When there is attention by global media on ocean-related issues in the Pacific, it usually centers on big-time commercial fisheries and the revenue it generates. Rarely, however, is there media focus on local, relatively small-scale efforts to establish and maintain marine protected areas

While media freedom is a legal fact in most Pacific island constitutions, it is the practical application of it to our cultures that matters. This twisted notion of media freedom is what is being flaunted unfortunately in Tonga, and most of the South Pacific island states.

Will 2014 be the watershed year for the Forum? The ingredients are there – a new secretary general, the return of Fiji, a roadmap for reform of the institution and the Pacific Plan, and growing international interest in the post-Forum dialogue. Just mix, stir and serve.

Just as media are alive and vigorous in Polynesia, so are the many attempts by those who are in power to control it. Taming the media is often done by redefining media freedom, and especially in dislodging its role in scrutiny of power. A state without a critical media is a state where there are no checks and balances of power.