnot been a vehicle for ESB pro-gramming. The station may even-tually develop an ETV channelwith T.T. government assistance.The Micronesian BroadcastingCorporation of Guam (which runsthe Saipan T.V. outlet) has re-quested permission to build andoperate in Saipan a one-KW commer-cial A.M. radio station, a 250watt F.M. station and a communitycable T.V. system. Another Guamorganization headed by Lee Holmeshas submitted applications tooperate cable T.V. in all sixdistricts. In Saipan, the Holmesoutfit reportedly will charge $20for installation and an $18 monthlyfee; in the Marshalls, a competingorganization, Pacific Communications,has been granted a permit; in Trukboth cable T.V. organizations wereturned down, among other reasonsfor fear the kind of programmingexpected would adversely influenceTruk's youth; and in Palau and Yap,applications are still pending.

It seems clear that it is onlya matter of time before televisionwill be launched in all six dis-tricts, but not, except possiblyfor Saipan, in time to be usefulto the ESG program. In any case,commercial T.V. may not be allthat helpful to political education.A recent study in the Marianasconcluded that "...adequate pro-vision must be made for well-

(Continued next page)

Page 12: Pacific Islands Communication Newsletter, …...(ommunkat!on ew8ttor Pacific Islands NewsAssociation Suva,Fiji East-WestCommunicationInstitute Honolulu,Hawaii Vol.4 No.4 September

(Continued from page 11)

planned, local programming; other-

wise you will see--as in theMarianas--a decrease...in politicalknowledge among people who shifttheir attention from radio to

T.V,'.And Ian Johnstone of the South

Pacific Commission warned last year,a real danger exists that in Pacificisland nations, television maydevelop more influenced by commer-

cial than by public initiatives,.forced to transmit, for the

greater part, imported programmematerial thereby increasing cultural

colonialism, and failing to meetthe needs of Pacific people for

programmes which help to develop a

sense of island and regionalidentity.

Use of video tape may be pos-sible however; and in a pre-plebiscite time/framework. Reel-to-reel video tape equipment is avail-able at most District Public Affairsoffices; and at least one school,the Community College of Micronesiain Ponape, has the production capa-bility to serve other districts aswell.

Johnstone describes in somedetail the great contribution whichvideo tape recorders could make inthe developing areas of the Pacific.He sees the portable video taperecorder, plus camera, tripod, ex-tension mikes, television monitor,

tape and power/battery pack, as

providing a simple, cheap and imme-

diately available tool for develop-ment, one which is uniquely suitedfor non-verbal, rural populations:

Rurally oriented anddirected television programmes,with battery sets for villages,viewing groups, a high propor-tion of vernacular programmes,and (eventually) high qualityreception in the country areas,could do a great deal to improvethe quality of village life,

by opening to villagers awindow on the world, allowingthem to be part of the nation,

giving them ideas and adviceabout their farms, their fami-lies and their values aid,

through organized responselines, allowing them to com-municate with their leaders...

But Johnstone stresses this will onlyhappen "...if local people havecontrol of the medium, and access toit.' Closed television, used in thisfashion, "...will provide excellent

preparation for later growth of

locally managed 'open' televisionsystems, transmitted from central

points to T.V. sets in individualhomes. Initial experiments withVTR in Tahiti and Tonga supportJohnstone's opinion, demonstrating"the values of local production, ofimmediate playback capability, of

language applicability, for directinvolvement of performer-viewers inall levels of production... VTR isn't

magic, but its effect is miraculouswhen it bridges an ocean which hashidden people from one another forcenturies."

