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Pacific Islands News Association Suva, Fuji

Al'awn~IAIN~111~ Iflprpmhpr / Q 78 Vol. 8. No. 2

2 Win Fuibright-PINA AwardsNgauea Uatioa of the Gilberts.

and Kuar Singh of Fiji are the 1979Fulbright-PINA Fellows. The twowere selected for the journalismstudy and internshp program, andwill enroll in Journalism at theUniversity of Hawaii in January1979.

The program, in its secondyear, is funded through the Ful-bright program of the U.S. govern-ment, and is co-sponsored by thePacific Islands News Association.The UH Journalism Department andthe Honolulu Advertiser cooperatewith the fellowship.

Uatioa is editor of the AtollPioneer on Tarawa, and Singh is

chief reporter for the Fiji Sun

The two will study journalismfor one semester at the UH, andthen intern for six weeks on theHonolulu Advertiser.

The Fellowship is designed tohelp improve the quality of jour-naliso in Pacific island nationsen territories, other than in U.S.areas.

-The first PINA Fellow, who

attended journalism classes at theUH in spring 1978 and then internedat the Advertiser, was Robert Keith-Reid, chief reporter for the FijiTimes.

Project Stresses Local LanguagesBy Ken Rehg

Dave Bird

An increasing number of islandeducators and parents are expressingalarm that Western educational sys-tems, implemented for the most partin Western languages, do nothing topromote and nurture their communi-ties but instead appear to beacting as catalysts in their de-struction.

The use of non-indigenouslanguages has alienated the schoolsfrom the community and childrenfrom their parents. As a conse-quence, many Pacific islanders areseeking alternative types ofschooling which utilize local lan-guages to meet local needs.

At the same time, they viewas necessary the acquisition of ametropolitan language. Thus, pro-grams of bilingual/biculturaleducation are seen as logical frame-works within which educational sys-tems better suited to the communitycan be developed.

.%

.4

.

*

Robert Ruecho, Yapese educator,with his twin daughters, Madeline.and Patty

[us Gets ATS-61The United States has signeu

ver US$705,000 to the Universityof the South Pacific for use intheir satellite communications.The grant should help USP for thenext two years in extension programsto other Pacific islands.

The university has used satel-lite communications since 1974 whenit obtained use of the ATS-1 fromthe American government. The new

agreement gives USP the go-aheadfor use of satellite ATS-6.

The ATS-6 satellite is the sameone used in the India Site Experi-ment and in the United States and iscapable of two-way television.

The ATS-l is the same weathersatellite that has been in use overthe Pacific for a decade, and isused by Peacesat and other systemsmainly for audio communication.

WHAT'S INSIDEEditor's Notes 2Rate Mara on Press 3Flow of News 4, 5Bilingual Education 7Book Reviews 10

cation Program for Micronesia (BEPM).Conducted under the auspices of the

s Social Science Research Institute,this program is providing trainingfor 15 educators from the UnitedStates Trust Territory of thePacific Islands and the Commonwealthof the Northern Mariana Islands.

One program at the Universityof Hawaii which is providing supportfor the development of a bilingual!bicultural program of instructionin the Pacific is the Bilingual Edu-

This program has two broadgoals:

1. To advance the TrustTerritory's and the

Continued on Page 6

TnT'rcfl ,L77-_D

NOTFS Jim Richstad

This column is like a voicefrom beyond the grave. The news-letter, as reported in the Aprilissue, was faced with ceasingpublication due to financial prob-lems. The Communication Instituteended its sponsorship with thatissue, leaving a large postage billto be covered, and neither of theother sponsors, the Pacific IslandsNews Association in Suva and theSocial Science Research Instituteat the University of Hawaii, Hono-lulu, could fill the gap. But,without any of the grants requested,we have been able to find the post-age money for this issue (about$250). This still leaves the nextissue problematic, and any help orideas are welcome. Write to theeditor, PICN, Social Science Re-search Institute, Porteus Hall 704,University of Hawaii, Honolulu,Hawaii 96822, U.S.A. All otherpublication costs are borne bySSRI, and editorial duties are onan own-time basis.

Robert Curtis, First Secretary(Information), Australian High Com-mission in Suva, writes to confirmthat the Australia-South PacificNewsletter is published in Suva, bythe high commission. This isclearly noted on the cover of thepast few issues. We've picked upseveral items from the newsletterin this issue of PICN.

Floyd Takeuchi, former assis-tant editor of PICN and recentlyeditor of Islander magazine of thePacific Daily News on Guam, re-turned to Honolulu in November towork on Today, the Honolulu Star-Bulletin feature section. Bothnewspapers are owned by the GannettNewspapers group. Floyd in 1976-77traveled through much of the SouthPacific and Micronesia for hismaster's degree study on the flowof cinema in the Pacific.

Susan Allen, another formerassistant editor of PICN, is com-pleting her doctoral dissertationat the University of Kansas, andhopes to be finished in early 1979She, too, traveled widely in thePacific in fall 1977, and did manyarticles for PICN.

Robert Keith-Reid, chief re-porter for the Fiji Times, createda bit of a stir with his April PICNfront page article on press free-dom in Fiji and, other countries inthe Pacific.

First, the Fiji Times re-printed the article, and there werecomments by Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara.prime minister of Fiji, on the roleof the press in developing coun-tries (reprinted in this issue), andanother set of comments from LenUsher, former editor of the Timesand organizing chairman of thePacific Islands News Associ.tion,on freedom of the press, in lateAugust.

Then, after that flurry, theInternational Press Institute, aworld organization with strongcommitments to Western concepts ofpress freedom, reprinted almostword for word the PICN article.The IPX Report of October 1978 didnot acknowledge the source of thearticle, and it somehow movedKeith-Reid from chief reporter ofthe Fiji Times to the chief re-porter for the Fiji Sun. Then, tomake the cycle complete, the Hono-lulu Advertiser in November re-ranthe same article, giving as thesource the IPX Report.

