Rights-based Journalism Forum: The experience

Day 1 experience

The Rights-based journalism forum on housing rights in Melanesia kicked off on a Monday morning, the 17th of June. We began with introductions of both facilitators and participants, from various media organizations, NGO's, UNDP and USP.

The participants included a lot of the region's seasoned journalists from the Melanesian community, from Vanuatu, Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea and Fiji.

We had journalists from the print and broadcast media, as well as citizen journalists and bloggers. Some of those that were present had about two decades of experience and sitting there in the center of the room, I was intimidated but also in awe.The room was abuzz with a lot of excitement and eagerness to learn something new, which was very humbling when I observed this from people with years of experience. It was obvious too that most of them have crossed paths before and again I was mesmerized by how small and connected our family of media was in Melanesia.

Fiji journalist Ricardo Morris and blogger Martyn Namarong

The floor opened when Dr.Ian Weber of USP set about to encourage the journalists in the room with his presentation that showcased examples from the past about the role of Investigative journalism in society. He traced the journey of investigative journalism from  Stead's 1885 piece that exposed child prostitution, the Watergate scandal to the present case of the American whistle-blower, Edward Snowden.

Weber underlined the principals of investigative journalism:

• Responsibility
• The Citizen's voice
• Truth and Independence

He said that his presentation titled "Investigate, Illuminate and Promulgate," was not necessarily to "teach" students because the journalists present were experienced in the field. Weber's presentation, showing clips from "Good night and Good Luck" and "The Newsroom", inspired and encouraged journalists in the room and sparked up what would be the first of many great, passionate, informative discussions among the groups of participants for the workshop.
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Following Ian was Simone Troller from the UNDP, who presented on rights-based journalism and the various principles involved, including:

• Accountability (Holding authority responsible/accountable/transparency)
•  Participation (Encouraging participation and engaging citizens)
• Empowerment (Encouraging community)
• Non-discrimination (not to fuel any discrimination)

Of course these were general principles of journalism and we went through the basic 5 "W"s of news reporting, what, where, who, when, why and how. We discussed the fundamental principles a journalist should have including:

-Research, general knowledge, reflect, feedback, passion and management.

The topic of passion sparked off another great discussion about whether or not passion affected someone's objectivity. Weber said that he encouraged passion and it was fundamental for journalists to have a drive or passion in the work they do. Martyn Namarong, the PNG blogger and award-winning journalist agreed and said that he wouldn't be doing what he did if he did not have the passion for it. 

We heard from a lot of the journalists present about the media in the Pacific and I can't quite recall who it was but I think it was Lisa Lihari who said that some of the best journalism in the world was from places like the South Pacific because we were in the face of development and we were reporting from the front line. I found her to be one of the most inspiring journalists that was present, which is saying something because everyone there were inspiring for me.

Indeed,all were an inspiration; all these journalists from Samisoni Pareti to Lisa Williams Lahari and younger journalists like Solomon Island journalist, Douglas Marau. The room was filled with those who probably have seen the worst of humanity and probably have experienced some of the political struggles of our region first-hand because they had to report and relay things to the public. It was amazing that they held their ideals and their passion so strongly after all these years as journalists and I pray that I ended up like them.

After all the discussions about investigative journalism and defining what rights-based journalism was, we moved on to the key theme of the forum. Housing Rights in Melanesia. It was amazing and I had not really noticed nor even bothered to notice that one of our fundamental human rights was our right to housing...

Article 25 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights:

Article 25.

• (1) Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control.

• (2) Motherhood and childhood are entitled to special care and assistance. All children, whether born in or out of wedlock, shall enjoy the same social protection."

Read more on the PACMAS Blog.