scholarly journals Review: Merdeka: Media and the case for Papuan civil resistance

2016 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 241
Author(s):  
David Robie
Keyword(s):  
Freedom Of Speech ◽  
Blind Spot ◽  
The Self ◽  
Self Determination ◽  
Pacific Region ◽  
Media Freedom ◽  
Security Forces ◽  
Civil Resistance ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
West Papua

Five years ago the Pacific Media Centre and Pacific Media Watch published a ‘state of media freedom report’—the first such documentation in the Pacific region—and the most devastating section was about West Papua (Perrottet & Robie, 2011, 2012). The harrowing account of human rights violations and abuses of freedom of speech by the Indonesian military and security forces eclipsed comparable reports from the Pacific, including Fiji which was at the time a cause célèbre for free press champions. The theme of this report echoed many articles I have written over the years highlighting the ‘black’ or ‘blind spot’ demonstrated by New Zealand media neglect of covering West Papua and the self-determination cause (see Robie, 2011). Since then much has changed.

scholarly journals Key Melanesian media freedom challenges: Climate crisis, internet freedoms, fake news and West Papua

2020 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 15-36 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Robie
Keyword(s):  
News Media ◽  
Self Determination ◽  
Freedom Of Information ◽  
Fake News ◽  
Network Television ◽  
Media Freedom ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
West Papua ◽  
Social Media Platforms ◽  
Climate Crisis

Melanesia, and the microstates of the Pacific generally, face the growing influence of authoritarian and secretive values in the region—projected by both China and Indonesia and with behind-the-scenes manipulation. There is also a growing tendency for Pacific governments to use unconstitutional, bureaucratic or legal tools to silence media and questioning journalists. Frequent threats of closing Facebook and other social media platforms and curbs on online freedom of information are another issue. While Pacific news media face these challenges, their support networks are being shaken by the decline of Australia as a so-called ‘liberal democracy’ and through the undermining of its traditional region-wide public interest media values with the axing of Radio Australia and Australia Network television. Reporting climate change is the Pacific’s most critical challenge while Australian intransigence over the issue is subverting the region’s media. This article engages with and examines these challenges and also concludes that the case of West Papua is a vitally important self-determination issue that left unresolved threatens the security of the region.

scholarly journals Citizen media and civil resistance in West Papua

2016 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 38 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jason MacLeod
Keyword(s):  
Essential Role ◽  
Self Determination ◽  
Pacific Island ◽  
Military Operations ◽  
Media Activism ◽  
Civil Resistance ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
West Papua ◽  
The World ◽  
Making A Difference

This article charts the dynamics and trajectory of citizen media activism in West Papua’s fight for freedom which has progressed from not even registering in news rooms around the world to influencing sub-regional and regional bodies. Citizen media has played an essential role in this transformation. In 1998, when the Indonesian military massacred more than 100 unarmed West Papuans in Biak Island, it took weeks and months to get the news out. Back then West Papua was a military operations area (Daerah Operasi Militer). Few journalists were willing to risk travelling into the country to get the story out. In January 2016 West Papua remains an occupied colony. The Indonesian government still tries to curtail open access to West Papua for foreign journalists but courageous young people armed with cell phones are finding ways to bypass the government’s failed attempt at an informational blockade and it is making a difference. West Papuans are now members of the Melanesian Spearhead Group and the Pacific Island Forum is starting to take notice of the Pacific’s longest running self-determination and decolonisation struggle.

James Clifford’s ‘Indigenous Articulations’ as Travelling Theory? The Search for Sustainability in Theorising Taiwan’s Indigenous and Han Populations

2019 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 32-56
Author(s):  
Jess Marinaccio
Keyword(s):  
Indigenous Peoples ◽  
Indigenous Rights ◽  
Self Determination ◽  
Indigenous Populations ◽  
Pacific Region ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
Literature Culture ◽  
Original Audience

In 2000, the noted scholar James Clifford delivered an address entitled ‘Indigenous Articulations’ in which he challenged dichotomies of authenticity/inauthenticity that plague theories of indigeneity in the Pacific region. Today, ‘Indigenous Articulations’ has travelled far beyond its original audience, and some Taiwanese scholars who analyse the literature/culture of Taiwan’s indigenous peoples have adopted this work. Yet, in contrast to Clifford, these scholars have used ‘Indigenous Articulations’ to simultaneously explain indigenous and Han Taiwanese populations, positing Han-indigenous creolisation as preferable to indigenous self-determination. In this paper, I adopt travelling theory to examine ‘Indigenous Articulations’ and its movement to Taiwan studies. I then consider the works of Kuei-fen Chiu and Hueichu Chu to show how they use ‘Indigenous Articulations’ to support a creolised existence for Han and indigenous populations on Taiwan. Finally, I explore tensions between theoretical and ethical sustainability in Taiwan studies and possibilities for recognising indigenous rights in this field.

