Future of AUT’s Pacific Media Centre Still in the Air By Justin Wong (he/him) AUT has denied it is side-lining the Pacific Media Centre (PMC) but the university is yet to announce its new leadership following disputes on office spaces and a succession plan. The multi-disciplinary research unit was founded in 2007 by Professor David Robie, with its focus on Pacific media research and producing stories of marginalised communities in New Zealand and the Asia-Pacific region.
Top: The former office of the Pacific Media Centre on the 10th floor of the WG Building in early 2021. (Photo: Supplied)
Bottom: The Pacific Media Centre’s former office at the WG Building after being cleared out in early 2021. (Photo: Supplied)
The centre also housed several outlets that provided journalists covering regional issues and Pasifika researchers a space to publish their work,, such as the academic journal Pacific Journalism Review and the award-winning Pacific Media Watch. Dr Robie retired last December as the centre’s director but the position was not filled immediately. There have been no updates from the PMC’s website, YouTube and Soundcloud channels since, while Southern Cross, the radio segment the PMC produces on 95bFM’s The Wire, has not had a new episode since last August. Only one month after his retirement, Dr Robie was told that the PMC’s office on the 10th floor of the WG Building was emptied of its awards, theses, books and
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other memorabilia, with people involved with the centre not being notified or consulted of the move. The Pacific Newsroom reported the contents including a traditional carved Papua New Guinean storyboard presented by then Pacific Island Affairs Minister Winnie Laban to celebrate the centre’s opening in October 2007. Dr Robie told Debate in April that there’s a gap between what was said by AUT and reality, saying that the office being cleared affirmed the lack of a commitment by the university for the PMC’s future. He also said a succession plan was drawn up years ago that involved headhunting possible successors before his sabbatical in 2019 so the candidate could familiarise themselves with the role before formally taking over, but AUT did not follow it through. “This opportunity was wasted by the school and by the time I left, nobody had been prepared for continuity and the very able and talented people still working hard for the centre were not given support.” “This is unconscionable in my view.” “The school needs to listen to the vision of the stakeholders and treat them with respect.”
