An Australian police raid on public broadcaster ABC this week risks having a chilling effect on freedom of the press, its editorial director says. Pacific Media Watch reports the raid related to a series of 2017 stories known as The Afghan Files about alleged misconduct by Australian troops in Afghanistan.
While Pacific countries have got off rather lightly in a major global media freedom report last month with most named countries apparently “improving”, the reality on World Press Freedom Day is that politicians are becoming more intolerant and belligerent towards news media and information “black holes” are growing.
A Solomon Islands academic says the only body that can find a legitimate solution to his country’s current crisis is the National Parliament, reports Rosalie Nongebatu in the wake of this week’s riots in Honiara.
“Violence on post-Suharto Indonesia, from Aceh to West Papua, from Kalimantan to the Moluccas, is evidence that Java-centric nationalism is unable to distribute power fairly in an imagined Indonesia. It has created unnecessary paranoia and racism among Indonesian migrants in West Papua.” – Andreas Harsono
On a tour of New Zealand, Leima Martinez Freire, Asia Pacific director of the Cuban Institute for Friendship with the Peoples (ICAP) says Cuba is in a position to offer support to Pacific nations, reports Michael Andrew.
The Pacific Media Centre has featured the Christchurch mosque terror attacks and the fallout in a series of articles, image galleries, videos and podcasts.
“What happened on Friday was appallingly, disgustingly atrocious. While we undoubtedly need to hold alt-right politicians and commentators around the west accountable for pushing the rhetoric of white supremacy and Islamophobia, in turn cultivating bigotry and hatred, we can still do something here at home.”
“It is a crime against journalism as these people have seized the power of the editor-in-chief for exercising their political interests.”
A Fretilin-appointed head of Timor-Leste’s public television broadcaster who has been sacked after a change of government says he has been fighting against political interference for years.
Police later raided Papuan student dormitories in the evening and detained 233 students in a day of human rights violations as Indonesian authorities cracked down on demonstrations marking December 1 – “independence day”, according to protesters.