Broadcasters ready to address pressing media industry concerns

The 2025 Pacific Media Partnership Conference (PMPC) aims to address media industry concerns impacting the region. Photo credit: ABC

The changing landscape of media and what it means for the region is a hot topic for talanoa at the 2025 Pacific Media Partnership Conference (PMPC), taking place in Suva, Fiji this month.

Hosted by Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union (ABU) and Fijian Broadcasting Corporation (FBC), the conference brings together experienced broadcasters to discuss and troubleshoot issues affecting the media industry in an unpredictable climate.

Pacific Cooperation Broadcasting Limited (PCBL) Chief Executive Officer Natasha Meleisea is attending the conference, from February 11-13, and will share her insights on a panel focused on international partners and donors, and changes in the media landscape.

“It is a challenging time for broadcasters in the Pacific, with so many factors at play, including digital transformation, AI, OTT platforms and a shrinking media workforce which have significantly impacted traditional media revenue models and how people consume content,” Natasha says.

“This is a conference where we can talanoa and troubleshoot, to see how we can best meet the evolving needs of the Pacific media industry.

“PCBL is committed to navigating the challenges ahead for the region fuelled by emerging technology and media consumption habits, and I am looking forward to meeting with my peers at the PMPC conference.”

The conference is leveraging off last year’s gathering in Brisbane, where the call to support journalists was made, along with highlighting the need for media freedom in supporting communities and addressing environmental crises, and emphasising the need for sustainable financial models, digitisation of media archives, training and development, and coordination of emergency broadcasting in the region.

A commitment to continue working together and hold the 2025 event in Fiji has been made, and this year’s PMPC organisers hope to continue this momentum.

The conference coincides with several significant milestones, including the 70th anniversary of Fiji Broadcasting Corporation (FBC), the formal launch of FBC’s Media Academy, and World Radio Day 2025.

The UNESCO World Radio Day is an international day celebrated on February 13 each year, to acknowledge the role radio plays as one of the most dependable and widely utilised forms of media in the world.  

Topics which will be explored and discussed at the conference include, climate change and disaster risk reduction, funding and changes in the media landscape, digital transformation of the Pacific, reporting on the drug crisis in the Pacific and journalism training.

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance, Strategic Planning, National Development and Statistics Hon Biman Chand Prasad will make the opening keynote address, while the PMPC keynote speaker is Vanuatu Broadcasting and Television Corporation (VBTC) CEO Francis Herman who will speak on the lessons learned from the 2024 Vanuatu earthquake.

The ABU keynote speaker is Group Director, Legal, CMG Sri Lanka Suranga Jayalath, looking at silencing media investigations into matters of public interest.