A word should be said about

possible satellite communications.For the past several years, various

experiments have been going on link-

ing some of the campuses of the

University of Hawaii and some of the

University of the South Pacific in

Fiji, using a NASA ApplicationsTechnology Satellite (ATS-l), with

funding by the United Nations and

private foundations. The project iscalled PEACESAT--Pan Pacific Educa-tion and Communications Experimentsby Satellite--and involves both voiceand telecopier communication. Useof the hook-up, which has terminalsin Honolulu, Maui, American Samoa,Alaska, Wellington, Suva, Papua-New Guinea and, since April 1973,Saipan, is both educational andmedical. The T.T. government hopesto establish terminals in otherMicronesian districts; additionalSouth Pacific stations are also

planned. Open dissemination viaradio is also envisaged. Another

project has been discussed with the

Congress of Micronesia and NASA:Guam's Micronesian Cable T.V. Com-

pany proposes to broadcast radio

programs via a NASA ATS, from Guam

through ground antennas to approxi-mately 300 well-placed VHF receiversets in Micronesia. The programs--about ESG or anything else--wouldbe produced in Guam and the sixMicronesian districts. While suchan operational/commercial activitymay be difficult to implement viathis federal/experimental system--

even where Education for Self-Government (ESG) is given generoustime--the idea is an interestingone which could further strengthenthe concept of Micronesian unity.A major drawback to any centrallydiffused programming in Micronesia--by radio or television--will, howevercontinue to be the language problem.

In time, television could betransmitted by satellite directly toschools and even to private homes inMicronesia. The first phase of sucha project has already been imple-mented; it involves the use of aU.S. satellite as a relay from acentral Indian ground station to5,000 or more village receiver sets.The Japanese can now reportedlyproduce the T.V. attachment neededfor direct satellite viewing forabout $150. But it seems most

unlikely that satellite T.V. couldbe initiated in Micronesia in timeto be useful to Education for Self-Government.

Video tape cassettes andcassette players will eventually befeasible for Micronesian schools,libraries and district legislatures,and would be the next logical stepafter reel-to-reel production. Butany such effort first requiresestablishment of an adequate Micro-nesian maintenance capability.

(Part II next issue)

MS. KING ASSUMES DAILY NEWS POST

Ms. Joan H. King recently be-came the Trust Territory corres-

pondent for Guam's Pacific DailyNews. She assumes the post vacatedE7Vs. Diana Maddex, who returnedto the United States.

Ms. King was most recently an

assistant librarian at the Conqressof Micronesia on Saipan. She andher husband, Edward, deputy direc-tor of the Micronesian Legal Ser-vices Corporation, have lived on

Saipan since July 1972.

Ms. Maddex had worked forthe Daily News since June 1973 asthe Guam paper's chief correspondentin Micronesia, based on Saipan.

Norfolk

SERVICE CLUB EYESSATELLITE LINK

The Lions Club of Norfolk isinterested, as a public service

project, in establishing a satel-lite transmission and receivingstation on the Island.

The interest of the NorfolkIsland Lions Club was raised afterone of their members, Tom Lloyd,

Editor of the local paper TheNorfolk Islander, returned from theJune meeting of the PINA held inSuva

With other delegates at thePINA Conference, Mr. Lloyd attendeda working session at the Universityof the South Pacific and took partin a Pan-Pacific discussion viaPeasesat.

On his return to the Island,Mr. Lloyd was asked to give a talk

on PINA and apart from mentioningall the advantages that were beingoffered in the way of journalismtraining he also mentioned themarvellous work that is being donein the field of education via sat-ellite.

Enquiries have gone from theNorfolk Island Lions Club to inves-tigate further the possibility ofwhether such a satellite link ispossible for Norfolk Island.

12

Page 13: Pacific Islands Communication Newsletter, …...(ommunkat!on ew8ttor Pacific Islands NewsAssociation Suva,Fiji East-WestCommunicationInstitute Honolulu,Hawaii Vol.4 No.4 September

BASILIUS NAMED INFORMATION CHIEF

Micronesian News Service

Bonifacio Basilius of Palauis the new Chief of the PublicInformation Division at Headquar-ters on Saipan. He was appointedin late July.

Basilius, 33, replaces JamesH. Manke, who completed just overfour years of service with theTrust Territory Government. Mankeand his family left Saipan toreturn to Hawaii. Basilius offi-cially took over August 4. Hisdivision produces the quarterlyMicronesian Reporter magazine, theHigh Commissioner's newsletter,Highlights, and the daily Micro-nesian News Service (MNS).

Born in Ngchesar Village,Babelthuap, Basilius was educatedat Xavier High School in Truk andthe College of Guam, and receivedhis B.A. degree in journalism fromthe University of Hawaii in 1968.He has worked as a radio announcerand editor in Palau, and was thedistrict public information officerfrom 1968 to 1971. From 1971 to1973 he served as AdministrativeOfficer for Palau District Admin-istrator Thomas Q. Remengesau,before going to Saipan to assumethe position of Assistant Chief ofthe Public Information Division inJanuary 1973.

High Commissioner Edward E.Johnston presented Manke with anhonor award for making a signifi-cant contribution to the goal ofa fully informed Micronesianpublic.

PRESS CLUB CONSIDERED

Journalists on Saipan aretaking preliminary steps towardforming a Saipan Press Club, orpossibly Saipan News Association.One meeting has been held, and itlooks like the membership will bearound a dozen people, includingWSZE-TV, KJQR Radio, MarianasVariety I Gaseta Micronesian NewsService, and the Saipan correspon-dent for Pacific Daily News

Nau ru

RADIO STATION HOURS LISTED

The June 21, 1974 issue ofthe Nauru Bulletin lists the hoursof the Radio Stations service forTelegrams and Telephone. Normalhours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. dailyincluding Sunday for telegrams,and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday toSaturday inclusive.

Provision for after-hoursservice is made.

The normal operating hours ofthe Radio Station are 8 a.m. to8 p.n. daily, including Sunday,and 'no traffic, either telegraphyor telephone, will be acceptedbetween 8 p.m. and 8 a.m. exceptin cases of medical emergencies,death messages or the like.

The same issue also carriedthe program schedule for June 21to July 4.

New Hebrides

NEW MAGAZINE APPEARS

A new monthly magazine calledkousurata -- a local language

word meaning roam" or travel --has been launched in the NewHebrides. Edited by the husband-and-wife team, Jean and PennyBarbier, former editors of Nakamal,the magazine is devoted to devotedto cultural and travel subjects.

When the first issue made itsappearance in Vila and Santo shops,the 200 New Hebrides Franc sellingprice was quickly reduced to 120francs because of slow sales.Even with a 40 per cent pricereduction sales were not encourag-ing for the new magazine, despitereadable content and attractivelayout.

Assurances that the weeklynewspaper Nakamal published by thelocal print shop Imprimerie Hebri-daise, would continue under neweditorhsip were, at the end ofJuly, still unfulfilled.

I

"&."M?no,

New Zealand

CIRCULATION--PAID & FREE--HIGH IN N.Z.By Glen Wright

Concomitant with New Zealand'shigh readership of paid circulationdaily newspapers, 67 of the country's127 weeklies are free distribution.And one, New Zealand Truth Welling-ton, is the largest circulatingpaper in the country, with 226,700ABC.

Some 373 New Zealanders out ofevery 1,000 read dailies, comparedto 518 in Sweden, 463 in Britain,363 in Australia and 337 in theU.S.A. A total of 332,945,000 dailypapers was printed in 1970. Thatfigure is sharply up now.

Magazine and weekly newspaperreadership is up, too, being readby 200 people out of every thousand.Some 57,893,000 were printed in1970. This figure also is highernow.

New Zealand's Press ResearchBureau's Advertising and PublicityPlanner lists 158 newspapers and418 magazines for a total of 576publications. The country's pop-ulation is about 2,900,000.

The overwhelming majority ofcirculation, some 1,188,711, isowned by 14 metropolitan papers andtheir weekly supplements. The giantof these is the daily and SundayNew Zealand Herald of Auckland, with291,000 circulation. Smallest isthe 42,000 Otago Daily Times ofDunedin.

There are 34 dailies; 26 withcirculations over 5,000, eight withfewer.

Of the 127 weeklies, five areSundays. Of the 67 that are dis-tributed free, 44 are published inthe three largest cities.

For example, in Auckland thereare two dailies with 364,000 paidcirculation and three weeklies with288,251; seven weeklies distribute286,112 copies free.

Twenty-one of Wellington's 26newspapers are giveaways! Theircombined distribution is 210,850copies. The capital's two dailiessell 173,359 and its three paidweeklies 416,160.

Christchurch's three dailiessell a total of 177,000 copies.Its six weeklies distributed .121,654copies.

Dunedin has three dailiestotalling 97,000 paid and no weeklies,paid or free.

The largest magazine, regard-less of classification, is the con-sumer group's New Zealand Women'sWeekly, with 230,000 ABC. FamilyCircle is next with 143,000 ABC.Time has 38,000 and Newsweek 9,092ABC. Reader's Digest's entry listsno circulation figure.

Fastest growing classificationin the magazine field is that oftourism. Combined circulation for16 titles is 382,600. One, a moteldirectory, claims 200,000; AirlineReview, 71,000.

Page 14: Pacific Islands Communication Newsletter, …...(ommunkat!on ew8ttor Pacific Islands NewsAssociation Suva,Fiji East-WestCommunicationInstitute Honolulu,Hawaii Vol.4 No.4 September

(Continued from page 3)Second, this issue marks the

beginning of the fifth year of pub-lication for PICN, which started infall 1970 as the Pacific IslandsJournalism Newsletter. The mainreason the Communication Institutebegan PICN still remains--there arefew sources of information aboutjournalism and mass communicationin the Pacific Islands, and much ofthe day-by-day developments willbe lost without some regular re-cording of events.

Another striking aeveropmentin the Pacific has been the in-creasing role of the Peacesat andUSP satellite educational systems.The ATS-l radio satellite has beenused constantly both before andafter PINA was formed, and is al-most casually accepted now. Thismeans the Organizing Committee canmeet regularly over the satellite,greatly reducing what had been aserious hardship for regional or-ganizations--the great distance andisolation and costs of travel andcommunication. The satellite isbeing used for news exchanges, too,as noted in this issue.

I have been the editor of PICNsince its founding, and many peoplehave helped over the years in keep-ing it going. At the East-WestCenter, three important peopleshould be mentioned: Gwen Yamashiro,who has carefully typed the copyinto camera ready form; Cindy Shklov,who has very professionally done thelayout and pasteup, and Hideo Kon,who has been most understanding withour printing problems, and hasturned out a sharp, attractive pro-duct for us.

Thanks again to all those whohave sent in news items and news-papers for the newsletter.

And, finally, some thoughts onPINA. The organization of a pro-fessional journalism and communica-tion association is always difficult,and considerable support wil-l beneeded both in the Pacific Islandsand outside the Pacific. Len Usherhas already put the association inhigh gear, and the vitality isobvious to all.

By joining together the journal-ist, the broadcaster and the govern-ment information officer into oneorganization, PINA is embarking onan unusual course. But, as thedominant feeling at the June meetingshowed, it can work in the Pacificcontext. Another important principlewas that the terms of membership inPINA should be such that the widestpossible membership is obtained.

The desire and, certainly, thehopes for a strong professionalorganization are there. Now it isa matter of making it work.-

Jim Richstad

Western SamoaPAPER SHORTAGE HITSPaper to print newspapers on

was in short supply in WesternSamoa in the latter part of July.Kalati Nose, editor of Savali, thegovernment paper, said in late Julyhe wasn't sure where the newsprintfor his next issue was coming from.He noted that press runs of theSamoa Times were reduced, and somecopies of the South Sea Star wereprinted in American Samoa and flownto Western Samoa.

(Continued from page].)Richstad, research associate, East-West Communication Institute.

The organizing Committee, whichhas the power to co-opt, has invitedSam Piniau, executive head of theNational Broadcasting Commissionin Papua New Guinea, to sit ex-officioon the board. Usher also sits ex-officio on the committee.

The Suva conference, the followup to the Pacific Islands EditorsConference of 1972, reviewed therecommendations of the earlierorganizing committee for threedays, and then met in full sessionJune 27 and 28. On the final day,the conference adopted the committee'srecommendations (see Pages 2 and 3)and Training recommendations (seePage 4), as well as naming Usherand the new committee.

