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During the 2013 Pacific World Press Freedom Day in the Solomon Islands, Pacific media organizations launched a groundbreaking agreement on independent self-regulation, establishing a Pacific Media Ombudsman.
At the two-day event held at the Heritage Park Hotel at the country’s capital of Honiara, media organizations and representatives agreed that media standards, ethics and conduct protocols require effective enforcement in the national and regional level.
Although representatives acknowledged Pacific Islands News Association’s (PINA) role in developing and strengthening national complaints, there’s a need for a regional ombudsman to work with national bodies.
To establish a Pacific Media Ombudsman, a taskforce was created to set up a system over the next six months, with the goal of becoming operational by May 2014.
Founding members of the regional media ombudsman mechanism includes the Cook Islands, Samoa and Tonga.