Media plurality, independence and Talanoa: An alternative Pacific journalism education model.

The shrinking mainstream media plurality in Aotearoa New Zealand provides a context for examining publication of campus-based media where student and faculty editorial staff have successfully established an independent Asia-Pacific digital and print press over the past two decades. New Zealand's largest city Tāmaki Makaurau (Auckland) has the largest urban population of Pacific Islanders globally--more than 300,000 people in a total of 1.7 million (Pasifika New Zealand, n.d.), earning the moniker 'Polynesian capital of the world'. The presenter has had a pioneering role with four university-based journalism publications in the Pacific region as key adviser/publisher in Papua New Guinea (Uni Tavur, 1993-1998); Fiji (Wansolwara, 1998-2002); and Aotearoa/New Zealand (Pacific Scoop, 2009-2015; Asia Pacific Report, 2016 onwards), and also with two journalism school-based publications in Australia (Reportage, 1996, and The Junction, 2018-2020) (Robie, 2018). In early 2021, he was co-founder of the Asia Pacific Media Network which has emerged as a collective umbrella for academics, student journalists and independent reporters and writers producing several innovative publications, including the research journal Pacific Journalism Review. These contributors are mindful of the challenges of reportage about the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This section of the panel explores how an independent journalism model for Asia-Pacific students' storytelling 'Talanoa Journalism' can be an effective bridge to alternative media careers and addressing 'blind spots' in legacy news media. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]