Safeguarding tomorrow: Building media sustainability in the Pacific 

There is nothing as predictable as change. The era of gradual change in environments, societies and societal structures is long gone. We now live in a world of exponential transformation, and it is getting faster and faster.

Nowhere is this more evident or challenging than in the Pacific Islands region where modern pressures are overlaid on traditional cultures and lifestyles, exacerbated by diversity and distance.

This year’s ABU Pacific Media Partnership Conference in Apia, Samoa, examines sustainability amidst change from a variety of angles, including:

• Creating robust broadcasting organisation strong enough to withstand the damaging forces of change while still being agile enough to adapt and advance.
• Giving audiences the new programming they crave, without destroying the old and the traditional.
• Building honest, reliable and trusted news services in an era of fake news and reckless social media.
• Technical transitioning – knowing what technologies to retain, what to pursue and what to discard.
• How Pacific Islands broadcasters can respond practically to communities experiencing transformation and disintegration.
• In the face of climate change denialism, apathy and limited resources, what Pacific Islands media can contribute to preserving a liveable planet for our grandchildren and their grandchildren.

The PMPC will be a mix of formal conference sessions, showcases and practical workshops.

The conference part will be divided into four sessions, each dedicated to a specific strand within the overall theme of media sustainability. These are not designed to include only specialists in those areas but will be open to every conference delegate; it is vital in a changing world we become multi-skilled and can develop multiple perspectives within every organisation and country.