Asia-Pacific Regional Press Freedom Seminar

Country Report - Cook Islands

The media environment

The Cook Islands News and the Cook Islands Herald are the two most influential newspapers in the Cook Islands, if only because they have comparatively wide readership on Rarotonga. Brief sketches of the two papers are provided below.

The Cook Islands News main asset is that it has longevity to the extent that most Cook Islanders have grown up with it. Its disadvantage is that the media scene has changed dramatically in recent years, especially with the advent of television and other competing outlets for the advertising dollar. As the new kid on the block, the Cook Islands Herald has the difficult task of building readership but has been able to achieve this in a relatively short period through extensive television promotion.

A third weekly newspaper, the Cook Islands Star, is also available on Rarotonga but its main market area is Auckland and its circulation on Rarotonga is about 400. Its reduced readership makes it less significant.

Name: Cook Islands News (private since 1990.

It began in 1944 as a one-page information sheet published at irregular intervals. It developed as a Government-owned newspaper in the late 1960s and was privatised in 1989. It has six editorial staff.
Publication Days: Monday-Saturday
Estimated Print Run: 2000
Number of pages: 12 pages broadsheet (average), 16 pages weekend
Sale price including VAT: 85 cents (NZ)
Language: Mostly English
Ownership/purpose: Private/commercial
Geographical coverage: Rarotonga

Name: Cook Islands Herald (established 2000)

A private company Elijah Communications laid the seed for the paper in 1997. It was then a TV guide with a circulation on Rarotonga of about 400. It took on its present newspaper format early last year, thereby filling a vacuum left by the demise of another newspaper. Its editorial staff of six is shared with Radio Cook Islands and Television Cook Islands.
Publication Days: Every Wednesday
Estimated Print Run: 1300
Number of pages: 40 pages A4 size (average)
Sale price including VAT: $2 (NZ)
Language: Mostly English
Ownership/purpose: Private/commercial
Geographical coverage: Rarotonga and Aitutaki

What factors support or constrain press freedom in the country?

There is no doubt that the media is free in the Cook Islands. Nevertheless, at the same time there are a number of areas of vulnerabilities.

The main factor, which supports press freedom in the Cook Islands, is the existence of a robust and competitive media that is wholly privately owned.

But various factors can also work to constrain media freedom in the country. These include the following:

• The lack of a Freedom of Information Act.
   
• A media industry that is divided and shows no signs of cooperation on any issue. The consequence is strong personalities who clash with one another.
   
• The small size of communities inhibits media freedom in a number of ways. A reporter may often handle stories that involve friends and family whom they do not want to offend on a personal level. Such stories may also represent a conflict of interest for the reporter. In a small community, the private sector can and does exert an influence out of proportion to its size because the private media depend on their custom to survive.
   
• The presence in the media of an element of irresponsible journalism.
   
• The shoestring budget nature of the industry restricts the opportunities for training. Consequently, the industry is characterised by a lack of depth in the editorial area that in turn reinforces negative aspects such as the irresponsible reporting.
   
• The practice of permitting anonymous sources and writers to vent personal attacks on people.

What mechanisms, if any, are there in the country for dealing with complaints about newspapers?

A Cook Islands Media Council, based on the Australian and New Zealand model of press self-regulation, was established in October 1995. It was created in response to a perceived threat of government-imposed regulation and functioned for four years until the threat had passed. The members of the Council were appointed on a voluntary basis and when they left, no replacements were made.

There is no longer any formal mechanism for dealing with complaints about newspapers but it is also true that proposals to re-institute another press council or to impose press regulations had acquired the character of pressing issues for periods of time over the past two years.

Arthur Taripo
Cook Islands Herald

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