Many government officials fromdeveloping countries complain abouthow they are treated in the Westernpress. Now the Pacific Islands areseeing legal action over what onepolitical leader said was untruereporting. The President of Nauru,Hammer DeRoburt, took the legalaction over reports appearing inthe Pacific Daily News--see theseparate story in this newsletter.

The August PIN contains someinteresting developments on tele-vision in the Pacific, particularlyin Papua New Guinea. The article,while noting television will not beintroduced in PNG for at least fiveyears, describes the growth ofvideo cassette players, which werecommercially introduced in December1976.

The cassette players can beused for a wide variety of things,including training and entertain-rent, with a growing supply ofprograms. PIN also gives sometips on long-distance pickups oftelevision signals from as far as2,500 kilometers away, dependingon weather conditions and skill.

Adishwar (Spike) Padarath,former chief reporter for the FijiTimes, is now serving as informa-tion officer for the U.S. Embassyin Suva. Padarath was a 1977Jefferson Fellow at the East-WestCommunication Institute.

Le Tagaioa Pita Alailima ofthe South Sea Star in WesternSamoa, visited Honolulu in lateDecember Enroute to faculty re-cruiting and fund-raising in NorthAmerica. He served as chairman ofthe Pacific Islands News Associa-tion during its first few years.He met Wilbur Schramm and othersin Honolulu.

Lasarusa Vusoniwailala ofFiji., a former student affiliatedwith the East-West CommunicationInstitute and contributor to PICN,began his doctoral studies in fall1978 'at the University of Washing-ton in Seattle.

Wilbur Schranis of the Communi-cation Institute and Lyle Nelson ofStanford University are in the finalstages of manuscript preparation fortheir book on the first 12 years ofeducational television in AmericanSamoa.

PACIFIC ISLANDSCOMMUNICATION NEWSLETTERPublisherSocial Science Research InstituteDonald M. Topping, DirectorPorteus Hall, University of HawaiiEditorial StaffEditor: Jim RichstadAssistant Editor: Larry Meacham

Address all correspondence to:The Editor, PICN704 Porteus HallUniversity of HawaiiHonolulu, Hawaii 96822 USA

Ratu Mara Stresses Sensitivity,Constructive Criticism for

Press in Developing Countries(The following article by the

prime minister of Fiji was writtenfor the Fiji Times in response tothe lead article in the April 1978issue of the Pacific Islands Com-munication Newsletter, by RobertKeith-Reid, then in Hawaii on aFulbright-Pacific Islands NewsAssociation fellowship. The FijiTimes also reprinted Keith-Reid'sarticle at the same time.)

ByRt Hon. the Prime Minister

Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara

Robert Keith-Reid sums up hisarticle on press freedom by writing"In coming years, Pacific Islandjournalists, native and expatriates,without being subservient will haveto develop a style of operationthat sees all the news, good andbad, get into print, yet makingsome allowances for Pacific Islandsensibilities.

This in my view gets rightdown to the heart of the matter andI applaud his thinking. But whywrite of the future? Surely thisis needed now?

It is essential that any news-paper journalist writing in thispart of the world understands,respects and sympathises with localcustom and tradition. For thepeople of Fiji, the inbuilt re-spect for chiefs and leaders sym-bolises just one part of theirtradition.

By saying this, I am not inany way suggesting that theyshould be immune from criticismby the media--no one should fearthis. But what I do feel is thatthere should be differences; whichstem from one's own cultures, inthe way it is done. For examplean experienced Australian or NewZealand politician can be savagelyattacked by the press and take itas an occupational hazard.Pacific Island leader, in a fairlynew independent country, and nottoo experienced in the westernstyle democratic process, is an-other kind of person altogetherand the press should know andunderstand this.

'We in Fiji have long beenaccustomed to the concept of a freepress and the free and independentvoicing of the people through thecolumns of the press.'

'It is essential that any newspaperjournalist writing in this part ofthe world understands, respectsand sympathises with local customand tradition.'

'A Pacific Island leader, in afairly new independent country,and not too experienced in thewestern style democratic process,is another kind of person altogetherand the press should know and under-stand this.'

It's sometimes said that newsabout development is dull; mypoint is that the journalist shouldbe professional and skilful enoughto make such news interestingenough to persuade people to readit.

I would say that all thisamounts to a considerable amount ofresponsibility and requires anequal amount of maturity in theminds of writers and editors.

The press can be a major agentof change--but it is the way inwhich it presents its news or com-ments that can result in thesechanges occurring in an orderly andprogressive way. Irresponsible orsensational reporting could, equal-ly well, cause change and disrup-tion in a far less orderly manner.

The press, therefore, has aresponsible role to play in oursociety. Unlike the politicians,or Government, even the civil ser-vants that the press so often at-tack, they themselves are notresponsible or directly accountableto anyone--except perhaps theirfinancial masters who want moresales.

If criticism is not based onconstructive comment then we per-haps should begin to question itsplace in a developing society, Ibelieve that the media has a sig-nificant role to play in thedevelopment of a country. At themost general level there seemsagreement that a major 'functionof the press is to increase inte-gration and consensus in society,to bridge social gaps, to providepeople with views and factualcommentary on current events.

It has also been suggestedthat a major effect of the massmedia is to structure people'sviews, direct attention, createideas of what is important andwhat is not. A further, obviouslyless noticeable, but equally effec-tive way, of creating a social cli-mate can be achieved by omissionof news or views--and this from ourpoint of view is a common fault innewspapers seeking the sensationalrather than the constructive andbalanced news items.

But they should also be ac-countable to their own conscience.

We in Fiji have long beenaccustomed to the concept of a freepress and the free and independentvoicing of the people through thecolumns of the press. And long maythis continue.

