Islands Business - Letter From Suva: NOW HONIARA TENSIONS IN THE MEDIA

At issue is the media’s main regional conference, the Pacific Islands News Association (PINA) convention in Honiara, the Solomons capital, next year.

Laisa Taga

Just about everyone’s heard about the growing public row between the Solomon Islands and Australian governments. But that’s not the only Honiara tensions, it seems.

LETTER FROM SUVA can reveal that bubbling just below the surface is another row involving Solomon Islands. Again the Australians are not far away in a dispute that has the potential to reopen divisions in the region’s news media and questions about Australian influence on the media.

At issue is the media’s main regional conference, the Pacific Islands News Association (PINA) convention in Honiara, the Solomons capital, next year.

Media Association of Solomon Islands (MASI) is hosting this.

The Solomon Islanders have announced they will hold this on May 24-26 to coincide with the 25th anniversary of the daily Solomon Star.

The Star is a newspaper whose success over adversity epitomises the brave and determined efforts of the Solomons media through all the country’s recent troubles.

Media men... Tonga’s Tavake Fusimalohi and Solomons’ John Lamani (life members of PINA) and Moses Stevens of Vanuatu.

The husband-and-wife team who operate the Star and radio station Paoa FM, John and Cathy Lamani, are amongst the most respected media people in the region.

All appeared to be on track for the Solomon Islanders until PINA president, Canadian expat Ken Clark, of Fiji TV, intervened last month.

Traditionally the dates of the PINA convention have always been set by the host country, based on local realities. But from Suva, Clark announced he doesn’t want the convention held until November. He instead wants his executives to complete their two-year terms and their reform programme for PINA.

Which, LETTER FROM SUVA is hearing, is where those Australians come in.

LETTER FROM SUVA has learnt that Clark is currently working closely with the Australians on the future management of PINA.

AusAID has funded an Australian consultant’s report to set future directions for the regional media body.

Clark is also, it is said, hopeful the Australians will fund the running of PINA secretariat in Suva for two years, including a new manager.

Getting all this into place seems to be amongst reasons he is opposing holding the convention in May, despite what the Solomon Islanders want and plan.

The problem for Clark is that his own opposition to the PINA meeting in Honiara in May has quickly run into a storm of opposition within the regional media itself.

This was partly because of the great respect with which the Lamanis are held throughout the region.

They have plenty of friends who want to go to Honiara in May to join in saluting their anniversary and also to support the Solomon Islands media in general.

Amongst those quickly lining up on the side of the Solomon Islanders were the members of the powerful Papua New Guinea Media Council.

This is a very successful organisation whose members are also amongst PINA’s biggest members.

Word is that the Solomons also has the backing of Samoa, Vanuatu and the Cooks.

A meeting of the Media Association of the Solomon Islands called to inform the members about the president’s call, reaffirmed its decision to still go ahead with the dates already decided.

Newspaper people have also seen Clark’s move as an example of newspaper interests being overlooked by Clark and his vice-president, fellow broadcasting administrator Eleanoa ‘Amanaki, of Tonga.

But that isn’t all. The debate is also now bringing to the surface again the question of the organisation representing the region’s news media being donor dependent.

There are questions about AusAID having any hands-on participation in the running of PINA, given controversies over Australia’s role in the region’s governance and the influence Canberra seeks on this.

Should the region’s main media body be dependent on the Australians when the media need to be focusing coverage on Australia’s role and its use of aid to get its way? is one question being asked.

Any move to make PINA dependent on AusAID is likely to spark questions at the Honiara conference.

Financial independence in its daily operations was something PINA worked hard to get. It achieved this back in the mid-90s. PINA’s small but effective secretariat in Suva was self sustaining for years.

It worked closely with funders in organising training. But its day-to-day operations were beholden to no one except PINA members.

However, times have changed for PINA. It has faced many difficulties since a difficult merger with the Pacific Islands Broadcasting Association (PIBA) began in 2003.

Clark, without doubt, feels that in pushing to delay the Honiara convention until November, and working closely with AusAID, he is doing what is best for PINA.

LETTER FROM SUVA now hears that a compromise has been suggested. This is that the convention goes ahead in May as planned by the Solomon Islanders. But Clark and his executives would continue in office until November.

This would also provide the opportunity for the implications of any AusAID involvement in funding or managing PINA to be fully discussed by the membership in May.

Clark might want to listen to this suggestion. The risk he faces is that if he doesn’t, there could be new splits and a fatal weakening rather than rebuilding of the regional media body. That’s something not even AusAID dollars might be able to overcome.