TONGA-- Stronger complaints process will keep media out of court

A strong and active public feedback process to media operators in Tonga could have helped avoid the current defamation proceedings being heard in the Kingdom this week, says the Pacific Freedom Forum, PFF.
"A media industry which welcomes and responds to public complaints sets a standard of credibility, and is a valuable bridge-building strategy because it helps raise public awareness of what a free and vibrant media achieves," says PFF Chair Susuve Laumaea of Papua New Guinea.
"Without that willingness to self-regulate and a transparent, active process for complaints, the option of defamation hearings as a first step rather than a last resort on media grievances will continue to be a costly and time consuming process for all," he says.
"The current defamation case between Cabinet Minister Clive Edwards and the Kele'a newspaper provides an example of a conflict that could potentially have been solved through a robust and credible complaints process facilitated out of court, saving on court costs and resources involved for all parties".
"PFF strongly recommends that both the Ministry of Information and Communication and the Tonga Media Council, work together to promote a clear and effective complaints process for members of the public to air concerns over media coverage."
"A complaints process shows that the fourth estate takes its role seriously, and keeps media on their toes in terms of ethics and professionalism. It also gives a more accessible avenue for members of the public, who cannot afford a lawsuit, to air grievances to authorities,"says co-chair Monica Miller of American Samoa.
"The PFF urges the Ministry of Information and Communication and the Tonga Media Council to continue dialogue on prioritising a media complaints procedure. There has been next to no use of the provisions under the Ministry Act to investigate written complaints, but the Tonga Media Council 's Complaints Committee must be supported to take the lead on a complaints process.
"We commend the work so far. Lack of time and resources can be a key challenge for newsrooms; but the current situation highlights the urgency of action to ensure a well-resourced complaints process led by an independent media council can resolve grievances out of court."--ENDS

CONTACT: PFF Chair Susuve Laumaea | Sunday Chronicle Newspaper | Papua New Guinea Mobile: 675-684 5168 | Office: 675-321-7040 | Email: susuve.laumaea@interoil.com
PFF co-Chair Monica Miller | KHJ Radio | American Samoa Mob 684 258-4197 | Office 684 633-7793 | Email: monica@khjradio.com

The Pacific Freedom Forum are a regional and global online network of Pacific media colleagues, with the specific intent of raising awareness and advocacy of the right of Pacific people to enjoy freedom of expression and be served by a free and independent media. We believe in the critical and basic link between these freedoms, and the vision of democratic and participatory governance pledged by our leaders in their endorsement of the Pacific Plan and other commitments to good governance. In support of the above, our key focus is monitoring threats to media freedom and bringing issues of concern to the attention of the wider regional and international community.

More Public talking needed on Tuvalu's Public Order ban

An historic 14-day ban on large public meetings or gatherings ending this week in Funafuti must put Tuvalu's leadership on notice that freedom of assembly and expression are key to democratic rule, says the Pacific Freedom Forum, PFF.
  
The regional media freedom monitoring network says Tuvalu's first-ever invocation of its Public Order Ordinance on January 13 banning public gatherings or meetings on the capital island of Funafuti will have trickle down impacts on free speech and free expression in the small island nation.

The 1973 ordinance has never been used -- til now. It was applied in the wake of a public protest march demanding the resignation from government of  the Finance Minister Lotoala Metia on January 13. It's been reported such a move would topple the government's one-seat majority in Tuvalu's Parliament and allow Opposition MP Enele Sopoaga to take up the leadership. Metia and Sopoaga live in Funafuti, as MP's for the outlying island constituency of Nukufetau. Sopoaga, responding to the refusal by the Senior Magistrates Court in Tuvalu to rule on an application from the protestors on the Public Order, says the ban amounts to a gagging of the people of Tuvalu by the government.

"Governance and governments benefit when people have access to information from a free and independant media, and can freely share their opinions in private or public. Issuing a ban in a small place like Tuvalu may  villainise those who chose to be part of the protest and warn off others who would want to stand up for their causes in future. Thus, a situation like this would actually need more and not less dialogue and debate around the issue," says PFF chair Susuve Laumaea.

"We are glad to hear that colleagues at Radio Tuvalu feel they able to report freely at this time and encourage the government to support editorial independance of the media," he says.

The Tuvalu Media Corporation is the only mainstream media organisation in the country, and is owned and controlled by the government. National broadcaster Radio Tuvalu falls under the Ministry of Information  -- whose Minister is the current PM.

"It's important for governments across the region to apply the governance and human rights principles of the Pacific Plan they themselves endorsed in 2005," says PFF co-chair Monica Miller.
 
"Tuvalu, like many Pacific nations where the state controls the main media outlets, should also look to its own Constitution guaranteeing freedom of assembly and freedom of expression to guide what happens after the ban ends. It's clear that more Tuvaluans need to feel heard by their leaders and provide input in ways that both voters and their elected leadership are happy with."--ENDS
  
 CONTACT: PFF interim Chair Susuve Laumaea | Sunday Chronicle Newspaper | Papua New Guinea Mobile: 675-684 5168 | Office: 675-321-7040 | Email: susuve.laumaea@interoil.com PFF interim co-Chair Monica Miller | KHJ Radio | American Samoa Mob 684 258-4197 | Office 684 633-7793 | Email: monica@khjradio.com

The Pacific Freedom Forum are a regional and global online network of Pacific media colleagues, with the specific intent of raising awareness and advocacy of the right of Pacific people to enjoy freedom of expression and be served by a free and independent media. We believe in the critical and basic link between these freedoms, and the vision of democratic and participatory governance pledged by our leaders in their endorsement of the Pacific Plan and other commitments to good governance. In support of the above, our key focus is monitoring threats to media freedom and bringing issues of concern to the attention of the wider regional and international community.