Press freedom is faltering across Pacific island nations as cash-strapped news outlets fall under the sway of local governments and China’s expanding influence, with longtime friend of the region Australia moving quickly to provide support.
Papua New Guinea announced a draft of a media development policy last year, wherein nonprofit group Media Council of Papua New Guinea (MCPNG) would be re-established by legislation as “an independent and self-sustaining public body.”
The proposed policy would give the body “the power to investigate complaints against media outlets, issue guidelines for ethical reporting and enforce sanctions or penalties for violations of professional standards.”
The draft also refers to emphasizing positive news coverage and filtering content that is against PNG’s development aspirations. Concerns about the proposal were raised not only by newspapers and broadcasters but also by members of the MCPNG.
MCPNG President Neville Choi emphasized during a hearing at the National Parliament in May that politicians should be cautious about putting pressure on the press.
The draft is currently under review. Prime Minister James Marape told Nikkei that “any prospect of restricted media is not possible,” adding, “I just want to give assurance to the media, as a robust democracy, total media freedom is well maintained.”
“We expect media accountability to actual factual and actual reporting instead of fabrications and fake-news-peddling mightiness,” Marape said.
Media outlets in sparsely populated island nations are struggling financially. Many rely on advertising from government agencies for a large part of their income. In PNG, journalism is one of the lowest-paid professions.
“If their own organizations do not meet their financial needs, they are more prone to cash gifts and bribes,” said Choi.
The rivalry between the U.S. and China is intensifying in the Indo-Pacific, sparking concern that financially struggling local media will become targets of foreign forces seeking to manipulate information.
Palau President Surangel Whipps Jr. told Nikkei that he and his nation “see influence” from China on its media sector. The country maintains diplomatic ties with Taiwan but is under increasing pressure to sever them, including by cyberattacks believed to have originated in China.
In 2023, international nonprofit Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) reported that a local newspaper owner entered a deal in 2018 to set up a new media group, but the initiative was backed by investors with ties to China’s police and military.
A 2023 OCCRP investigation revealed that Solomon Islands newspaper The Solomon Star had promised to report favorably on China in exchange for funding.
The paper had contacted China’s embassy in the country to ask for 1.15 million Solomon Islands dollars ($135,000 at today’s rates) for new printers and broadcasting equipment.
Since establishing diplomatic relations with China in 2019, the Solomon Islands has drifted closer to the country, including aligning with Beijing last year in criticizing Japan’s release of treated wastewater from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.
In 2021, another local newspaper received computers from a Chinese embassy as part of coronavirus pandemic support. In a joint declaration issued last month, the leaders of the two countries agreed to expand exchanges and cooperation in the media.
China appears eager to get involved in Pacific nations’ media, signing a memorandum of understanding in March with Nauru, with which Beijing had just restored diplomatic relations in January. The two nations said they would deepen cooperation in news production and training with Chinese state-run news organizations China Media Group and Xinhua News Agency.
“The media cooperation is to make sure that in countries across the world, they’re doing what they can to make sure that the reporting on China is very positive,” said Blake Johnson of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute.
Johnson warned a trusted media is vital to combat the spread of misinformation and disinformation.
“It’s certainly getting more confusing with AI and deepfakes and all of those sorts of things. You’re seeing it starting to cause political unrest and there’s a potential for violence to come out of these sorts of activities,” he said. “The media plays an important role as being a place that people can go to for trusted information.”
Australia, which has long held close ties with Pacific island nations, committed to investing 68 million Australian dollars ($45 million at current rates) over five years from July 2022 to support “viable, resilient and independent media in the region.”
The country’s Indo-Pacific Broadcasting Strategy, released in July, states that it will promote cooperation between Australian and Pacific media and “strengthen the region’s resilience to misinformation and disinformation.”
Foreign Minister Penny Wong, who formulated the policy, said media capability is “important to our functioning as democracies” and “to our relationships with one another.”
Lavina Lee, non-resident senior fellow at the United States Studies Centre at the University of Sydney, argues that supporting media can contribute to the long-term health of Pacific democracies.
“It is … through independent media, through journalists, that in personal level of accountability and scrutiny that we actually get that kind of democratic culture within our society,” Lee said.
Elsewhere, there is a glimmer of hope.
Press freedom has improved in Fiji, which had its first change in government in about 16 years in 2022. In the World Press Freedom Index published in May by Reporters Without Borders, Fiji ranked 44th out of 180 countries and regions, jumping from 89th place in 2023 and surpassing 70th place Japan.
Before the change of government, Fiji was ruled by Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama, who took power in a 2006 coup. He enacted restrictions on press freedom in 2010 that involved prison sentences and fines for reporting that went against the national interest.
The current prime minister, Sitiveni Rabuka, repealed the law in 2023.
“We are very happy in Fiji. Everybody feels free to criticize me and say nasty things about me. And from those of us in government, I feel like a victim,” Rabuka told Nikkei in an interview. “But that’s what freedom is all about.”
