The newspaper will also publish articles on council decisions and village matters. (Photo: Taupulega of Nukunonu) (ABC News)
Key points
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The Te Uluga Talafau monthly newspaper would provide up-to-date information on council decisions, village matters, as well as inspirational stories from Tokelauans living overseas. Tokelau lies just north of Samoa in the Pacific ocean and is a dependent territory of New Zealand.
Its small population of around 1,500 people is spread across three coral atolls with a combined land area of
only 10 square kilometres.
Press freedom in the Pacific  |
| A
call is issued for Pacific Island journalists to defend themselves
against an onslaught on press freedom, but some politicians say the
media is not always truthful. |
"The question coming from the Taupulega was how can we communicate issues, the cost of climate change and other stuff, so that the people in the village are informed about it," he said.Traditionally leaders would go back to their villages to tell community members face-to-face what decisions had been made, but Mr Tuia said times had changed.
"Ten-to-15 years ago that process slowly started to deteriorate because people don't have the time to do that," he said.
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| The newspaper aims to inform Tokelauans about climate change. (Te Mana: Litia Maiava ) |
"At the moment we have the editor who is the main person for our newspaper, with the help of everyone else around," said the newspaper's general manager, Asi Halaleva-Pasilio, adding that they were still training a team of journalists.
Unique challenges for tiny island journalists
Thousands of the tiny nation's people live overseas, mostly in Australia and New Zealand, and Ms Halaleva-Pasilio encouraged them to also buy the Te Uluga Talafau newspaper.
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Tokelau's largest atoll, Nukunonu, is home to fewer than 700 people. (Wikimedia Commons)
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"We have those small stories that may inspire our children, and show our people that there is light at the end of the tunnel," Ms Halaleva-Pasilio said.Journalism in a small Pacific community like Tokelau — where everyone knows everyone — poses unique challenges.
Reporters have been known to self-censor their work for fear of causing tension or insulting the community.
Produced at the headquarters of the Taupulega of Nukunou, the newspaper would also struggle to be entirely independent, as the governing council will be heavily involved in crafting each edition.
But Mr Tuia was hopeful that as the newspaper develops, local journalists will find their own voice and that hard-hitting articles would follow.
"On our atoll Nukunonu, there's less than about 700 people, so everyone knows everyone … But we are slowly starting to develop that as well, but I don't think it's going to be a problem," Mr Tuia said.
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| The Te Uluga Talafau will be published monthly. (Supplied: Taupulega of Nukunonu) |
Links
- How free is the media throughout the Pacific compared with Australia?
- Tongan Olympic sensation joins fight to protect Pacific countries from climate change
- Pacific warriors campaign against climate change
- 'We Share The Same Backyard': The Islands Disappearing Off Australia
- Panacea for the Pacific? Evaluating Community-Based Climate Change Adaptation
- A Poison In Our Island
- Australia Facing Climate Disaster On Its Doorstep, Government's White Paper Warns
- An Island Nation Turns Away From Climate Migration, Despite Rising Seas
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