RNZ Pacific or Radio New Zealand Pacific, sometimes abbreviated to RNZP, is a division of

Radio New Zealand Radio New Zealand ( mi, Te Reo Irirangi o Aotearoa), commonly known as Radio NZ or simply RNZ, is a New Zealand public-service radio broadcaster and Crown entity that was established under the Radio New Zealand Act 1995. It operates news and cu ...

and the official

international broadcasting International broadcasting, in a limited extent, began during World War I, when German and British stations broadcast press communiqués using Morse code. With the severing of Germany's undersea cables, the wireless telegraph station in Nauen was ...

station of

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island coun ...

. It broadcasts a variety of

news News is information about current events. This may be provided through many different media: word of mouth, printing, postal systems, broadcasting, electronic communication, or through the testimony of observers and witnesses to event ...

current affairs Current affairs may refer to: News * ''Current Affairs'' (magazine) a bimonthly magazine of culture and politics. * Current affairs (news format): a genre of broadcast journalism * Current Affairs, former name for Behind the News Politics * An ...

and

sports Sport pertains to any form of competitive physical activity or game that aims to use, maintain, or improve physical ability and skills while providing enjoyment to participants and, in some cases, entertainment to spectators. Sports can, ...

programmes in

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ...

and news in seven Pacific languages. The station's mission statement requires it to promote and reflect

in the Pacific, and better relations between New Zealand and Pacific countries. As the only

shortwave Shortwave radio is radio transmission using shortwave (SW) radio frequencies. There is no official definition of the band, but the range always includes all of the high frequency band (HF), which extends from 3 to 30 MHz (100 to 10 me ...

radio station in New Zealand, RNZ Pacific broadcasts to several island nations. It has studios in Radio New Zealand House,

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by ...

and a transmitter at Rangitaiki in the middle of the North Island. Its broadcasts cover from

East Timor East Timor (), also known as Timor-Leste (), officially the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, is an island country in Southeast Asia. It comprises the eastern half of the island of Timor, the exclave of Oecusse on the island's north-w ...

in the west across to

French Polynesia )Territorial motto: ( en, "Great Tahiti of the Golden Haze") , anthem = , song_type = Regional anthem , song = "Ia Ora 'O Tahiti Nui" , image_map = French Polynesia on the globe (French Polynesia centered).svg , map_alt = Location of French ...

in the east, covering all South Pacific countries in between. The station targets

Micronesia Micronesia (, ) is a subregion of Oceania, consisting of about 2,000 small islands in the western Pacific Ocean. It has a close shared cultural history with three other island regions: the Philippines to the west, Polynesia to the east, ...

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini; ho, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niu Gini), is a country i ...

Fiji Fiji ( , ,; fj, Viti, ; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी, ''Fijī''), officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consis ...

Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa; sm, Sāmoa, and until 1997 known as Western Samoa, is a Polynesian island country consisting of two main islands ( Savai'i and Upolu); two smaller, inhabited islands ( Manono and Apolima); ...

, the

Cook Islands ) , image_map = Cook Islands on the globe (small islands magnified) (Polynesia centered).svg , capital = Avarua , coordinates = , largest_city = Avarua , official_languages = , lan ...

Solomon Islands Solomon Islands is an island country consisting of six major islands and over 900 smaller islands in Oceania, to the east of Papua New Guinea and north-west of Vanuatu. It has a land area of , and a population of approx. 700,000. Its capit ...

Vanuatu Vanuatu ( or ; ), officially the Republic of Vanuatu (french: link=no, République de Vanuatu; bi, Ripablik blong Vanuatu), is an island country located in the South Pacific Ocean. The archipelago, which is of volcanic origin, is east of ...

and

Tonga Tonga (, ; ), officially the Kingdom of Tonga ( to, Puleʻanga Fakatuʻi ʻo Tonga), is a Polynesian country and archipelago. The country has 171 islands – of which 45 are inhabited. Its total surface area is about , scattered over in ...

during a 24-hour rotation. The signal can also be heard in East and Southeast Asia, Europe and North America.

History

Early years

RNZ International was launched in 1948 as Radio New Zealand, a subsidiary of what was then the New Zealand Broadcasting Corporation. It utilised two 7.5 kW transmitters at Titahi Bay which had been left behind by the US military during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. It briefly closed before reopening in 1976, under the foreign policy of the third Labour government. From 1987, the Government faced growing pressure to have a more active foreign policy towards the Pacific region. It upgraded the station, installed a new 100 kW transmitter and re-launched it as Radio New Zealand International (RNZI) on the first day of the

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The most populous urban area in the country and the fifth largest city in Oceania, Auckland has an urban population of about I ...

1990 Commonwealth Games The 1990 Commonwealth Games ( mi, 1990 Taumāhekeheke Commonwealth) were held in Auckland, New Zealand from 24 January – 3 February 1990. It was the 14th Commonwealth Games, and part of New Zealand's 1990 sesquicentennial celebrations. Partic ...

