| Sports |
Ocean stories must
create ripples in the media
Journalists, as guardians of
the public interest should be at the forefront of creating
awareness about ocean conservation.
The health and wellbeing of Pacific Islanders are inextricably
linked to the health of their ocean, which is under threat from
internal and external sources, says a journalism academic.
Shailendra Singh, the divisional head of journalism at the
University of the South Pacific, said journalists, as guardians of
the public interest should be at the forefront of creating
awareness about ocean conservation.
Singh was the guest speaker at the opening of this year's SeaWeb
lecture series for journalists at The Fiji Times board room in
Suva.
Addressing journalists attending the series, he said that in
developing countries such as ours, journalists could play a vital
role in informing the public and helping it influence how their
governments balance economic growth with sustainability
Singh added that externally, threats such as over fishing and
fishing piracy posed a grave danger given the commercial pressures
on the world's tuna fisheries.
Internally, the run off from indiscriminate use of fertilizers,
land clearing, deforestation and unregulated coastal and inshore
fisheries were destructive.
"You the reporter cannot dismiss stories about the environment as
not being of interest to the reader as maybe before.
"The environment has always been a major public interest issue, it
is becoming more so nowadays.
"As a journalist, you are duty bound to start taking notice of and
reporting about the environment simply because the health of
environment has a big impact on the health of our nation and
people," Singh said.
The positive role that the media could play was demonstrated by
its coverage of the locally managed marine areas, Singh said.
Under this scheme, fishing is banned in some places for a period
of time.
"The amount of fish that was harvested after the close of the
taboo period in some areas had not been seen by many people in
living memory. The publicity created awareness and influenced a
lot of villages to join the programme."
Singh said in April, a report by USP journalism students probably
halted plans by the Fisheries Ministry in Fiji to release an
invasive species such as tilapia in new waterways.
He added that because the media was the primary source of
environmental information for most people, it had a heavy
responsibility in keeping the public informed.
He said environmental stories had to compete for space and airtime
with politics, entertainment, the economy and business and usually
lost out.
At the time of instability, such as the coups in Fiji and the
civil unrest in the Solomon Islands, the environment was put on
the back burner, and it was up to the journalists to keep the
public attention focused by ongoing coverage, he said.
Internationally, Singh said the public mood was changing towards
news stories about the environment.
"Studies have shown that public demand for these stories is high.
You can see and sense this in the media, if not locally and
regionally, then in the overseas media and online.
"One reason is that as the environment deteriorates and people's
health and livelihoods become adversely affected, they are
becoming more concerned and hungrier for information."
Singh added that journalists themselves had fuelled concerns by
reporting on the environment, creating awareness and causing the
public to demand answers.
Singh added that environmental issues such as sea level rising
were global issues and as such, international stories.
He added that environment stories often encompassed many other
issues.
For example, the economies of many Pacific island countries depend
on the fisheries sector, which because of the huge sums of money
involved had become hotbeds for corruption, Singh said.
"A story on logging in the Solomon Islands is also about the
economy as the Solomons economy, while the fastest growing in the
Pacific, is based on just one rapidly growing natural resource,
timber.
"It's also about governance as successive governments have
mismanaged the Solomons' Forestry," he said.
The SeaWeb lecture series is a crash course in marine science for
Journalists. The course was first introduced last year.
SeaWeb's Communication Analyst, Vasemaca Rarabici, said the course
will include a series of marine lectures presented by marine
experts from Government; NGO's and the private sector. She said
the purpose of the lectures was to provide members of the media
with the foundation of basic science knowledge they need to report
on complex ocean stories.
"Lecture topics range from fish biology to ecosytem linkages to
the climate. Participants will also meet local ocean experts and
explore their research during fieldtrips specially designed to
enhance understanding. The Course will take place over a period of
six months where Journalists will meet twice every month," said
Rarabici.
SeaWeb is an NGO, a US-based Communication Company that helps
bridge the gap between marine experts and the media.
 
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