​DOMINIKA WHITE

NEW PAN PACIFIC PAPER​

 

A new "pan-Pacific" newspaper covering positive Pasifika community news is expected to hit stores and churches around Auckland this weekend.

 

The new Pacific Community News will be distributed from Sunday.

 

Editor Taberannang Korauaba says the paper will fill the need for providing a more positive face to Pacific communities.

 

"We need to create an environment where the Pacific can speak to itself and reflect on what it does," he says.

 

"We want the PI community to move forward and reach its potential."

 

Korauaba, originally from Kiribati, has been a journalist for 10 years and was a radio journalist in his home country with a high profile for investigative reporting.

 

He is also graduating from AUT University next month with a BCS (Hons) degree after completing a dissertation on media freedom in Kiribati with the Pacific Media Centre.

 

Korauaba says the newspaper will complement other Pacific papers available in New Zealand such as the Samoa Observer, Samoa Times, Taimi ‘o Tonga and the Niue Star.

 

He says the growth in the Pacific population in Auckland means a Pacific Island community newspaper is important to keep Pacific people up-to-date on vital information in the Pacific community.

 

Korauaba says the mission statement of the paper is: "My community, my future, a more positive newspaper."

 

'It’s not a mouthpiece of the Pacific Islands but we're going to publish useful stories and tell the success stories of the PI people so others can follow them."