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Yumi Wok Bung Wantaim: We Work Together: The Status of Communication, Community Engagement, and Accountability in Humanitarian Action in Papua New Guinea

Johnston Joram Riven, Jacinta Isaacs

CDAC Network (2022), 88 pp.

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Suppressing the Truth and Spreading Lies: How the CCP is Influencing Solomon Islands’ Information Environment

Blake Johnson

Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI), International Cyber Policy Centre (2022), 24 pp.

"This report highlights an emerging and continuously developing Chinese state information capability in Solomon Islands. That capability can be deployed to support the CCP’s objectives, which include undermining Solomon Islands’ existing relationships with foreign partners, particularly Australi ... more

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A Year in the Life of Fiji’s Beleaguered National News Media: Insights from the 2016 State of the Media Report and Some Potential Implications of ‘Development Journalism’

Shailendra B. Singh

Journalism, volume 22, issue 2 (2021), pp. 553-570

"This case study on the state of the media in Fiji in 2016 highlights some problems of development journalism in the practical, applied sense. The case study looks at the changing nature of journalism in post-coup Fiji, reputed to have the South Pacific’s toughest media law. The analysis is conduc ... more

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Fiji Media, Language and Telecommunications Landscape Guide

Caroline Austin

Australian Aid (AusAID); CDAC Network (2021), 26 pp.

"This guide is a living document that is meant to be used as a starting point when planning and undertaking a campaign prior to (if possible) and during a disaster. It is intended to support the work of the Fiji government and the Fiji Communication and Community Engagement Working Group (CCEWG) in ... more

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Giga: Empowering communities in Asia and the Pacific through school connectivity

Geneva: ITU (2021), ix, 92 pp.

"Giga, a joint collaboration between ITU and UNICEF, is an initiative to connect every young person in the world to information, opportunity and choice. Devised before the onslaught on COVID-19, the project addresses the underlying inequities in access to the Internet. However, it is also a platform ... for creating the infrastructure necessary to provide digital connectivity to an entire country, for every community and for every citizen. With schools as a focal point, Giga seeks to build robust digital ecosystems, so communities everywhere can cope with shocks such as COVID-19 and ensure that no one is left behind. To achieve this goal, Giga builds on four pillars: map, finance, connect, empower. Map. Mapping of schools helps identify the connectivity problems and gauge the magnitude of the challenge in each country. Top-down and bottom-up approaches to mapping school connectivity support this endeavour [...] Connect. There are various infrastructure and technology solutions available that could bring affordable connectivity to the unconnected schools identified by the mapping exercise, including established technologies such as Wi-Fi, satellite, and fibre [...] Finance. The selection of appropriate financing mechanisms depends on the magnitude of the challenge. The costing analysis can only take place after mapping connectivity gaps and determining fit-for-purpose connectivity solutions. Government budgets or universal service funds (USFs) could address small- to medium-sized connectivity gaps [...] Empower. Bringing connectivity to schools will have a limited impact if e-learning solutions are not in place and if educators do not have the digital skills to empower learners. There are many case studies from Asia and the Pacific of initiatives that aim to empower digital learning [...] Giga has made significant progress since its launch. It is already active in 17 countries in three regions. Countries in Asia and the Pacific are next to join the Giga initiative. Several countries have expressed interest, including Bhutan, Pakistan, Mongolia, Bangladesh, Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu and Fiji. Each country has its own opportunities and challenges in terms of extending connectivity. The review of policies, regulatory environment, school connectivity initiatives and availability of connectivity data in potential Giga countries and the assessment of use cases strongly indicate that there is significant promise for the expansion of Giga in the region." (Executive summary, pages vi-vii) more

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The State of Community Media and Community Radio in Solomon Islands

AMARC Asia-Pacific (2021), 10 pp.

