The head of journalism at The University of the South Pacific (USP) has commended the Pacific Journalism Review (PJR) and its publisher, Professor David Robie, for 30 years of publishing research on Pacific media.
Associate Professor in Pacific journalism, Shailendra Singh, said that the PJR has played a critical role in providing upcoming Pacific Island academics and scholars invaluable opportunities and exposure in academic publishing.
The launch of the 30th anniversary edition will be held at the 2024 Pacific International Media Conference on July 4-6. Dr Singh, who is the chair of the conference, is also on the editorial board of PJR. He is both a contributing author and peer reviewer.
“The PJR has provided me, and many other upcoming academics, with invaluable opportunities and exposure in academic publishing,” he said. “Thirty years down the line, it continues this tradition of providing a platform for both new and established academics to interact.”
The only specialist media research journal in the Pacific and New Zealand, the PJR was founded at the University of Papua New Guinea in 1994.
It was published for five years at USP in Fiji before moving on to AUT’s Pacific Media Centre (PMC). It is currently being published by the Auckland-based APMN. PJR founding editor Dr Robie, formerly the head of USP Journalism, and the director of the PMC before he retired from academic life three years ago, said: “This is a huge milestone — three decades of Pacific media research, more than 1000 peer-reviewed articles and an open access database thanks to Tuwhera.
“These days the global research publishing model often denies people access to research if they don’t have access to libraries, so open access is critically important in a Pacific context.”
Current editor Dr Philip Cass told Asia Pacific Report: “For us to return to USP will be like coming home.
“For 30 years PJR has been the only journal focusing exclusively on media and journalism in the Pacific region.
“Our next edition will feature articles on the Pacific, New Zealand, Australia and Southeast Asia.
“We are maintaining our commitment to the islands while expanding our coverage of the region.”
Like Dr Robie, Dr Cass is a former academic staff at USP; he was one of the founding lecturers of the degree journalism programme and launched the student journalist newspaper Wansolwara and Dr Robie was head of journalism 1998-2002.
The 20th anniversary of the journal was celebrated with a conference at AUT University. At the time, an Indonesian-New Zealand television student, Sasya Wreksono, made a short documentary about PJR and Dr Lee Duffield of Queensland University of Technology wrote an article about the journal’s history.
Many journalism researchers from the Journalism Education and Research Association of Australia (JERAA) and other networks have been strong contributors to PJR, including professors Chris Nash and Wendy Bacon, who pioneered the Frontline section devoted to investigative journalism and innovative research.
The launch of the 30th anniversary edition of PJR will be held at the conference on July 4-6 with Professor Vijay Naidu, who is adjunct professor in the disciplines of development studies and governance at USP’s School of Law and Social Sciences.
Several of the PJR team will be present at USP, including longtime designer Del Abcede.
A panel on research journalism publication will also be held at the conference with several editors and former editors taking part, including former editor Professor Mark Pearson of the Australian Journalism Review. This is being sponsored by the APMN, one of the conference partners.
For further information please click on the conference website link below:
