[pima.nius] PINA Vice-President John Woods resigns

The following was posted on the Pacific Island Journalism googlegroups email list at 2pm yesterday.

To the President, Board Members and General Manager of the Pacific Islands News Association (PINA):

 Kia orana Moses, board members and Matai

 

I have agonised about making this statement of resignation as Vice-President because I know that PINA has a proud past and I do not want to be the chief catalyst in precipitating its collapse. However, I believe we all need to face the fact that PINA has had its day.

Today's media freedom situation in Fiji, whereby the Decree is now in force, is totally intolerable. A body like PINA should have led the outrage 24 hours ago. Our board's inaction on this fundamental issue is already a bone of contention among members and past members, and I am ashamed that we have reneged on our Constitutional obligation to oppose censorship and media controls in Fiji.

Moreover, I feel compelled to make a final stand against what I regard as poor leadership, mismanagement, and dysfunctionality of the secretariat.

Since July 2009 when I was elected Vice-President of PINA, I have discovered various failings and problems which I have raised, as you are all aware, to no avail. I am happy to elaborate and account for this, to anyone who may wish to ask.

The overall situation with PINA's administration is appalling, membership is at an all-time low, and I believe the organisation is virtually defunct.

My particular issues, as stated before, are:

1. In terms of our primary reason for existence,  to uphold freedom of expression and a free press, PINA has lost its mojo. Our silence on Fiji and our tolerance of media restrictions is unacceptable. Maintaining a secretariat and a news service in Fiji is also unacceptable.
2. The secretariat does not follow best practice for administration, eg lack of financial reports, lack of work plans, lack of travel approvals, closed-circuit decision-making on who benefits from training courses, etc, etc.
3. The General Manager has not had an employment contract since November 2009, and expiry of the contract was not notified to board members at a Suva meeting in December 2009. My requests for an appraisal, contract review and due process have been blocked and denied.
4. Key resolutions of the board (in December) have not been notified to key parties nor implemented, eg forming of alliances with PFF and WAVE, forming a training partnership with the USP School of Journalism, etc.
5. The theft of equipment during a burglary of the PINA office early this year was not properly reported to the board, and decisions on spending Aid funds to replace the gear were made without consultation, and have left people disgruntled.
6. No progress whatsoever has been made on so-called key projects/topics such as a review of PINA's Constitution and Membership, and implementing of the 'PINA Strategic Plan'.
7. Pacnews is compromised because of its Fiji location, has already suffered from military intervention and censorship, and is not being reviewed/restructured as agreed by the board in December 2009.

I am resigning with sincere regret and in frustration, but with confidence that independent media operators in the Pacific will not let the troubles with PINA spoil or undermine the future and prosperity of our industry.

John Woods
Managing Editor
Cook Islands News

	e john@cookislandsnews.com w www.cookislandsnews.com p (+682) 22999 f (+682) 25303 PO Box 15 Rarotonga Cook Islands

 

 

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