"The Solomon Islands’ media industry is a fast-growing one. A unique feature of the media industry in Solomon Islands is youth employment. Solomon Islands has a population with 70 percent of people under the age of 29, and the media industry primarily comprises young people. While this is importan ... t for youth employment and contributes to a dynamic industry, 50 percent of media practitioners do not have a higher education qualification. The media industry often attracts people straight out of high school and the lack of formal education among most media practitioners in Solomon Islands is said to impact on the quality of media. There are several print newspapers. The government operates a national radio station, and subnational and private radio stations are also available. Subscription television services offer some local content in addition to foreign broadcasts. Solomon Islands has a number of public and private media broadcasters, and print outlets. The Solomon Islands Broadcasting Corporation (SIBC) is the state broadcaster and has a reach of over 90 percent of the population via radio. SIBC does not have a television station. [...] Radio is the medium with the largest reach in Solomon Islands. The vast majority of the people (95 per cent) surveyed in the 2010 Audience Survey commissioned by the Solomon Islands Media Assistance Scheme (SOLMAS) stated that they have access to at least one radio station in their area, with SIBC having the greatest reach. SIBC runs Radio Hapi Isles, Wantok FM (commercial music station) and provincial stations, Radio HapiLagun and Radio Temotu. Paoa FM is the leading commercial radio station run by Solomon Star. ZFM 100, another commercial station, is owned by Commercial XJ6 Co Ltd. Gud Nius Redio, a semi-commercial station, broadcasts religious music and content but produces no local news. [...] The development of community media in the Solomon Islands can be traced back to 2004. There was growing appreciation of the potential role of radio stations in supporting local governance and facilitating greater community participation and accountability. The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Isabel Provincial Government (IPG) established eight low-power FM radio stations around the province as part of the Isabel Provincial Development Programme (IPDP).6 The aim was to support the growing role of governance institutions in provincial development planning and to improve communication between these institutions and the islanders. Poor infrastructure has been one of the main factors inhibiting effective two-way communication in the Solomon Islands. The problem is particularly acute in remote and mountainous areas such as Isabel. For that reason, the radio stations were set up in remote villages to allow greater sharing of information and the development of local content by host communities. The People First Network (PFnet) provided high-frequency radio email stations, co-located with the radio stations installed and managed by the IPDP. These facilities became known as community information centres. PFnet was involved in the operation of the email stations until the IPDP initiative ended in December 2007, after which the stations were operated by their local communities." (Pages 3-7) more

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Pacific Crises: COVID, Climate Emergency and West Papua

Philip Cass, David Robie (eds.)

Pacific Journalism Review, volume 27, issue 1-2 (2021), pp. 1-174

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How Information Disorder Affirms Authoritarianism and Destabilizes Democracy: Evidence, Trends, and Actionable Mitigation Strategies from Asia and the Pacific

Michael Buehler, Ed Schatz, Sameen Ali, Christopher Green, Janjira Sombatpoonsiri

Washington, DC: USAID; Integra Government Services International LLC; Asia Emerging Opportunities (AEO) Activity (2021), 130 pp.

"Section 2 of this report provides an overview of information disorder in Asia and the Pacific and describes how it destabilizes democracy and strengthens authoritarianism. After situating information disorder in Asia and the Pacific in its historical context, Section 2 examines which actors 1) spre ... more

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Dynamics of People, State, and Cyber Power in the Internet Shutdown Policy at Papua and West Papua in 2019

Irnasya Shafira Hadi, Riza Noer Arfani, Hakimul Ikhwan

Advances in Social Science, Education and Humanities Research, issue 672 (2021), pp. 234-248

"The Internet Shutdown policy implemented at Papua and West Papua in 2019 has created a competing narrative between the government and the civil society. The main narration championed to justify the Internet Shutdown by the government is the concern of the national security whereas the civil society ... more

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South Malekula: A smart island of Vanuatu. Preliminary study of needs and priorities

Geneva: ITU (2021), vi, 21 pp.

"The study identified resource gaps relating to broadband connectivity, affordability, digital literacy and skills, and priority digital services. It identified the need for reliable and quality telecommunication network coverage; digital literacy and skills training (sales and marketing resources a ... more

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Sound Communities in the Asia Pacific: Music, Media, and Technology

Lonán Ó Briain, Min-Yen Ong (eds.)

