NEW DAWN ON BOUGAINVILLE

New Dawn wins international award in Brisbane

By Keith Jackson

The journey from Buka via Moresby and Cairns to Brisbane, Queensland was accompanied by major delays but, with only minutes to go, New Dawn FM manager Aloysius Laukai arrived at Queensland University in time to receive, on behalf of his radio station, a major international award on Friday night.

The Communications and Social Change Award is given for the most outstanding contribution to using communications for social betterment, and New Dawn FM won it from a large international field  for making an important contribution to peace and reconcilation on Bougainville.

In a speech, Aloysius Laukai said that the station is about to build a second studio in Arawa and install new repeater transmitters that will carry its radio broadcasts to most of the island.

University vice-chancellor, Prof Paul Greenfield, who presented the award, said "you can't help but be inspired by what people do in difficult circumstances."

"Social change is a serious business and New Dawn FM is about serious business," he said

In response, Aloysius Laukai said "the crisis divided most of our people".

"We wanted to allow freedom of expression to help reconcile people after the conflict."

The Bougainville insurrection took 20,000 lives and displaced 40,000 people of a population of 120,000.

The Queensland University academic who heads the Centre for Communications and Social Change, Assoc Prof Martin Hadlow, said "Aloysius provided us all with an outstanding overview of New Dawn FM's history, operations and the way it is impacting positively on the day-to-day lives of Bougainvillean citizens.

"His additional presentation on the displacement of people from the Carteret Islands, due to rising sea levels, was both fascinating and alarming," Prof Hadlow said.

"Congratulations Aloysius and the New Dawn FM community radio team. Real people doing real work for the development of their fellow citizens and for the promotion of democracy."

New Dawn FM has also just been asked by the PNG national government to conduct a five-year long awareness campaign leading up to a referendum on Bougainville independence in 2015.

By Keith Jackson

The journey from Buka via Moresby and Cairns to Brisbane, Queensland was accompanied by major delays but, with only minutes to go, New Dawn FM manager Aloysius Laukai arrived at Queensland University in time to receive, on behalf of his radio station, a major international award on Friday night.

The Communications and Social Change Award is given for the most outstanding contribution to using communications for social betterment, and New Dawn FM won it from a large international field  for making an important contribution to peace and reconcilation on Bougainville.

In a speech, Aloysius Laukai said that the station is about to build a second studio in Arawa and install new repeater transmitters that will carry its radio broadcasts to most of the island.

University vice-chancellor, Prof Paul Greenfield, who presented the award, said "you can't help but be inspired by what people do in difficult circumstances."

"Social change is a serious business and New Dawn FM is about serious business," he said

In response, Aloysius Laukai said "the crisis divided most of our people".

"We wanted to allow freedom of expression to help reconcile people after the conflict."

The Bougainville insurrection took 20,000 lives and displaced 40,000 people of a population of 120,000.

The Queensland University academic who heads the Centre for Communications and Social Change, Assoc Prof Martin Hadlow, said "Aloysius provided us all with an outstanding overview of New Dawn FM's history, operations and the way it is impacting positively on the day-to-day lives of Bougainvillean citizens.

"His additional presentation on the displacement of people from the Carteret Islands, due to rising sea levels, was both fascinating and alarming," Prof Hadlow said.

"Congratulations Aloysius and the New Dawn FM community radio team. Real people doing real work for the development of their fellow citizens and for the promotion of democracy."

New Dawn FM has also just been asked by the PNG national government to conduct a five-year long awareness campaign leading up to a referendum on Bougainville independence in 2015.

New Dawn women get regional recognition

Hard on the heels of New Dawn FM winning the University of Queensland’s important Communication and Social Change Award, the station has been given further international recognition.

Isis International, an organisation committed to promoting the place of women in communication, has invited New Dawn to nominate two female staff for a conference in Manila in October.

Women Making Airwaves for Peace is a five-day seminar for 30 women community radio broadcasters from the Asia Pacific region.

“We have heard news of the wonderful things you are doing in PNG,” said Isis organiser Erika Rosario, “and we would like to invite New Dawn FM women broadcasters to the seminar.”

New Dawn FM has nominated Joyce Tohui and Marchella Tamusio to share their experiences of using radio for peace building and disaster management.

New Dawn FM wins international media award

New Dawn FM, the pioneering Bougainville community radio station, has won this year’s Communication and Social Change Award offered by the University of Queensland’s School of Journalism and Communication.

