State of the Pacific Media Report

The State of the Media: Pacific research project provides an up-to-date snapshot of the media environment across the Pacific Islands region.

This project was conducted by a team led by Priestley Habru from the Security in the Pacific Islands research program in the Stretton Institute at the University of Adelaide, in cooperation with ABC International Development (ABCID). The reports were published on the ABCID website on 5 March 2025, and Priestley was interviewed on ABC Pacific.

Fieldwork and data analysis approaches were designed and conducted by Pacific researchers from the University, with the research funded under the Pacific Media Assistance Scheme (PACMAS), an Australian Aid initiative implemented on behalf of the Australian Government.

The regional report, along with the accompanying 12 country reports, will serve as an accessible resource for media, civil society, and governments. The 12 Pacific Island countries studied are: Federated States of Micronesia (FSM), Fiji, Kiribati, Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI), Nauru, Niue, Palau, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu.

The reports capture shifts in the Pacific media landscape (including changes to media access and coverage across print, broadcast, and digital), current media policy and legislation, media infrastructure, the footprint of media organisations, and top-level audience consumption patterns.