All we ask is that, in ourefforts to stabilise the country,point it in the right direction anddevelop a truly multi-racial com-munity, the media presents a bal-anced view of c'r Progress.

It may be, in their view, tooslow; sometimes, perhaps we dothings too quickly. But I amreminded of what G.K. Chestertona great English journalist andwriter once wrote: "For there isgood news yet to hear and finethings to be seen..

It is a dictum which I suggestshould be framed and hung in everynewsroom.

Diverse Staff

Produces Guam's

Daily News

By Floyd Takeuchi

The IslanderPacific Daily News

(Guam)

There is a stereotype in thecommunity that the Pacific DailyNews is staffed entirely by Cauca-sians fresh from the mainland.The fact' of a predominantly whitenewsroom reporting the affairs ofa predominantly brown island hasalways irked some people to no end.

But what are the facts? 1survey of the editorial staff ofthe Daily News (the editors, re-porters, and photographers) showsthat while there are still a largenumber of "naoles" on the staff,almost half of the newsroom ismade up of non-Caucasians.

Thirteen of the 30 editorialstaffers would be considered minor-ity. This number includes fourAsian-Americans, two Filipina-Americans, a Micronesian, a PuertoRican, a staffer who is part Jap-anese, and four Chamorros.

Unlike most American newspa-pers, the Daily News has a largenumber of women on its staff. Ofthe 30 editorial positions, 13 arefilled by women. This i.ncludessix of the 12 editing jobs, six ofthe 13 reporting slots, and one ofthe five photographer positions(this includes a summer internphotographer).

The newsroom staff is young,and for most of the reporters andeditors, the Pacific Daily News isthe first paper they've worked on.The median age of editors is 25,while the median age of reportersis 24.

For editors, the median lengthof time spent on Guam (not neces-sarily working for the newspaper)is one and one-half years, whilethe median length of time spent onisland for reporters is six months.Within these medians, of course,there is considerable variation.

Editors range from 10 years toone month for their time spent onGuam, while reporters vary from 21years to one month.

EWCI Completes StudyOf Pacific News Flow

The Communication Institute atthe East-West Center concluded atwo-year Flow of the News study inSeptember 1978, and several reportson the study have been prepared.

The Flow study was basically acontent analysis of the internation-al news content of 32 newspapers inthe Pacific Basin, including 9Pacific Island dailies and 11 non-dailies. The study period was theweek of November 1-7, 1976, duringwhich the U.S. presidential electionwas held. Almost 5,000 news arti-cles were coded for source of thenews, dateline, location of theevent, countries involved, lengthof article, and several othercategories.

A Flow of Communication Work-shop was held in May, with Fa'alogoPito Fa'alogo, chairman of thePacific Islands News Association(PINA); Michel Anglade, editor ofLa Depeche de Tahiti; Robert Keith-Reid, chief reporter of the FijiTimes; Ikini Holloway of the Nation-al Broadcasting Service of PapuaNew Guinea, and Dr. Thomas Brislin,a former editor and cable televisionmanager on Guam, attended from thePacific Islands with others fromAsia and the United States.

Three overall papers werepresented on the Flow study results,and another paper was given at theInternational Association of MassCommunication Research Congress inWarsaw September 4-.

RobertKeith-Reid,Flow MeetingParticipant

Two papers were prepared byInstitute researchers Jim Richstadand Tony Nnaemeka for publicationin the summer issue of Communica-tion and Development Review pub-lished in Iran. Copies of thearticles are available from theCommunication Institute or fromthe journal.

The two articles and one bySusan Allen are reviewed andsummarized below by Ruth Runeborg,a research intern at the Communica-tion Institute. She holds an M.A.in Anthropology from NorthwesternUniversity (U.S.) and specializesin Oceania. Allen's paper wasgiven in May at the workshop. Shebased her material on a trip throughthe South Pacific in fall 1977.

(See Page 5 for Reviews)

The staff of the Pacific DailyNews is well educated. Of the 30staffers, 23 have a bachelor'sdegree, five hold master's degrees,and two are still continuing theircollege education. One stafferholds two masters degrees in addi-tion to a graduate degree from aFrench university.

Most of the journalists at theDaily News were born off-island;only four can call Gue their placeof birth. One staffer is Enlishand drinks tea instead of coffee.

Of the 30 full time staffers,10 are editors. They include theeditor, a managing editor, a cityeditor, two assistant city editors,and editors for lifestyle, business,international news, sports, and theIslander magazine. There are alsotwo full-time copy editors who areresponsible for insuring that all

stories published in the newspaperconform to the Daily News style.

The 13 reporters cover beats(or areas they are assigned toreport about) ranging from thepolice, the courts, education, theutility agencies, the military,politics, the legislature, togeneral assignment reporting.There is also a reporter on Saipanwho covers Micronesian and NorthernMarianas news.

The paper also has four full-time photographers, a summer internphotographer, and a photographerstringer who works out of Saipan.

The profile of the PacificDaily News staff isn't as simple asmost think. The diversity of thenewsroom staff reflects, in part,the diversity of the community itserves.

Three Papers on News FlowBy Ruth Runeborg

News Flow in the Pacific Islands:

Selected Cases --Jim Richstad

Flow of News--A Pacific Perspective--Susan Allen

Foreign News Flow in Three Island

Press Systems: Pre- and Post-

Independence Flow Structures

--Tony Nnaemeka

These three papers examine

the flow of international news in

Pacific island countries. Richstad

considers the influence of center

(industrialized) countries on in-

ternational news destined for the

non-industrilized countries of the

Pacific. Aliens brief commentary

supports Richstads work, empha-

sizing the role of the individual

in the flow of news. Nnaemeka

focuses on the variable of political

independence and its impact on in-

ternational news flow in the Pacif-

ic. All three articles raise im-

portant points whose implicationsshould be more closely examined in

future studies.

