Pacific and Media Leaders meet

Media Leaders from the Pacific and Australia have agreed to meet regularly for the next five years, on agreed areas of regional media cooperation.

The summit was co-hosted by the Managing Directors of the ABC, David Anderson, and PNG National Broadcasting Corporation (NBC) and Pacific Island News Agency (PINA) President, Kora Nou, at the ABC’s Ultimo headquarters in Sydney, Australia on the 28th February 2024.

The summit was supported by the Pacific Island News Agency (PINA) and the Pacific Media Assistance Scheme (PACMAS), which is a media strengthening initiative, delivered by ABC International Development, and funded by the Australian Government.  

The summit saw 27 CEOs, Managing Directors and Editors from media houses in 12 countries across the Pacific, converge in Sydney, while the Australian media in attendance included First Nations media, commercial free-to-air, print media, and public broadcasters.

The purpose of the meeting was to build relationships, identify high priority challenges and opportunities to work together on, and set the agenda for the group for the next five years. 

The media leaders discussed opportunities to work together in skills development, content creation, sharing & production, management & leadership, finance and funding models, and technical broadcast expertise.

They also recognized a range of shared industry challenges and opportunities, including addressing the digital divide, sustainable business models, and new funding streams, partnerships, transmission arrangements and media accessibility. 

The ABC and PINA will continue to work with the group to define mechanisms for continued engagement, over the next five (5) years.