A time for change and the digital wave

I’ve already set aside October 3 in my planner and if you’re interested in Pacific Islands Media you should too.

It’s the date of this year’s Pacific Islands Media Association (PIMA) annual conference in Auckland.

The hot topic at this year’s conference shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone whose been following the online discussions in several Pacific Island web rooms.

Pacific Media Networks announcement in June that it was reconstructing has hit a sour note with many.
One web room however has gone beyond sour.

Reading some of the comments posted lately by people using pseudonyms makes me cringe.

For one, pseudonyms in several cases are a means of someone raving and ranting to the point of defaming without putting their name to their allegations/ accusations.

Secondly, our Journalism class at Whitireia have just begun our sessions on media law under the guidance of our tutor Jim Tucker and from what I’ve learnt already these comments are fully loaded.

Maybe it’s also a sign that there’s a desperate need for change.

One change at the moment, is the need to focus more on the positive and beneficial aspects of the new digital tools at our hands.

Also the use of the web to enhance reporting on issues relating to Pacific Islanders.

That’s just one of the several benefits of Whitireia’s J schools current National Diploma in Journalism (Multi-media).

PIMA has already recognised this need when it chose “Pasifika In the Digital Era” as the theme for last years conference.
This is what they had to say about the ‘digital era’ on their website http://www.pima.org.nz

The conference theme acknowledges the role digital technology is playing in re-shaping how we as Pasifika people receive and create media messages.

It’s a highly pertinent topic given the relative youth of our Pasifika community and the fact that in this fast-moving, text-driven, Bebo-fueled era information literally moves at lightning speed. How do we keep up.

I like the way the statement ends- How do we keep up?

A good start would be to stop attacking each other while using pseudonyms and start some constructed blogging.