Richstad examines communica-

tion, as one component of Galtungs

theory of 'structural imperialism."First, center countries, highlyindustrialized and usually former

colonial powers, are differentiatedfrom periphery or non-industrialcountries; Richstad further dis-

tinguishes intermediate centers:

those countries of current econom-ic and political importance to the

periphery. Galtung makes three

salient points: (1) there is a

lack of horizontal communication

among periphery countries, espe-

cially across bloc (ex-colonial)borders; (2) there is more newsof the center country in the

periphery media than vice versa;

and, (3) each periphery country

places more emphasis on news from"their" center. Also, since

limited news sources are available,

most sources are agencies head-

quartered in center countries, andthe news flow pattern is usually

one-way, from center to periphery.

These points were supportedusing Papua New Guinea, the Cook

Islands, Fiji and Western Samoa

as periphery countries and Australia,

New Zealand as (intermediate) centernations. A content analysis of

newspapers revealed that differentcountries emphasize different sub-

jects; though interesting, this

finding is not further developed.Coverage of international news

subjects was examined; similarities

among countries were observed, butthe differences were unresolved.

Supporting Galtung's concepts,news coverage of other-island eventswas minimal in periphery countries,and even less was observed betweenBritish/American and 'British!

French' blocs. An imbalance betweenthe large amount of center news in

periphery newspapers and a smallamount of periphery news in center

newspapers was noted, confirmingthe one-way news flow pattern. Byexamining the quantity of the vari-ous centers' representation in a

periphery media, ft is clear whichcenter is of most concern to the

periphery; thus the data affirms

Galtung's concept of own-center

emphasis.

Four principal agencies forinternational news disseminationexist in the Pacific, all in centercountries. Vet, an examination ofboth center and periphery countriesshows that more than half of thenews sources are either "unstated"

(presumably taken from other pub-lications or radio) or "own corre-

spondent" (often locally "re-written" stories). The RegionalNews Exchange, which uses PEACESATand ATS-l, was extensively utilized

only by the Cook Islands newspaper.

Allen presents her observa-tions on news flow in the Pacific,

gained through interviews in October

1977 with communication personnel inTahiti, Cook Islands, AmericanSamoa, Western Samoa, Tonga and Fiji.She confirms the existence of theusual problems of "newpaper develop-ment," i.e. low budgets, smalluntrained staff, inadequate facili-ties and notes four characteristicsof international news flow: thelimited availability of internationaland Pacific island news; out-of-datenews, circulated long after theevent; and. the dependence of the

media on a few individuals, e.g.,only one person knows how to fix

Tonga's photo equipment. Her fourth

point concerns the center country's

filtering effect on internationalnews reaching the islands. Thislast observation confirms Galtung'sown-center emphasis, thus supportingRichstads analytic conclusions withfirst-hand impressionistic data.

ReviewedNnaemeka discusses the effect

of political independence on foreignnews content in national media. Two

hypotheses are proposed: with

independence, (1) the volume of

foreign news will increase, and(2) attention to foreign newsevents will broaden beyond thecenter country. Nnaemeka examineddata from Western Samoa, Fiji, and

Papua New Guinea which support both

hypotheses. Also, the quantity of

foreign news events is found toincrease the longer the period ofindependence.

Nnaemeka conceptualizes mediaas operating within a task environ-ment, limited by legal and politicalconstraints. The task environmentof the pre-independent media differsfrom that of the post-independentmedia; this is reflected in interna-tional news coverage. Three stagesof political development are sug-gested, in relation to internationalnews coverage: (1) as a colony,much attention is given to centernews, as opposed to internationalnews; (2) in the pre-independenceperiod, there is increased attentionto foreign news, as the nation seeksan international identity; and (3)in the post-independence stage, thenation becomes identified with aworld philosophy, i.e. democracy,and selects that foreign news whichreinforces that philosophy. Thereare three such philosophies: (1)Western democracy, (2) socialism,and (3) Third World or non-affili-ated. Nnaemeka examines the

quantity of foreign news represent-ing each of the three philosophies,in post-independent Western Samoa,Fiji and Papua New Guinea media.In Fiji and Papua New Guinea therehas been an increae in news cover-age of democratic nations, adecrease in Third World coverageand no change in the coverage ofsocialist countries. Western Samoa,however, exhibits a large increasein Third World coverage, a sharpdecrease in representation ofWestern countries and an increase in

coverage of socialist events.Nnaemeka suggests on the basis ofthese findings that, while WesternSamoa is in the process of develop-ing a world philosophy, Fiji and

Papua New Guinea re still searchingfor an internatioral identity.

The significtnce of this studyis in no way 1ini ;ed to PacificIsland countries, but has world-wide applicability, which the authorsor other researchers should pursue.

Project Stresses Local LanguagesContinued from Page 1Northern Marianas capa-bilities in bilingual edu-cation, andTo affirm among a group ofMicronesians a sense of

pride and confidence intheir roles as educatorsand in their languages asmedia of instruction.

One year is required to com-plete the BEPM core program. Thecore includes courses in thestructure of the participant's own

language, vernacular writing, thedevelopment of vernacular languagematerials, bilingual education, theteaching of reading, children's lit-erature, language testing, Englishcomposition, and seminars whichcover a wide range of topics deal-ing with the development of anindigenous model of education forMicronesia.

First, the program was basedon four years of intensive researchon the languages of Micronesia.This research was essential ine;tablishing the basic literacydocuments for these languages.

Second, the program wasdsigned by educators from Micro-nsia. Their goal was to insurethat curriculum writers and teacherspossessed the necessary skills andattitudes to make use of thesedccuments in developing instruc-tional materials.

Those participants who continueto take courses in vernacular mate-rials development, as well as otherUniversity courses. All of thecourses in this program are appli-cable to a B.A. in Liberal Studies:Bilingual Education, or to an M.A.in English as a Second Language:Bilingual Studies.

