Academic urges Fiji poverty coverege
Crusading or advocacy roles, a long journalistic tradition absent from poverty reporting in Fiji, should be adopted by the country’s journalists, says a media academic.
Shailendra Singh, the University of the South Pacific’s former head of journalism, urged journalists to step up coverage of poverty, a major problem in Fiji.
Singh, a PhD student at the University of Queensland, in Australia, was speaking at the 2011 Fiji Economic Update in Fiji last week. He drew attention to Fiji's minimum-wage debate, which had been dragging on for years.
He said because fairer wages had the potential to reduce poverty on a fairly large scale, Fiji journalists could advocate for it through sustained and consistent coverage until a satisfactory outcome was reached. Various reports put poverty in Fiji between at 33 to 47 per cent.
Singh said the Fiji media had demonstrated a strong sense of social justice which could be harnessed for poverty reduction.
He said the media covered a fair bit of ground, with the squatter and land issues, low wages, call for donations, and official reports and data reported most frequently. But the structural causes of poverty, job loss, lack of economic opportunity, disability and analysis of the impact of government policy on poverty are often left out.
The promotion of philanthropy was another area that could covered in order to broaden the themes, Singh said, pointing out that in the United States, the rich donate 15 per cent of their income, while in Australia the figure was less than 1 per cent.
In Fiji, the figure is not known but Singh said it was likely to be even less than Australia. Weaknesses in poverty reporting also included: Event and statement-based reports that lacked analytical depth Standard theme - poor relate their suffering, politician suggests remedy (becomes monotonous, over time loses impact) Poor suffer “poverty of coverage” – not given opportunity to speak for themselves (e.g., Fiji TV Close-up current affairs show on poverty – all panelists wearing suits).
Heavy reliance on official sources who downplay prevalence of poverty out of some misplaced sense of pride Tendency for media to become proxies in the battle between rival political groups; debate becomes political football leads to misreporting and misrepresentation – e.g. land, squatter issues.
Media too quick to buy into ‘Pacific paradise’/ ‘subsistence affluence’ theories, which are obsolete Failure to challenge ‘denial or ostrich syndrome’ claims by politicians and well-off that poverty ‘non-existent’.
Singh said bad coverage could perpetuate stereotypes that poor were a problem associated with crime, laziness, ignorance, or responsible for their own misfortune.
He said some gaps in coverage could be blamed on structural and financial weakness in the media lack of staff, lack of time and resources, and lack of training and experience in newsrooms.
Furthermore, in a competitive market, poverty is an unprofitable tropic compared to sports, entertainment and politics.
Singh said that Fiji media was typical of media in developing countries in terms of resource constraints, but this could be addressed with assistance from academia and NGO sectors, which could provide contacts, content, training and workshops on poverty as a specialist topic for journalists.
“Instead of just complaining about media standards, stakeholders ishould assist media," Singh said. “A well-informed media that is ably supported by partners in NGO and academia can be an effective tool for generating public support for anti-poverty initiatives.”
* The Fiji Economic Update is organised annually by the School of Economics, USP, and the Australian National University. It brings together research output on various aspects on the Fiji Economy in an attempt to assist policy-makers make informed policy decisions. The 2011 events were held September 16 and 20 in Suva and Nadi respectively.
Crusading or advocacy roles, a long journalistic tradition absent from poverty reporting in Fiji, should be adopted by the country’s journalists, says a media academic. Shailendra Singh, the University of the South Pacific’s former head of journalism, urged journalists to step up coverage of...
Crusading or advocacy roles, a long journalistic tradition absent from poverty reporting in Fiji, should be adopted by the country’s journalists, says a media academic.
Shailendra Singh, the University of the South Pacific’s former head of journalism, urged journalists to step up coverage of poverty, a major problem in Fiji.
Singh, a PhD student at the University of Queensland, in Australia, was speaking at the 2011 Fiji Economic Update in Fiji last week. He drew attention to Fiji's minimum-wage debate, which had been dragging on for years.
He said because fairer wages had the potential to reduce poverty on a fairly large scale, Fiji journalists could advocate for it through sustained and consistent coverage until a satisfactory outcome was reached. Various reports put poverty in Fiji between at 33 to 47 per cent.
Singh said the Fiji media had demonstrated a strong sense of social justice which could be harnessed for poverty reduction.
He said the media covered a fair bit of ground, with the squatter and land issues, low wages, call for donations, and official reports and data reported most frequently. But the structural causes of poverty, job loss, lack of economic opportunity, disability and analysis of the impact of government policy on poverty are often left out.
The promotion of philanthropy was another area that could covered in order to broaden the themes, Singh said, pointing out that in the United States, the rich donate 15 per cent of their income, while in Australia the figure was less than 1 per cent.
In Fiji, the figure is not known but Singh said it was likely to be even less than Australia. Weaknesses in poverty reporting also included: Event and statement-based reports that lacked analytical depth Standard theme - poor relate their suffering, politician suggests remedy (becomes monotonous, over time loses impact) Poor suffer “poverty of coverage” – not given opportunity to speak for themselves (e.g., Fiji TV Close-up current affairs show on poverty – all panelists wearing suits).
Heavy reliance on official sources who downplay prevalence of poverty out of some misplaced sense of pride Tendency for media to become proxies in the battle between rival political groups; debate becomes political football leads to misreporting and misrepresentation – e.g. land, squatter issues.
Media too quick to buy into ‘Pacific paradise’/ ‘subsistence affluence’ theories, which are obsolete Failure to challenge ‘denial or ostrich syndrome’ claims by politicians and well-off that poverty ‘non-existent’.
Singh said bad coverage could perpetuate stereotypes that poor were a problem associated with crime, laziness, ignorance, or responsible for their own misfortune.
He said some gaps in coverage could be blamed on structural and financial weakness in the media lack of staff, lack of time and resources, and lack of training and experience in newsrooms.
Furthermore, in a competitive market, poverty is an unprofitable tropic compared to sports, entertainment and politics.
Singh said that Fiji media was typical of media in developing countries in terms of resource constraints, but this could be addressed with assistance from academia and NGO sectors, which could provide contacts, content, training and workshops on poverty as a specialist topic for journalists.
“Instead of just complaining about media standards, stakeholders ishould assist media," Singh said. “A well-informed media that is ably supported by partners in NGO and academia can be an effective tool for generating public support for anti-poverty initiatives.”
* The Fiji Economic Update is organised annually by the School of Economics, USP, and the Australian National University. It brings together research output on various aspects on the Fiji Economy in an attempt to assist policy-makers make informed policy decisions. The 2011 events were held September 16 and 20 in Suva and Nadi respectively.
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