. The station adopted new digital technology and launched a website in 2000. In 1992, Johnson Honimae was fired as the

Solomon Islands Broadcasting Corporation Solomon Islands Broadcasting Corporation (SIBC) is the official radio broadcaster of Solomon Islands. SIBC is self-defined as a public service broadcaster.Bougainville for RNZI and other international media outlets. SIBC general manager Patterson Mae was accused of undermining the principles of press freedom, and resigned as president of the regional journalism body the Pacific Islands News Association.

Recent years

In 1998 and again in 2000 RNZI won a Commonwealth Broadcasting Association's Rolls-Royce Award for Excellence. At a function of the Association for International Broadcasting in London, November 2007, RNZI received the International Radio Station of the Year award ahead of the

BBC World Service The BBC World Service is an international broadcaster owned and operated by the BBC, with funding from the British Government through the Foreign Secretary's office. It is the world's largest external broadcaster in terms of reception a ...

. The association praised the station for what it said was an ability and clarity of vision - and for the delivery of something it said was valued by audiences throughout the region. RNZI also won the award for Most Innovative Partnership. As of 2015, RNZI has 13 staff. These include manager Linden Clark, technical manager Adrian Sainsbury, news editor Walter Zweifel and deputy news editor Don Wiseman. Myra Oh, Colette Jansen, Damon Taylor, Dominic Godfrey and Jeremy Veal serve as technical producers and continuity announcers. In May 2017 Radio New Zealand International's (RNZI) online brand was changed to RNZ Pacific to more clearly reflect what the service does and emphasise its role in engaging with the domestic Pasifika audience in New Zealand. According to RNZ, "For now, the RNZI brand will continue to be maintained on-air through our international service, but domestically it is now known as RNZ Pacific. However, as of 2020 the name "RNZ Pacific" is used on the air in all but the frequency change announcements, and the website RNZI is being phased out. RNZ Pacific uses analog transmissions to reach

shortwave radio Shortwave radio is radio transmission using shortwave (SW) radio frequencies. There is no official definition of the band, but the range always includes all of the high frequency band (HF), which extends from 3 to 30 MHz (100 to 10 m ...

listeners throughout the Pacific Basin, and since 2016 it has used DRM digital radio transmissions to distribute programming to partner stations in the region for rebroadcasting. , FM and AM stations in American Samoa, Cook Islands, Kiribati, Niue, Norfolk Island, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, and Vanuatu rebroadcast RNZ Pacific programming.

News

Aside from

Radio Australia ABC Radio Australia, also known as Radio Australia, is the international broadcasting and online service operated by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), Australia's public broadcaster. Most programming is in English, with some in T ...

, RNZI is the only international state-owned public broadcaster covering the Pacific region. Its news service focuses on South Pacific countries, and includes news bulletins in eight languages. The station's reporters include Johnny Blades, Sally Round, former Pacific Media Centre editor Alex Perrottet, Moera Tuilaepa-Taylor, Indira Moala, Koroi Hawkins, Koro Vaka'uta, Leilani Momoisea, Amelia Langford, Bridget Tunnicliffe, Mary Baines, Jenny Meyer and The Wireless contributor Jamie Tahana. Vinnie Wylie heads the station's sports coverage, and freelancers are often used for on-the-ground reporting. The station's news service focuses on news that relates to New Zealand, and ongoing stories like natural disasters and political crises. It predominantly cites Government and opposition leaders and the spokespeople of non-government organisations and government departments. Marshall Islands journalist Giff Johnson is an RNZI correspondent, and World Bank regional director Franz Dreez-Gross and Victoria University academic John Fraenkel are regularly interviewed for stories.

Coverage

RNZP regularly covers the Papua conflict and interviews exiled Koteka tribal leader

Benny Wenda Benny Wenda is a West Papuan independence leader and Chairman of the United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP). He is an international lobbyist for the independence of West Papua from Indonesia. He lives in exile in the United Kingdom. ...

on his visits to New Zealand. It has reported on Vanuatu's Parliamentary debate on the conflict, Indonesian estimates of the death toll and West Papua National Liberation Army claims of militant arrests. The station has also interviewed members of the

Melanesian Spearhead Group The Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG) is an intergovernmental organization, composed of the four Melanesian states of Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu, and the Kanak and Socialist National Liberation Front of New Caledonia. I ...

over the army's bid to join the group. However, the station does not have any reporters on the ground. The station provides ongoing coverage of several regional issues, including climate change, rapid emigration, LGBT rights in Oceania, the development of Pacific

tax havens A tax is a compulsory financial charge or some other type of levy imposed on a taxpayer (an individual or legal entity) by a governmental organization in order to fund government spending and various public expenditures (regional, local, o ...

and the growing influence of China. It allowed other media to redistribute its ongoing coverage of Fijian politics after the

2000 Fijian coup d'état The Fiji coup d'état of 2000 was a civilian coup d'état by hardline i-Taukei (ethnic Fijian) nationalists against the elected government of an Indo-Fijian Prime Minister, Mahendra Chaudhry on 19 May 2000. This was followed by an attempt ...