While this program shares somefeatures of bilingual educationtraining programs being conductedin other parts of the world, it isunique in two significant respects.

The intensive research on the

languages of Micronesia was promptedby a resolution passed in 1970 bythe Congress of Micronesia, whichspecifically requested that theDepartment of Education includeinstruction in Micronesian lan-

guages and cultures in the schoolcur-i culum.

The resolution was motivatedby tie concern that the predominantuse of textbooks based on Americanideas and settings was depriving6

the children of Micronesia of theopportunity to learn about theirown traditions. Subsequently,during this same year, the TrustTerritory contracted the Univer-sity of Hawaii to train a group ofeducators in linguistics and tohave these individuals work withUniversity staff to develop standardspelling systems, dictionaries, andreference grammars for all the majorlanguages of Micronesia.

The contract resulted in anextensive series of publications,and in a span of four years, theselanguages went from being among thepoorest researched and documentedlanguages of the Pacific to the best.

Concurrent with the creationof these literacy documents was theestablishment of a number of pilotbilingual/bicultural education pro-grams in Micronesian schools.Micronesian educators for the mostpart, however, had little experiencein working with instructional mate-rials in their languages, andfurther staff training was needed.In 1974, representatives from theTrust Territory and the Universityof Hawaii met to outline the basiccomponents of a training programfor bilingual educators from Micro-nesia. The result was theBilingual Education Teacher Training(BETT) Program which accepted itsfirst participants in Spring of 1975and served as the prototype forthe present BEPM program.

The training program designedby Trust Territory educators asindicated by the previously statedgoals of the BEPM included anemphasis on improving abilitiesand modifying attitudes.

The notion that a Micronesianeducator might lack confidence thathis or her own language could serveas a medium of instruction willcome as no surprise to those whohave worked in the Pacific.

For many years in Micronesia,English language instruction andeducation were nearly synonymous.In the vernacular writing course,for example, many Micronesian edu-cators find great difficulty inexpressing themselves in their ownlanguage. All of their trainingin writing has been in English; andwhen required to write in their ownlanguage, they find the temptationto first write in English and thento translate almost irresistable.

Another attitude has to do withusing Micronesian languages to

discuss scientific concepts. Oneoften hears both Micronesian andAmerican educators lament that manyof the technical terms of mathemati:sand science have no direct equivalen:sin these languages. They apparentlyoverlook that new terminology maybe coined or borrowed into thelanguage, as often is done in Englishand other languages.

The Bilingual Education Programfor Micronesia, by putting Micro-nesian languages into the classroomby providing Micronesian educatorswith essential skills and attitudes,is seen by its designers as apossible model for other Pacificisland communities seeking educationmodels better suited to post-colonialfutures.

Film for GilbertsIndependence

Australian Information Service

Caftherra--Two Australian filmmakers were in the Gilbert Islandsfor a month in October for prelim-inary research on the official filmto mark the independence of theGilbert Islands next year.

They are the film's producer,Don Murray, and the director JohnShaw, who work for Film Australia,the production branch of theAustralian Film Commission. Theyarrived in the Gilbert Islands inmid-September to look for locationsand discuss plans for the film.

The Gilbert Islands film willbe the fourth that Film Australiahas made to mark the Independenceof countries in the South Pacificregion.

Alfred Aihunu from the SolomonIslands Office of Information wasto visit the Film Australia studiosin Sydney to help the editor,Graham Chase. Aihunu worked close-ly with the Film Australia crewduring the four months shooting inthe Solomon Islands before Indepen-dence on July 7. He will do thefilm commentary. The film shouldbe completed early next year.

From the material obtained inthe Solomon Islands, Film Australiaalso will make a film for the Aus-tralian Development AssistanceBureau on aid to the Solomon Is-lands; another on changing tradepatterns, and one for the SolomonIslands co-operative organisations.

PALM Reading Program ProducesTexts in Micronesian Languages

by Robert E. Gibson

For a very long time, educatorsin the Pacific have agreed that aneffective education requires thatstudents be able to use a worldlanguage and their own mothertongues as media of instruction.In spite of such general agreementabout the need to educate throughboth languages, this goal has beenan elusive one.

What has often taken place hasbeen vigorous efforts to teach

English as a second language (ESL),complemented by efforts to teachcontent through English, andsupported by instructional materials

developed for those purposes. Inthe territories administered by theunited States, the same vigorouseffort has often excluded programsdesigned to teach through studentsvernaculars.

The resulting systems werethose in which students studied

English, often learning to read andwrite it sooner and better thantheir own languages, while attempt-ing to become educated through that

language. This situation wasfrustrating especially to primarygrade students as the amount of

English they controlled severelylimited their ability to useEnglish-medium materials. Whilesome were able to achieve in thesystem, many were handicappedbecause they were not able to studyin their mother tongues.

Over the years, several condi-tions have contributed to this prob-lem. High turnover rates in theteaching staffs, and governmentalpolicies that encouraged an immer-sion approach to ESL are examples.One critical condition, however,which has prevented educators fromutilizing students' own languageshas been the luck of instructionalmaterials in those languages.

Before any concerted effortcould be made to develop materialsin these indigenous languages, three

major problems had to be faced:

(1) developing standard ortho-

graphies in these languages; (2)developing people's skills in writ-ing these languages; and (3) writingand printing the materials forclassroom use.

1L1

-DTouoyo Ruluked, Palau .curriculum writer,works on material

The first two problems wereaddressed by two related, sequentialprograms at the University ofHawaii. First, the Pacific Lan-guage Development Project (PLOP) inwhich a cadre of Micronesian

linguists were gathered for trainingwhile developing dictionaries andstandard orthographies for Micro-nesia's major languages.