Ratu David Toganivalu, Ministerwithout Portfolio, Fiji, asked thedelegates to consider the natureof a Pacific Islands press, ascompared to a Western-style press,in his keynote address. He urgedthe press to work with the govern-ments of the developing countries,to explain the complexities as wellas develop a sense of unity andnationhood.

The conference was co-sponsoredby the PINA organizing committeeand the East-West CommunicationInstitute in Hawaii. Usher wasconference chairman.

Leota Pita Alailima plannedto make several stops in Europe andthe United States during September,on his way home from a populationconference in Europe,to adviseinternational groups of PINA andits financial needs.

Usher also asked that editorsstart airmailing to him copies oftheir publications, so the newsexchange can get under way.

Those attending the conferenceaside from those mentioned above,included:

Hugh Leonard, general manager,Fiji Broadcasting Commission, Suva;Timai Tekaai, acting chief informa-tion officer, Gilbert & ElliceIslands; Tom Lloyd, editor, theNorfolk Islander; Siosiu Fonua,editor, Tonga Chronicle; AustinSapias, press secretary, chiefministers office, Papua New Guinea.

-

* -

COCONUT MEETING

Sauiluma Kupa of the WesternSamoan Agricultural Department,reports that the first meeting ofthe Asian Coconut Community out-side of Asia opened July 22 at thenew Tusitala Hotel. The week-longmeeting discussed several reportsand prepared recommendations, MissKupa, who participated in an Aprilradio satellite demonstration,reported.

Robert McClelland, AucklandStar, and observer: AucklandJournalists Association; JosephMurphy, editor, Micronesian Inde-pendent, Majuro, Marshall Islands;A.A. Smyser, editor, Honolulu Star-Bulletin, and observer: AmericanNewspaper Publishers Association;Stuart Inder, editor, PacificIslands Monthly, Sydney; PhillipHarkness, Newspapers of Fiji Limitedand observer: International PressInstitute.

Michael Drollet, Cook IslandsRadio and Newspaper Corporation;Allan Cole, editorial manager, NewZealand Herald, Auckland; KalatiNose, press officer, government ofWestern Samoa, editor, Savali, Apia;Faalogo Pito Faalogo, managing editor,Samoa Times, Apia.

John K. Thompson, junior econo-mist, South Pacific Bureau for Eco-nomic Cooperation, Suva; StephenYaqona, government public relationsoffice, Suva; Walter Thomas, govern-ment public relations office, Suva;John Moses, managing editor, FijiTimes and Herald Limited and obser-ver: Pacific Area News ProductionAssociation.

Martin Brady, third secretary,Australian High Commission, Suva;Brian F. Murray, second secretary,New Zealand High Commission, Suva;Baghwan Singh, Indian High Commi-ssioner, Suva; Bernard J. Fennell,charge d'affaires, American Embassy,Suva.

K.P. Mishra, editor-publisher,Jai Fiji Publications, Lautoka, Fiji;Dr. I.S. Chauhan, director, IndianCultural Centre, Suva; Matt Wilson,Matt Wilson Limited, Lami, Suva;Bertram Jones, Matt Wilson Limited,Lami, Suva.

George Rubine, Matt WilsonLimited, Lami, Suva; George Williams,news director, Fiji BroadcastingCommission, Suva; Victor Barker,News (South Pacific) Limited, Suva;Shirley Barker, News (South Pacific)Limited, Suva.

Savenacal. Railoa, P.R.O.,Native Land Trust Board, Suva;Vimal Sharma, chief reporter, ShantiOut, Suva; Luke Vuidreketi, editor,Nai Lalakai, Suva; Uate Viti, NaiLalakai, Suva.

Manoa Rasigatale, Nai Lalakai,Suva; Netava S. Vunivalu, Nai Lalakai,Suva; Dr. Lindsay Verrier, PacificDaily (Fiji) Limited, Suva; G. HabiDean, publisher, Volagauna, Suva.

14