The Republic of

Vanuatu Vanuatu ( or ; ), officially the Republic of Vanuatu (; ), is an island country in Melanesia located in the South Pacific Ocean. The archipelago, which is of volcanic origin, is east of northern Australia, northeast of New Caledonia, east o ...

is an officially trilingual state in the western Pacific, the three national languages being

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

and

Bislama Bislama ( ; ; also known by its earlier French name, ) is an English-based creole language. It is the national language of Vanuatu, and one of the three official languages of the country, the other ones being English and French. Bislama is the ...

. There is a diversity of newspapers, but only one, state-owned television channel. Private radio stations are a recent development; there were reportedly none in 2007."Vanuatu: Freedom of the Press 2007"

Freedom House Freedom House is a nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C. It is best known for political advocacy surrounding issues of democracy, Freedom (political), political freedom, and human rights. Freedom House was founded in October 1941, wi ...

Freedom of the media

in 2007 categorised Vanuatu's media as "free", noting however that "journalists have been censored or intimidated" by members of the police in isolated incidents, leading to apologies by the Police Commissioner. In 2001,

Marc Neil-Jones Marc Neil-Jones (14 October 1957 – 10 March 2025) was an English-born Vanuatuan journalist. A campaigner for freedom of the press, he was assaulted several times, as well as briefly deported and imprisoned. Radio New Zealand has described him ...

, British-born publisher of the ''

Vanuatu Daily Post The ''Vanuatu Daily Post'' is a newspaper published in Port Vila in Vanuatu. It is the only daily newspaper in Vanuatu. In 1993, British journalist Marc Neil-Jones acquired the rights to publish the periodical ''The Trading Post'' and used it ...

'', "was unlawfully deported from Vanuatu before being able to publish an article critical of the government". His deportation was subsequently overturned. In June 2011,

Harry Iauko Harry Iaris Iauko (died 10 December 2012"S ...

was convicted of

aiding and abetting Aiding and abetting is a legal doctrine related to the guilt of someone who aids or abets (encourages, incites) another person in the commission of a crime (or in another's suicide). It exists in a number of different countries and generally al ...

damage to property and aiding and abetting intentional assault, for having led a group of men into the offices of the ''Daily Post'', where they assaulted Neil-Jones for the newspaper's criticism of Iauko, who was at the time Minister for Infrastructure and Public Utilities. Iauko was fined Vt15,000.

Reporters Without Borders Reporters Without Borders (RWB; ; RSF) is an international non-profit and non-governmental organisation, non-governmental organization headquartered in Paris, which focuses on safeguarding the right to freedom of information. It describes its a ...

denounced the fine as "risible", saying it was "not commensurate with the gravity of the crime", and that such a small fine for an assault on a journalist risked pushing other journalists to censor themselves rather than criticise politicians. The

Commonwealth of Nations The Commonwealth of Nations, often referred to as the British Commonwealth or simply the Commonwealth, is an International organization, international association of member states of the Commonwealth of Nations, 56 member states, the vast majo ...

reports in 2013 that "Vanuatu is widely-considered by independent observers as a country with an unfettered freedom of press"."Media and Broadcasting in Vanuatu"
Commonwealth of Nations"Vanuatu profile: Media"

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

, 10 January 2012

Press

The ''Vanuatu Weekly'' is a state-owned paper published in all three national languages. The two main daily newspapers are both private: the ''Port Vila Presse'' (in French and in English), and the ''

'' (in English). The ''Daily Post'' has a sister weekly newspaper in French, '' L'Hebdo du Vanuatu''. The ''Vanuatu Independent'', ''Nasara'' and the ''Ni-Vanuatu'' are all private weekly papers.

Radio

The state-owned Radio Vanuatu is operated by the Vanuatu Broadcasting and Television Corporation. Its origins lie in the colonial era, prior to the country's independence from France and the United Kingdom in 1980. During the colonial period it began as Radio Vila, then Radio New Hebrides, initially broadcasting only ten minutes a day. As of 2013, it broadcasts "16 hours of news, information programs, music and entertainment"."Gov’t urged to maximise Radio Vanuatu coverage"
''Vanuatu Daily Post'', 15 February 2013 The station "has achieved almost nationwide coverage", and, as of 2000, used Bislama "approximately 80 percent of the time". Private radio stations are Capital FM 107, 96Buzz FM, and the Christian station Laef FM. Also available are foreign radio broadcasts tailored for an international audience:

BBC World Service The BBC World Service is a British Public broadcasting, public service broadcaster owned and operated by the BBC. It is the world's largest external broadcaster in terms of reception area, language selection and audience reach. It broadcas ...

Radio France Internationale Radio France Internationale, usually referred to as RFI, is the State media, state-owned international radio news network of France. With 59.5 million listeners in 2022, it is one of the most-listened-to international radio stations in the world ...

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 Tok ...

, and

China Radio International China Radio International (CRI) is the state-owned international radio broadcaster of China. It is currently headquartered in Babaoshan, Shijingshan, Beijing. It was founded on December 3, 1941, as Radio Peking. It later adopted the pinyin fo ...

Television

Television Blong Vanuatu Television Blong Vanuatu (TBV) is a digital service that is now a joint business venture between BTC and Guilin CEKE Communication Equipment Co Ltd, a Chinese private company that is specialized in digital television. Their studios and offices a ...

(Bislama for "Television of Vanuatu"), is operated by the state's Vanuatu Broadcasting and Television Corporation (Government owned). "Established with the help of Radio France Overseas", it broadcasts both in French and in English. As of 2010, it reached only about 20% of the population, and 80% of its content was borrowed from the

New Caledonia New Caledonia ( ; ) is a group of islands in the southwest Pacific Ocean, southwest of Vanuatu and east of Australia. Located from Metropolitan France, it forms a Overseas France#Sui generis collectivity, ''sui generis'' collectivity of t ...

n channel Nouvelle-Calédonie 1re. France provided assistance to extend its coverage to a greater part of the country."Vers une couverture télévisuelle de l’archipel avec l’aide de la France"
French embassy in Vanuatu, 14 October 2010 KAM TV (Komuniti Akses Media) is the second TV channel locally produced in Vanuatu by Marke Lowen. It broadcasts 24x7 and the programming consists of approx 95% local content. KAM is operated as a free Open public channel promoting local cultural knowledge and education under a 'not for profit' structure. It is broadcast FTA as Channel 1 on Telsat Pacific's UHF DVB-T2 digital TV system. (www.telsat.vu)

References

{{Oceania topic, Media of

Vanautu

Freedom of the media

Press

Radio

Television

See also

References