The second program, theBilingual Education Program forMicronesia (BEPM), grew out of thefirst, and was designed to trainMicronesian eductors to utilize theorthographies and dictionaries forthe development of instructionalmaterials for use in bilingual edu-cation. The third problem--that ofclassroom materials--is beingaddressed by the Pacific Area Lan-guages Materials (PALM) DevelopmentCenter, also at the University ofHawaii's Social Science ResearchInstitute.

The PALM Development Centerwas organized to assist Micronesianeducators to develop instructionalmaterials in eight of Micronesia'slanguages: Carolinian, Chamorro,Kosraean, Marshallese, Palauan,Ponapean, Trukese and Yapese. Inaddition, PALM staff members aredeveloping materials in Ilokanoand Samoan for bilingual educationprograms in the United States.

The curriculum writers fromeach of the Micronesian languagegroups spend three months each yearwriting materials at the Center, andthe rest of the year working inMicronesia on pilot testing mate-rials, revising materials, ordeveloping new materials to befurther edited and revised at theCenter.

The kind of materials underdevelopment varies with each lan-guage group, depending on thepriorities established by the re-spective departments of educationin Micronesia. Some districtshave set first priority on pro-ducing language arts materialsfor primary grades, while othersfeel the need for social studiesunits for middle grades, sciencematerials for upper grades, etc.

Before any book is printedfor wide distribution, it has toundergo two field reviews. Thefirst occurs when the camera-ready pages of the books are sentto the districts. Review boardscheck them for cultural appropri-ateness and for orthographic con-ventions.

The second review takes placeafter the books have been revisedand printed in limited number.The materials are tested in bilin-gual education schools for readabil-ity and effectiveness. If thebooks pass this stage, they areprinted in larger numbers and widelydistributed.

At the end of one year. ofoperation, the Center has produceda sizeable amount of materialwhich is now undergoing pilot test-ing in the islands' schools.

While a significant number ofindigenous materials have been pro-duced through the years, the PALMDevelopment Center represents thefirst attempt to produce materialsin these languages on a long-termbasis. With such materials, Micro-nesian teachers should have theopportunity to develop a vernacularlanguage curriculum evolving fromthe island cultures.

SATELLITE ROUND U P 1 JUDCE TURNS OFF REPORTER

s fromter for South Pacific Studies,

Newsletter, Sdnta Cruz,Septernbr, 1978

As the Solomon islands becamethe 150th member of the UnitedNations, welcoming speeches bydelegates from the African group ofnations, the Asian states, theUnited States, the United Kingdom,Western Samoa, New Zealand, Austra-lia, and Papua New Guinea, as wellas Prime Minister Peter Keniloreasspeech were transmitted via PEACESAT--the Pan-Pacific Education and Com-munications Experiment Satellite---to Islanders back in Honiara.

November, examined currc,ila beingpreoared for the youth of the1980s.

Initiated by Soya, this ex-change calls for ecircu1ation oftopic papers followed byover-the-satellitediscussion with leadpapers by Divakar Rio, Suva;Ormand Tate, Wellington; GabrielTaloikwai, Honiara, and CeceidKavi from Rarotonga. Other partic-ipants were expected from terminalsat Nuku'alofa, Niue Island, PagoPago, Tuvalu Island, and Honolulu.

COMSAT GOES SAMOAN

When is a television e.,rterprevented from having his face,voice o name used ei Lelvisonor rdio? ,are,itiy when he hassigned a "nun-compete" cLuse in acontract

A judge i11 Honolulu ruled inariy November that Matt 1.e4.voeran radio and teieisiun re-porter, could not appear on KGMBradio or television until Februarybecause of a non-compete clausein his contract with another tele-vision station, KITV, Levi's em-ployer until September.

MEDIA COURSE ZN AUSTRALiA

Speaking in a resonant voice,the Prime Minister told other UNmembers, "We are a small nation of200,000 people, simple and unpre-tentious, deeply in love with ourculture and way of life. Oursmallness, diversity, and culturewere the greatest source ofstrength to us in the attainment ofIndependence."

A mid-September PEACESAT ses-sion chaired in Santa Cruz dealtgith the development of solar ener-gy and wind energy and its applica-bility in the South Pacific wheremany remote and isolated islandsnow have no power source and whereit would be possible, using solarenergy, to develop Citizen Bandradios for less than $200, accord-ing to Dr. Clark Richardson, whoreported from Tonga.

Education in the Pacific, aseries that began in mid-Augustand was to continue until mid-

In Satellite CommunicationsSeptember 1978

In Washington, D.C., Dr.Joseph V. Charyk, president ofCommunication Satellite Corporation(Comsat), and Governor Peter 1.Coleman of American Samoa signed anagreement under which Comsat willestablish an earth station atTutuila, American Samoa and providecommunications satellite servicesto the Government of American Samoa(GAS).

When the new earth stationbegins operation, American Samoawill have modern, high qualityoverseas telephone, telex, data andtelevision services via satellite.

The earth station will belocated at Tafuna near the TafunaInternational Airport at Tutuila,American Samoa.

Fiji Writer WinsAward

A University of the SouthPacific lecturer has won an awardfor a short story depicting thedomestic and professional problemsof a schoolteacher in Fiji,Australia-South Pacific Newsletterreported in May 1978.

Mr. Subramani, a lecturer ineducation, won a contest sponsoredby the South Pacific Associationfor Commonwealth Literature andLanguage Studies. There were 150entries from Australia, New Zealand,Papua New Guinea and Fiji. Thefictional story is titled Mari-golds.'

SOLOMON PIJIN DICTIONARY

The first Solomon Pijin dic-tionary and grammar, which includes1400 words and replaces of list of400 words, has been published bythe Solomon Islands ChristianAssociation.

Linda Sinions, a linguist, andHugh Young, a journalist with theSolomon Islands Information Service,compiled the publication.

There are 60 recognized lan-guages in the Solomons, and Pijinis the lingua franca

The media in the country askedfor a standard work to help withcommuncation.--From Action Septem-ber 1978.