scholarly journals Behind the rankings of Pacific nations in the 2011-12 World Press Freedom Index

2012 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 171 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark Pearson
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Press Freedom ◽  
Pacific Region ◽  
Pacific Island ◽  
Survey Period ◽  
Media Freedom ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
Pacific Island Nations

Commentary: Australia and New Zealand both declined in the 2011-2012 Reporters Sans Frontières/Reporters Without Borders World Press Freedom Index rankings but all other surveyed Pacific Island nations improved their standings. This article reports upon those outcomes and details the methodology used by the international press freedom agency in reaching its annual determinations. It explains that such rankings can never be statistically precise because too many variables are at play between countries and from one survey period to another. Nevertheless, they are indicative and importantly draw attention each year to the widely varying standards applied to media freedom throughout the Pacific region and the wider world.

scholarly journals Defending journalism and the foundations of democracy

2007 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 9-16 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chris Warren
Keyword(s):  
Press Freedom ◽  
Asia Pacific ◽  
Independent Practice ◽  
Pacific Region ◽  
Asia Pacific Region ◽  
Media Freedom ◽  
Digital Democracy ◽  
Broad Issue ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
The Way

Even as journalists look forward to the benefits that technology will surely bring to digital democracy and journalism, they need to also reflect on the approaching ‘shadows’. These shadows are cast by three fundamental crises that threaten the free and independent practice of journalism and the very craft of journalism itself. These intertwined crises are: a crisis of press freedom, a crisis of safety and a crisis confronting the way journalists work. These crises are putting pressure on all journalists. But journalists and media workers are fighting back. The two commentaries over the next few pages outline some of these issues from the broad issue of media freedom in the Asia-Pacific region to women’s ‘suitcase’ broadcasting in the Pacific.

scholarly journals EDITORIAL: Melanesian media freedom

2020 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 6-14
Author(s):  
Kasun Ubayasiri ◽  
Faith Valencia-Forrester ◽  
Tess Newton Cain ◽  
David Robie
Keyword(s):  
Self Determination ◽  
Media Freedom ◽  
West Papua ◽  
The Media ◽  
Political Economic

The sovereign states of Melanesia are countries where the yoke of colonialism and struggles for independence are still within living memory. There are territories within Melanesia where the questions and complexities associated with achieving self-determination are very much live issues. In West Papua, this issue is one over which blood continues to be spilt. As these countries, and the communities within them, grapple with political-economic and technical shifts, the need for independent journalism is self-evident. However, journalists, editors, publishers and media owners face a barrage of challenges to their ability to operate free from repression or coercion by those who wield power in their societies. Some of these challenges are overt and can extend to threats or physical intimidation. Others are more subtle but no less pervasive and damaging. They lead to a narrowing of the media landscape, the loss of talented professionals to other areas, the rise of self-censorship, and more.

scholarly journals Internationalisation of the 'hidden' West Papua issue: A regional media matter for Melanesia and the Pacific

2018 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 33-41 ◽  
Author(s):  
Johnny Blades
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
The Philippines ◽  
Asia Pacific ◽  
Media Freedom ◽  
Pacific People ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
West Papua ◽  
Critical Media

Auckland University of Technology’s Pacific Media Centre marked its tenth anniversary with a seminar discussing two of the wider region’s most critical media freedom crises. The ‘Journalism Under Duress’ in Asia-Pacific seminar in November 2017 examined media freedom and human rights in the Philippines and Indonesia’s Papua region, otherwise known as West Papua. In the discussion about West Papua, the PMC seminar heard that access to the Indonesian region for foreign journalists, while still restricted, remains critical for helping Papuan voices to be heard. The plight of West Papua is of major concern among Pacific people, especially Melanesians, and it is becoming a growing geopolitical and media issue.    

Māori and Pasifika Indigenous Connections: Tensions and Possibilities

2007 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 128-145
Author(s):  
Tracie Mafile'o ◽  
Wheturangi Walsh-Tapiata
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Indigenous Peoples ◽  
The Self ◽  
Self Determination ◽  
Indigenous Research ◽  
Pacific Region ◽  
Aotearoa New Zealand ◽  
Research Excellence ◽  
Cultural Connections

Drawing from our experiences of being Māori and Tongan community academics within an Aotearoa New Zealand context, we identify tensions and possibilities arising from Māori and Pasifika inter-indigenous collaborations. In contrast to indigenous discourse centred on the self-determination of indigenous peoples in relation to a colonial other, this paper focuses on the interrelationship of indigenous Māori and Pasifika peoples, systems and knowledge. Historical, genealogical and cultural connections are explored, recognising that these connections have, in part, been redefined within colonialism. It is proposed that examination of the Māori and Pasifika interrelationship is a prerequisite for indigenous research excellence in the Aotearoa New Zealand-Pacific region context. While it is important to maintain our distinctiveness and diversities, it is equally important to harness and build alliances based on our connectedness.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document