austraLasia #1861

Pacific Media adopt Honiara Action Plan

HONIARA: 2nd June 2007 --  The Director of Catholic Communications for the Solomon Islands, by now well-established and known in his region not only for his own journalistic and organisational competence, but also for his educational outlook on media, media education for youth, has spoken in glowing terms of his recent contacts and involvement with Pacific secular media personnel.  Fr Ambrose Pereira sdb was speaking of the recent Pacific Islands News Association (PINA) convention held in Honiara.
    A first-ever blueprint for developing Pacific Islands economic and business journalism has been adopted by the news executives and journalists who attended the convention.  The successful biennial convention was organized and hosted by the Media Association of Solomon Islands (MASI) and held in Honiara.  The blueprint, now termed the Honiara Action Plan, emphasises the importance of economic and business journalism for development in the region.  It sets out a series of practical steps to strengthen this, and highlights existing examples of best practice.
    The Action Plan says: “Vigorous, professional and independent economic and business journalism is crucial to the countries and territories the Pacific Islands news media serve.  This is because it involves issues affecting the everyday lives and futures of all Pacific Islands people".  It adds that economic and business challenges facing the nations of the region are many.  The Honiara Action Plan touches on many elements of Pacific life, many of these affecting youth who make up the overwhelming proportion of Pacific island populations. The HAP (an appropriate synonym anyway for the Hapi Isles!) includes comment on unprecedented moves towards regional and international economic integration and free trade, fighting poverty, overcoming corruption and inefficient governance, resolving conflict over resource ownership and land rights, climate change and its impact on land, agriculture, food supply, job creation and the ticking time-bomb of unemployed youth. MASI's theme for the PINA convention was the Role of the Media in Developing Pacific Economies.  It focuses the attention of the region's news media on this for the first time.
    Fr Ambrose, who by now has close connections with Solomon Islands secular media, is an active member of the regional executive for SIGNIS, the World Catholic Association for Communication and is a member of the board of administrators of SIGNIS based in Brussels, with responsibility for the Pacific area.  He has developed a series of educational sessions for young Solomon Islanders to introduce them to the activities of media in the Pacific.
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Apologies for the gap in austraLasia's communications, but it was not possible to connect on a regular basis while I was 'on the road' for the past week.  A number of items were passed directly on to ANS or placed on the www.sdb.org website, including some photos of the recent celebration of Mary Help of Christians at Kumgi in PNG, and the opening of the Hotel School in Sihanoukville.

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