New York City: Bloomsbury Academic (2021), 272 pp.

"The popularization of radio, television, and the Internet radically transformed musical practice in the Asia Pacific. These technologies bequeathed media broadcasters with a profound authority over the ways we engage with musical culture. Broadcasters use this power to promote distinct cultural tra ... more

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Media Resource Manual

Ambrose Pereira, Abigail Seta, Nigel Akuani, Rosemary Yambune, Jessica Oa

Catholic Bishops Conference Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands, Social Communications Commission (2021), 35 pp.

"The Media Resource Manual 2021 is a good resource for your priests, teachers, youth leaders, lay animators and students, in your diocese, school, parish, or institution. It is a simple guide to help your Media Team in their efforts to write articles and send in news items, feature articles, reflect ... more

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Research Handbook on International Migration and Digital Technology

Marie McAuliffe (ed.)

Edward Elgar Publishing (2021), 464 pp.

"Featuring international migration in all facets from the migration of tech sector specialists through to refugee displacement, leading contributors offer strategic insights into the future of migration and mobility. Covering diverse geographies and using interdisciplinary approaches, contributions ... more

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The State of Community Media and Community Radio in Fiji Islands

AMARC Asia-Pacific (2021), 12 pp.

"For a small country, Fiji has a relatively extensive media infrastructure. There are three major dailies (The Fiji Times, The Daily Post and The Sun), one commercial television station (Fiji One), eighteen commercial radio stations, three monthly business magazines and a number of other commercial ... more

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Church Media in Papua New Guinea

Media Development Initiative (MDI); ABC International Development; PNGAus Partnership (2021), 7 pp.

"The Church Media briefing provides a summary of the role and importance of church media in Papua New Guinea (PNG), with a view towards outlining its role, importance, management, and operational policies. Dedicated focus is also directed to how church media address information gaps around COVID-19. ... more

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Cybersafety: The experiences of Ni-Vanuatu women and girls online

Port Vila, Vanuatu: CARE Vanuatu (2021), 42 pp.

"The Girls Online (GO!) Cybersafety project (GO! Cyber) aims to equip young women and girls with the skills and resources to participate meaningfully and safely in cyberspace. The project is implemented by CARE Vanuatu and Sista with the support of Australia’s Cyber and Critical Tech Cooperation P ... more

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Maintaining land and life in Vanuatu: Indigenous alternatives of recovery following the Manaro eruption on Ambae, Vanuatu

Foley C. Pfalzgraf

Journal of Environmental Media, volume 2, issue Supplement (2021), pp. 5.1–5.13

"Between 2017 and 2019, the Manaro volcano on the island of Ambae in Vanuatu erupted consistently, leading to two compulsory evacuations of the island’s communities. The eruption was only one of many ecological emergencies unfolding in Vanuatu as climate change continues to affect the islands. Ami ... more

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The 10 Most Under-Reported Humanitarian Crises of 2020

Care International (2021), 25 pp.

"The analysis is based on online media coverage in five languages throughout the year. CARE sees a concerning trend of crises being neglected year after year. Six out of the ten crises are located on the African continent. The Central African Republic has appeared in the ranking for five consecutive ... more

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The Journey to Build Fiji’s National Communication Platform

Dan McClure

CDAC Network; Ground Truth Solutions (2020), 8 pp.

"Over the last two years, Fiji has worked to build a Communication and Community Engagement (CCE) platform that embeds advanced two-way communication capabilities in the national disaster response system. While it is common to think of “platforms” as a technology service, the intent here is much ... more

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Indigenous Textual Cultures: Reading and Writing in the Age of Global Empire

Tony Ballantyne, Lachy Paterson

Durham; London: Duke University Press (2020), 357 pp.

"As modern European empires expanded, written language was critical to articulations of imperial authority and justifications of conquest. For imperial administrators and thinkers, the non-literacy of “native” societies demonstrated their primitiveness and inability to change. Yet as the contrib ... more