Conferences & Events
Outcomes of the CBA Regional Conference for the Pacific, Tonga 9-13 Feb 2009
"Broadcasting for a Better Tomorrow"
Over 100 people from the Pacific Region and all round the Commonwealth attended the Conference. There were delegates from virtually all the Commonwealth Pacific islands and Australia and New Zealand. There were also participants from South Africa, Sri Lanka, India, Canada and the UK. The Conference had an excellent and informative session on “The Role of Guidelines in Political Reporting and Election Coverage”, addressed by Phil Molefe, General Manager International Affairs and former Editor in Chief SABC News and Murray Green, Director ABC International and former Chair of ABC’s Election Coverage Review Group. In recognition of the special difficulties experienced by small states, the CBA launched at the Conference a booklet called “Covering Elections in Small States: Guidelines for Broadcasters“ by Mary Raine.
Climate Change Workshop
A Memorandum of Understanding was agreed by the 50 or more participants at the Climate Change Workshop. Because people obtain most of their information about climate change from the media, the participants agree to:
• Call for effective media representation in national climate change country teams.
• Encourage government agencies to alert the media to all climate change workshops and meetings attended by officials.
• Identify more effective ways in which broadcasters/media can co-operate at a sub regional/regional level including content sharing, training and technical expertise.
• Encourage and support innovative ways of delivering climate change information to the widest possible audiences.
• Involve all sectors in developing climate change media strategies at the earliest possible stage, e.g. media producers/publishers/broadcasters, youth, environmentally vulnerable groups, women, politicians and civil society groups.
• Urge broadcasters to commit airtime to raising awareness of climate change issues.
• Lobby for clear information/press releases from government agencies and NGO’s.
• Continue to discuss ways of improving climate change coverage by the media as a priority at conferences e.g. PINA, AIBD, CBA
• Ensure that accessible media information reaches the most vulnerable rural communities.
• Work to improve journalistic understanding of climate change as an issue that will have a fundamental effect on all sectors and areas of society.
• Encourage and facilitate the international media to cover climate change issues in the Pacific.
Keynote Speakers
The Acting Prime Minister and Minister of Health for Tonga, Dr the Hon. Viliami Tangi opened the Conference. The NZ/Pacific Relationship, in the past and in the future, was covered by Rick Ellis, CEO TVNZ. Professor Rajesh Chandra, Vice Chancellor of the University of the South Pacific, stressed the need for the next generation of leaders to have a broad grounding in ethics, science, and understanding the media. Mark Scott, Managing Director of ABC, spoke about the importance of broadcasting in the public interest. Texts will go up on the CBA website over the next couple of weeks. www.cba.org.uk
Pacific Media Freedom Challenges
These were addressed by a panel consisting of Peter Cavanagh, CEO RNZ; Pesi Fonua, Matangitonga website; George Pitt, Chairman, Pitt Media Group, Cook Islands; and Pere Maitai Director of News and Current Affairs, Pacific Radio News/Pacific Media Network, Auckland.
Innovative Programming, including Human Rights, Diversity and Gender Issues, and Material Generated by the Public.
This was covered by Patrick Holmes, Director of Amnesty International New Zealand; Sonya Haggie, General Manager (Sales and Marketing), Maori TV; Paul Cutler, Director of News and Current Affairs, SBS; Ian Kalushner, Producer News and Current Affairs, CBC TV
Pacific Rights for the 2010 World Cup
There was a session by Ken Shipp, Head of Sport, SBS, Pacific Rights Holder for the World Cup. Pacific delegates found this particularly useful.
Regulatory Issues
This Workshop attracted more than 25 people, many of them broadcasting regulators from around the region. To assist their work, the CBA launched a second, updated edition of “Guidelines for Broadcasting Regulation” by Eve Salomon. This was probably the first get-together for Pacific Broadcasting Regulators and proved a ground-breaking opportunity for them to share experience and discuss developments, including Going Digital.
Workshop on Management
10-20 people with attendance varying according to the topic, received training in the following areas of management: Keeping control of your costs by Cost Benefit Analysis, Maximizing your Income, Reducing costs by MultiSkilling, and Zero Based Budgeting.
Workshop for Engineers
12 engineers discussed the options for radio transmission, comparing digital solutions such as DRM and DAB with traditional analogue methods. They also looked at digital TV production technology and issues surrounding Digital Terrestrial, Satellite, Cable and IP distribution and at planning for the Digital Age.
CBA Awards
The CBA-Rolls-Royce Award for Exceptional News Feature was awarded to Canadian Broadcasting Corporation for the CBC News television programme The National – Moshe and Munir. New Delhi Television (NDTV) (India) was the winner of the CBA-World Bank Award for Programmes on Development Issues with a television programme Witness: Hungry Tribal. The CBA-UNESCO Award for Science Reporting and Programming was won by All India Radio for the radio programme Favour Begets Fortune. The CBA-Amnesty International Award for Human Rights Programme went to the BBC World Service for the radio feature Taxi to the Dark. The CBA-IBC Award for Innovative Engineering was won by Nathaniel Clarke of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation for Nat’s Box Of Tricks (NBOT). Owen Bennett-Jones of BBC World Service won the CBA-Thomson Foundation Journalist of the Year Award. The Elizabeth R Award for Exceptional Contribution to Public Service Broadcasting was awarded to Javad Mottaghi, Director, Asia-Pacific Institute for Broadcasting Development.
Partnerships:
The CBA co-operated with PACMAS (the Pacific Media Assistance Scheme), which is an AusAID project. Almost a day of the conference was devoted to the work of the PACMAS project. The Conference and workshops also received assistance from the British High Commission in Suva, and UNESCO, who, along with PACMAS, helped bring some Pacific Islanders to the Conference. TVNZ, Network Australia TV and Radio Australia were major supporters. Digicel provided the Internet Café and the name badges. Maori TV donated local Tongan conference bags and SBS sponsored the conference programme. The ever-helpful local partner and host organisation was TBC. The CBA is indebted to these partnerships for their indispensible support.
CBA Training
CBA Training Director, Jas Dhariwal, held conversations with broadcasting organisations about their training needs.
Possible CBA News Exchange
A survey of members’ views was discussed. It showed a desire for the service but the extent of financial commitment was not yet sufficient to launch the project, especially in tough times. The Secretary-General agreed to look into support from a spnsor or major member.
Co-operation among Pacific Women Broadcasters
This was advanced through informal discussions.
CBA Pacific Fund Topped Up
Through the heroic efforts of Auctioneer Ken Clark, CBA Vice-President, £2130 or 6850 Tongan Panga was raised in an auction for the CBA Educational Fund for Pacific Broadcasters.