Head of School, Prof Michael Bromley, said 19 entries were received for the Award, which recognises and honours outstanding contributions to the theory and practice of communication and social change.

“On behalf of the Jury and all of us here at the university, I wish to congratulate New Dawn FM on winning this prestigious Award,” Prof Bromley told New Dawn chairman and manager, Aloysius Laukai.

The jury for the Award included ABC Foreign Editor Peter Cave, AusAID Deputy Director General Annmaree O'Keeffe and former Secretary-General of the Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union Hugh Leonard. They were joined by chair Prof Ken Wiltshire AO and three senior Queensland University academics.

Award nominations came from 14 countries - Bangladesh, Burundi, Canada, Congo, New Zealand, Nigeria, Philippines, Fiji, India, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Uganda and the USA as well as Papua New Guinea.

The Award constitutes a commemorative plaque and a cash prize of $2,500. Mr Laukai will be flown to Brisbane next month to receive the award at a special ceremony at Queensland University.

New Dawn FM was established with the assistance of a group of Australians who had worked in broadcasting in PNG, including Keith Jackson AM, Phil Charley OAM and Prof Martin Hadlow.

New Dawn uses Blackberries to boost news

By Aloysius Laukai

New Dawn FM has provided five Blackberry mobile phones to staff as part of its program to keep up to date with technology. The Blackberries, which are currently being promoted by mobile company Digicel, will make the work of gathering and reporting news much easier.

In handing the mobile phones, manager Aloysius Laukai said that Digicel was making a continued commitment to communications on Bougainville, and New Dawn FM was benefiting from this.

Mr Laukai said If the program is a success, phones will be given to the other staff.

He also said New Dawn FM assures listeners of its commitment to strengthening Bougainville autonomy by providing more audience participation in its programs.

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Photo: A youths places flowers on President James Tanis last Sunday evening at the closing of Youth Year celebrations.

The emergence of New Dawn FM

The Autonomous Province of Bougainville in Papua New Guinea has passed through an extended period of civil insurrection that has left countless thousands of people dead, injured or internally displaced.

The island’s infrastructure, especially in the south of the province, has been almost totally shattered, schools and hospitals destroyed, airports closed, towns wrecked, shops looted and transportation links in disarray.

During the violence, the province’s National Broadcasting Corporation radio station (Radio Bougainville) left the airwaves after its studios and offices in Kieta were razed. The lives of several staff members were threatened, with many having to go ‘underground’ for extended periods to hide from lawless elements.

Once international peacekeeping assistance reached Bougainville and the situation began to stabilise, Radio Bougainville re-commenced limited short wave broadcasting operations from the Buka area in the northern part of the island. However, due to variable electricity supply, the station was unable to offer an extensive on-air service. A new power generator has now been provided and Radio Bougainville is broadcasting from Hutjena on short wave for 10 hours a day.

As Bougainville starts to rebuild, it is vital that all citizens have access to a variety of independent media and information sources, thus enabling them to participate in the democratic rebirth of their province and to share their views and opinions in a public forum.

The growth of civil society structures, institutions and freedom of expression will be essential in enabling Bougainvilleans to heal the differences of the past and plan their own peaceful future. Pluralistic and independent media can be both a sounding board and a social change mechanism in moving the agenda forward.

Given Bougainville's  inadequate road and air links, not to mention isolated geography and rugged topography, newspaper distribution in the province is difficult. Thus the role of the electronic media, especially radio broadcasting, takes on heightened significance.

This project proposes to establish a community FM radio station, New Dawn FM, to serve a number of towns and villages in the area around Tinputz and Buka Passage in the north of Bougainville.

The radio station would not only provide an independent news, information, educational, and entertainment service to listeners, but would also be a model for the possible establishment of community radio stations elsewhere in the province.

Source:  UNESCO brief 2007, Establishment of New Dawn FM, Development of community radio in post-conflict Bougainville.

Welcome to a new dawn

This web site has been established to tell you about the work of New Dawn FM, a pioneering radio station in the Autonomous Province of Bougainville.

Most of the people who read this site will not be able to tune in to New Dawn FM. But we will keep you informed of developments and, who knows, one day we may even be able to offer you a live feed of our programs.

Like New dawn FM itself, this site will gradually develop over the coming weeks and months. Bear with us during this initial phase and return occasionally to check on how we're doing.

We'd also like to receive your comments.