Media urged to empower all staff to handle sensitive stories with care and integrity

Media houses must invest in building the capacity of all their staff regardless of gender to handle sensitive stories with care, empathy, and responsibility, while also recognising a broader mission that intersects with capitalism.

Principal Strategic Lead for Women and Girls at the South Pacific Community, Mereseini Rakuita highlighted this during the Women in Media Conference.

She says reporting must be grounded in a do-no-harm approach.

Rakuita emphasised that every woman and child in the Pacific has suffered violence at the hands of someone who has misused power and she warned that we must be intentional in addressing this harm, rather than perpetuating it intentionally or otherwise.

Rakuita adds that our culture and faith are woven deeply into our identities.

She adds that these can be powerful pillars for positive change, however, it is also important to recognise when societal leaders use these values as a shield to justify harmful behaviour.