, and has covered the transition to independence in

and political stability in the Solomon Islands. RNZP also gives greater air time to national news stories from South Pacific countries than New Zealand's other mainstream and Pacific media outlets. For instance, during March 2013 it covered the constitutional crisis in Nauru, video of alleged torture of prisoners by Fijian government officials and a World Bank grant to the Samoan government.

Programmes

Original programming

RNZP produces most of its own programming, including regional current affairs, Pacific business and news bulletins in various languages. Some local Pacific Island radio stations rebroadcast selected items such as news and weather, and Radio New Zealand National, ABC Radio Australia,

and the World Radio Network rebroadcast its reports and current affairs programmes. Daily programmes include Pacific waves (daily Pacific current affairs), Pacific Weather Forecasts (daily forecasts), News about New Zealand (weekly New Zealand current affairs), News in Pacific Languages, World and Pacific News (daily Pacific news and sports bulletins), New Zealand Newspaper Headlines (daily headlines), Pacific Business Report (daily business news), Pacific Regional News (daily Pacific current affairs), Pacific Music (daily music selection), The Wantok Program, 30 minutes of news and current affairs from ABC Radio Australia from Monday to Friday. Weekly programmes include Pacific Correspondent (local political and social reports), Tagata o te Moana (weekly Pacific current affairs and music), The Feature Interview, Sports Talk (weekly Pacific sports discussion), Champions of the pacific (weekly Pacific sports news) and Tradewinds (weekly Pacific business).

Other RNZ programming

Some of RNZ Pacific's programmes are simulcasts or repeats of

RNZ National RNZ National ( mi, Te Reo Irirangi o Aotearoa Ā-Motu), formerly Radio New Zealand National, and known until 2007 as the National Programme or National Radio, is a publicly funded non-commercial New Zealand English-language radio network oper ...

content, such as the flagship current affairs programmes ''Morning Report'', ''Midday Report'', ''Checkpoint'', and ''Late Edition''. The station also broadcasts some sports commentaries of major sporting events, and includes a weekly programme of hymns from

RNZ Concert RNZ Concert ( mi, Te Reo Irirangi o Aotearoa Kōnohete) is a publicly funded non-commercial New Zealand FM fine music radio network. Radio New Zealand owns the network and operates it from its Wellington headquarters. The network's playlist of ...

. Every day, RNZ Pacific also broadcasts Te Manu Korihi (morning Māori news), New Zealand Coastal Weather (morning forecasts), Morning Report (morning current affairs), Midday Report (afternoon news), Nine to Noon (current affairs), Checkpoint (afternoon current affairs), Late Edition (evening current affairs) and Radio New Zealand National simulcasts. Weekly programmes broadcast by RNZ Pacific include Insight (Monday), Spectrum (Monday), Focus on Politics (Monday), Asian Report (Wednesday), Music 101 (Saturday), Saturday Night (Saturday), Hymns on Sunday Morning (Sunday) and Sounds Historical (Sunday).

Programmes from other sources

RNZ Pacific also broadcasts content from other programme producers and international broadcasters. These include Parliament Today concluded in December 2016, the

French language French ( or ) is a Romance language of the Indo-European family. It descended from the Vulgar Latin of the Roman Empire, as did all Romance languages. French evolved from Gallo-Romance, the Latin spoken in Gaul, and more specifically in N ...

Pacific Press Review and programmes from the

. BBC current affairs show The World Today is broadcast every day.

Transmission

RNZ Pacific broadcasts on different frequencies and times to different parts of the Pacific region, during a 24-hour rotation. In the website there is a list of the current frequency schedule. Maintenance of the transmitter is carried out on the first and third Wednesday of every month from 10:30a.m. to 6p.m. NZT, sometimes interrupting the station's broadcasts. Regular schedule changes are made to reflect changes to the station's target audience. RNZ Pacific is also available on satellite over the Pacific and South Asia. The RNZ Pacific transmission site is located in Rangitaiki on North Island. The unattended site is fed by a digital link from studios in Wellington. In 2005, a 100 kW transmitter capable of both analog and digital broadcasting using the

Digital Radio Mondiale Digital Radio Mondiale (DRM; ''mondiale'' being Italian and French for "worldwide") is a set of digital audio broadcasting technologies designed to work over the bands currently used for analogue radio broadcasting including AM broadcasting—pa ...

digital radio standard was installed at the site. A new 100 kW transmitter, also DRM-capable, is planned for installation in 2023. Two high frequency and two low band antennas are used to send RNZ Pacific programming across the Pacific Basin.

Notes

References

External links

RNZ International Website

Details on RNZI's awards
* Meduimwave Broadcasting Proposa
PPTPDF
{{coord missing, New Zealand International broadcasters Multilingual broadcasters Radio stations established in 1948