Document detail

Informing citizens: opportunities for media and communications in the Pacific

Canberra: AusAID; MDI International; MC Media & Associates (2005), x, 463 pp., abbrev. p.i-viii
"'Informing Citizens: opportunities for media and communications in the Pacific' reports on the findings of a situation analysis and needs assessment (SANA) of the capacity of the media, government and civil society to produce information on good governance in 14 Pacific Island Forum countries. The report consists of 17 chapters in the following order: a regional overview chapter, a legislative overview chapter, a chapter on the findings of a news content analysis in the 14 countries, and 14 country chapters organised in alphabetical order, commencing with the Cook Islands. Chapter One, the Regional Overview, details the methodology for SANA, the principles which informed the research, and how the data was complied. The chapter contains an analysis of the major themes and issues that emerged in the 14 country chapters, divided into four sections: legislative environment, media sector, government sector, and civil society sector. It concludes with a list of regional strategies based on the research findings recommended by a SANA Reference Group of key stakeholders. Chapter Two, Freedom of Expression and Freedom of the Media, analyses the constitutional guarantees for freedom of expression, freedom of the media and the right to information in the Pacific Island countries surveyed. It also analyses the degree to which public service broadcasting and media legislation guarantees separation from government in some of the countries surveyed. Section 1, Legislative Environment, in the country chapters provides further detail on the media regulatory environment in each country and complements Chapter Two. Chapter Three, Pacific News Content Analysis, summarises the findings of the news content analysis conducted in the countries surveyed. Its focus is the coverage of news on governance issues. Appendix F contains the breakdown of the regional findings and the findings for each country in alphabetical order. Chapters Four to Seventeen consist of country chapters. Each country chapter summarises the research findings for that country under the four main headings, Legislative Environment, Media Sector, Government Sector, and Civil Society Sector." (p. ix)
Contents
1 Regional overview, 1
2 2 Freedom of expression and freedom of the media, 39
3 Pacific news content analysis, 81
4 Cook Islands, 87
5 Federated States of Micronesia, 111
6 Fiji Islands, 133
7 Kiribati, 175
8 Nauru, 195
9 Niue, 203
10 Palau, 215
11 Papua New Guinea, 227
12 Republic of the Marshall Islands, 263
13 Samoa, 281
14 Solomon Islands, 313
15 Tonga, 335
16 Tuvalu, 363
17 Vanuatu, 377