Ratu Ace Vunakece, seniorinformation officer with the FijiAgriculture Department, was attend-ing a three-month course on mediamanagement in Sydney, under theAustralian South Pacific Aid Pro-gram, it was reported in theOctober Australia South PacificNewsletter.

TONGA GETS TELEX SERVICE

Telex service between Tongaand Australia was established bythe Overseas TelecommunicationsCommission of Australia, the Octo-ber Australia South Pacific News-letter reported.

PNG OPENS LIBRARY

Australian Information Service

Port Moresby - The PrimeMinister of Australia, MalcolmFraser, presented Australia'sindependence gift to Papua NewGuinea--the National Library ofPapua New Guinea--at the officialopening of the library in PortMoresby on October 30.

Fraser presented the libraryto Prime Minister Michael Somare,who then opened the library.

The $A2,000,000 library is asteel-framed building which pro-vides about 2900 m2 (31,320 squarefeet) of mostly air-conditionedaccommodation.

A key feature of the design ofthe library is a steeply pitchedroof modelled on the traditionalPapua New Guinea Haus Tambaran.

The library has space for180,000 volumes, more than 10,000films, audio and video cassettesand other library material.

SHORT TAKES: PRESSHonolulu AdvertiserOctober 3, 1978

The president of Nauru, asmall island republic in the centralPacific, filed a $7.5 millionfederal lawsuit against Gannett Co.Inc. and Guam Publications Inc.

The lawsuit was filed byHammer DeRoburt, president of theRepublic of Nauru, over a storypublished May 30 on the front pageof the Pacific Daily Mews on Guam.

The suit said Gannett and GuamPublications do business as thePacific Daily News.

The newspaper story said the

Republic of Nauru lent money tofinance a campaign by a group sup-porting the separation of theMarshalls from Micronesia.

The lawsuit charged that thestory was not true.

According to the lawsuit, thereports in the story, if true,

charge criminal violations underNauru law.

The story said DeRoburt madeone of those loans earlier thisyear.

A spokesman for Gannett de-clined to comment about the law-suit.

DeRoburt was elected Naurusfirst president in 1968 when itgained independence. He serveduntil 1976 and was elected againin May 1978.

Nauru, an eight-square-mileisland, has a population of about6,000.

NEW PAPER IN MARIANAS

Excerpts from Marianas VarietyOctober 27, 1978

SAIPAN--House speaker Oscar C.Rasa, expressing concern over KSAIradio and what he considers poorreporting, said there is "a needfor another medium of operation,"and that he and some others willstart a newspaper in December.

Rasa specifically attacked anunsigned column in the Variety byDan Danzig of KSAI. The columnwas on a tax-relief bill introducedby Rasa. KSAI is owned by Far EastBroadcasting Company, which offersreligious-oriented programming andoperates 24 transmitters thatbroadcast all over the world.

Rasa said the new newspaper"will be independent and governedby the editor."

TASMANIAN WINSA WARDSCAN

Nov. 27, 1978

Tasmanian journalist NinaFudala (24) of News in Hobart hasbeen awarded a $12,000 InternationalStudy Award by the Rotary FoundationCommittee of District 983.

The annual award by Rotary willallow Nila to live on campus fora year a the Graduate School ofJournaliLm, Columbia University, inNew York.

News Editor Jim Guinane andthe University of Tasmania jointlysupported Nina's nomination for theaward.

Nina has a BA with majors inPolitical Science and Geography,and is keen to extend her academiccareer.

She will check in at ColumbiaUniversity for the start of theacademic year with Professor FredFriendly in September.

In her spare time she intendsto haunt the ABC's New York office.

--Wes Phillips

WANTOK SELECTS POETAS EDITOR

From Action

October/November 1978

Papua New Guinea's best-knownpoet and writer, Kumalau Tawali, isthe new associate editor of Wantok,the country's national weekly inMelanesian Pidgin. He joinedWantok from the University of PapuaNew Guinea where he was a teachingfellow in the literature depart-ment. His poems, plays and shortstories have been published inseveral countries and have beenbroadcast over PNG's national radioservice.

He was one of the first grad-uates of the University of PapuaNew Guinea in 1971 and worked as afreelance writer and guest lecturerat Gualim Teacher's College in EastBritain, PNG, before joining theuniversity faculty.

Wantok, an ecumenical newsmagazine, has a circulation of12,000 and an estimated readershipof 70,000.

TRUMBULL RETURNS TO PACIFIC

Robert Trumbull was in Hono-lulu in October to set up a Pacificbureau for the New York Times, theHonolulu Star-Bulletin reported.Trumbull previously covered thePacific from Sydney, before he wastransferred to Canada a few yearsago. Trumbull will cover the Pa-cific Islands out of Honolulu.

PRESS WOES

There may be-satellites bounc-ing high speed telecommunicationsaround the world, but the problemsof grinding out the weekly news-papers in the Pacific Islands arestill faced with the kinds ofproblems they have faced for 100years. Take Editor Abed Younis andthe Marianas Variety. Here's hiseditor's note that appeared in theJune 23 issue:

"Two issues of the Varietywere not published this month be-cause of delays in the shipment ofnews print and the departure ofstaff writers Eve Lowe and BeverleyLund.

"The Variety is back on theright publication schedule againwith new staff reporter Tom Bauer.The green paper will be used fora while until the arrival of thenews print in late July. Yourunderstanding and patience areappreciated."

FIJI, PNG NEWSPAPER PROFITS

The Herald and Weekly Timesearned $A223,000 in Fiji and$A206,000 in Papua New Guinea in1977. a reoort by a Sydney firm ofstockbrokers notes.

The October 1978 report byWilliam Tilley, Hudson, Evans andCompany, reported by the AustralianInformation Service, lists theprofit and loss of Australian

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companies operating off-shore.

