Since the developing island nation of Palau gained independence, media development has been slow. It has just four radio stations, two newspapers and one state-owned television station. Access is restricted to those in the main population area and, for television, to those who can pay. Furthermore, television programming is subject to government restrictions, with stringent rules governing election coverage.
 
This project will install and train personnel to operate Palau’s first free-to-air television station. With 90% of the population living within the proposed broadcast...

Media repression is rising in some countries in the Pacific, as journalists seeks ways to work together to promote quality journalism and democratic media development. This project will work with journalists and media workers in three countries in the region in order to advance reform and produce examples of best practice to positively influence the rest of the region. Vanuatu, Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands have been chosen because of the existing or emerging strength of their national media associations and/or their potential for maximum project impact.
 
The...

Myanmar was once described as the site of “one of Asia’s—if not the world’s—longest ethnic-based conflict since the country’s independence in 1948”. There are 135 distinct ethnic groups throughout the country, and recent studies have cited media as a “driver of conflict” due to inaccurate reporting, misinformation, bias and preference for conflict stories.
 
News media could play a key role in informing and educating different ethnic groups about their commonalities and differences, leading to greater understanding and tolerance. Dialogue between media practitioners, bloggers...

Gender equality is one of the greatest challenges facing journalists in Thailand. According to the Global Report on the Status of Women in the News Media (2011), women are underrepresented in most management and newsgathering positions in the Asia Pacific, with women holding just 13% of senior management positions. Women’s salaries are generally lower and qualified women face a glass ceiling due to factors such as institutionalized prejudices.

 
This project will apply the Gender-Sensitive Indicators for Media (GSIM) to Thai PBS in order to encourage Thai PBS - and...

Many countries in the Asia-Pacific Region present serious concerns in gender imbalances and inequities in employment opportunities, female participation and the portrayal of women and girls. This project designed in line with The Beijing Platform for Action for Equality, Development and Peace, which places specific obligations on the media, both in the way women participate and in how they are portrayed and has objectives that require signatory nations and their citizens to ‘increase the participation and access of women to expression and decision-making in and through the media and new...

CRST FM104 is the only radio station licensed to broadcast from Tafea Province (which includes the 5 most southern islands of Vanuatu) to the people of Tafea Province. It is the only licensed community radio station in the country. The national broadcaster, the VBTC (Radio Vanuatu and Television Blong Vanuatu), commercial FM radio stations, other national media outlets including newspapers are generally not able to be seen or heard in Tafea Province which results in its people being unable to receive updates on events taking place across the Province, as well as nationally and globally....

Although provincial radio stations exist in more than ten provinces in Cambodia, most of their main contents or programs are the relayed programs from the Radio Nationale Kampuchea (RNK) in Phnom Penh. Therefore, most of the programs do not serve the needs of the community people since the information needed by provincial people are different geographically. It is important that community people who are the target listeners of those provincial radios get the most from the local programs. Provincial radio stations generally lack professional capacities of media workers / program producers...

Myanmar, a developing and war-torn country, is currently undertaking a comprehensive democratic reform process initiated with the appointment of a civilian government in March 2011, which continued with the parliamentary election held in April 2012. The transformation towards a democratic setting is also involving the media sector, for which the Government has embarked into a substantial legal reform and announced that it will take necessary measures to enable a free, pluralist, professional and diverse media to flourish. In this context, during the International Conference on Media...

The safety of journalists is not only about physical wellbeing. Safety extends to protection against impending psychological injury resulting from exposure to violence, conflict, disaster and tragedy. Both psychological safety and physical safety are inextricably linked. Research shows¹ that people who experience psychological trauma may have impaired decision making processes and take more physical risks than non trauma affected persons. Further studies show that people who are educated about ‘emotional (trauma) literacy’ are able to change their behavior and understand the emotional...