Several examples are given forthe Pacific Islands, including theearnings of the Herald and WeeklyTimes in Fiji (the Fiji Times andrelated papers) and in Papua NewGuinea (Post-Courier).

The report said "it is notexpected that the South Pacificwill attract much additional invest-ment from Australian companies"until the prospects of profits arebetter.

Publications Review the University Press of Hawaii),1978. 299 p. ISBN-0-8248-049/-X

The Press and America: An Inter-pretative History of the MassMedia. By Edwin Emery and MichaelEmery. Englewood Cliffs, NewJersey; Prentice-Hall, Inc., 4thEdition, 1978.

This well-established e11egelevel textbook traces the develop-ment of the mass media i the UnitedStates from the country's colonialperiod until the present. As such,it is of interest to people in thePacific Islands as a means of under-standing how media in the UnitedStates were shaped and how theyoperate, and how the U.S. freepress system emerged.

The authors give rich detailon the birth of the American pressthrough the Revolutionary War andinto the 1800s, and then theemergence of the mass press orpenny press as it was called in the1830s. The role of the press indevelopment of the American West-isdetailed, as is the dramatic civilwar coverage. Te emergence of thepress as big business, the dynamicsof the Hearsts and "he Pulitizers,and the growth of American newsagencies are examined. Radio andtelevision are chronicled, as isthe impact of the Second Worli Waron the press. Current issues inAmerican journalism are also de-tailed.

There are, of course., someparallels in the American develop-ment and what is and has gone onin the Pacific Islands mass media.The struggles of the small news-paper, the clashes with governmentsand private interests over pressfreedom, and the sensitivities oflocal communities and their press.And, of course, many of the mediain the4Pacific Islands share thesame British heritage as do theU.S. newspapers, although there isa sharp divergence in the develop-ment of the electronic media.

This having been said, what inparticular does the book tell thereader about the role of the Ameri-can media in the world scene. Verylittle, unfortunately. The world-wide debate going on now over therole of the American news agenciesAssociated Press and United PressInternational, for example, receiveslittle attention. The strong con-cerns over the fow of internationalnews by the Non-Aligned countriesand in Unesco programs are not dealtwith (Unesco doesn't even make theindex). This whole area is of greatimportance, and the American presshas been quite influencial in guid-ing or shaping U.S. policy at Unescoand other international forums.

The critical questions overthe power and influence and impactof the American global news agen-cies as part of the broad U.S.industrial and military dominanceis riot adequately dealt with.Herbert Schiller, a leading criticof U.S. global communication, isnot even mentioned in the index."Free flow of information, a keyconcept for U.S. global agencies inthe post-1945 era, is not listedeither. The authors could havedone a great service by examininghow "free flow" is intertwined withU.S. media policy.

Pacific Islanders wonderingwhy the U.S. news media show littleor no interest in Island affairs orpeople will not find the answer inthis book.

Perhaps more critically, thebook fails to examine the dynamicinteraction of the American pressand the rest of the world, and inparticular how the U.S. press sys-tem helped shaped the systems inother parts of the world, and toan extent was shaped by the othersystems. An analysis of the socialinteraction between society and thepress--domestically and interna-tionally--is missing. Such an ana-lysis would do much to inform theAmerican readers of how the U.S.press is viewed by much of theworld, and help prepare Americansto better understand many of thecritical issues in internationalcommunication that are now on theglobal agenda.

While the argument could bemade the book is about the Ameri-can press, and some attention ispaid to international reports(mainly war reporting), the globaldominant position of the Americancommunication systems in post-1945is not captured in this book, andis a serious shortcoming.- Americans learn little enoughabout the world through their newsmedia, and U.S. international newsreporting and distribution is undersevere attack. A description ofthis situation and analysis of itscauses would add an importantdimension to the book, and make itof much more value to both Ameri-cans and others.

--Jim Richstad

A Book Review From PILS,Vol. 2, no. 3

Jim Richstad and Michael McMillan,conipi lers. Mass Con2raunication andJournalism in the Pacific Islands:a Bibliography. East-West Commu-nication Institute (Published by

Social and technical develop-ments in Oceania since 1945 havemade quantum leaps, especially inthe area of communication. Thiswork, by two researchers for theEast-'lest Communication Institute,is a first published bibliographyon mass communication and journal-ism in the Pacific Islands. Thecompilers undertook the projectwhen it became apparent that theycould not continue in their ownresearch efforts without a compre-hensive bibliographical study ofwhat had been written on the sub-jects. To ferret out the oftenfugitive materials was a long andtedious process.

The scope of the work includestwenty-five countries and territo-ries that represent Polynesia,MiLonesia and Melanesia. The mainarrangement is alphabetical by is-land government, beginning withAmerican Samoa'and ending withWestern Samoa. - Under each countryor territory there are sub-divisionsof subjects which include: indexes,guides, reference works, newspapers,periodicals, cinema, education andtraining of communicators, freedomof the press, legal issues, print-ing, radio broadcasting, satellitecommunication and television. Thereare more than 3,000 items listed.

A very important function ofa work of this kind is to helpidentify gaps in the research. - Asa result, at least four areas havebeen identified needing research:first, although there is an emerg-ing body of communication researchstudies dealing with Oceania, thereis a serious need for more in-depthresearch, both quantitative andqualitative; second, there is aserious gap in studies of thesocial impact of movies; third,there have been only a few studiesof the use of television in thosecountries that have television;fourth, more research, both quanti-tative and qualitative, is neededon the use of the press. Thiswould be especially crucial inthose polygot countries such- asFiji and Papua New Guinea.

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Wherein the bibliography is

long on journalistic accounts of -mass communication md journalismactivities and short; on researchreports, it is thorughly executed.As a guide to the literature it isa significant work because it opensup a vast body of informationsources that otherwise would not beaccessible.

There is an excellent author,title and subject index that willprove to be very useful.

--Miles Jackson

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