By Renate Rivers

We have been bombarded with the news stories surrounding Campbell Live’s post-tsunami coverage.

In the quagmire of misinformation currently flowing from the Campbell Live studios on this matter, one cannot help but marvel at how a simple story was blown out of proportion and subsequently played out in media reports as a ‘soap opera’.

The manner in which Mr Campbell chose to present his two segments (27 September and 1 November) indicated that he was not interested in providing a balanced and fair accounting of the recovery efforts for interested viewers.

Instead, he chose to provoke anti-Government sentiment amongst the people in Samoa, as well as those overseas with vested interests in our country’s ability to bounce back from last year’s devastation.

By failing to provide viewers with a wider picture of what has actually been achieved – and what is to come – in terms of rebuilding and recovery, Campbell Live has diminished its own integrity as an objective and dependable source of impartial news.

It is puzzling that someone of his experience could make so many fundamental journalistic mistakes in his stories.  He did not pursue the diplomatic missions based here in Samoa for their views on where the money has gone.

He did not air any footage of the new infrastructure in place in the affected areas.

He did not interview any of the Ministers holding the appropriate portfolios e.g. – Housing, Works, Transport, Infrastructure and public utilities services such as the Samoa Water Authority and the Electric Power Corporation.

He claims not to have found a single person along the coast that was happy with the recovery and rebuilding work.  Why?  Because a concerted attempt to talk to as many people as possible in the days he was here, would not have served the show’s agenda of casting a negative light on the recovery progress thus far.

In my view, Mr Campbell just wasn’t interested in the positives.  And for that, we should all be very concerned.

Many people I have spoken to, and discussed this issue with have seen his two segments, and based their opinions on the recovery progress solely on what he chose to include in his stories.  It is therefore no surprise that they too are echoing his distorted commentary.

One person even said, “Don’t tell me about the new roads, electricity or water supply… all I want to know is where the money went�?.  The contradiction in this statement barely warrants a response in its stupidity.

It is clear to me that people are throwing up arms for the sake of throwing up arms.

Unfortunately, what could and should have been a very important news story about the progress of recovery and governmental accountability has been bastardized in to a war of words and egos.

Campbell does not want to admit his coverage was poorly researched, imbalanced and unfair – and the Prime Minister refuses to be bullied in to a fly-by-night interview on a topic that may not be given the proper attention it deserves.  Now Campbell Live is refusing to return to meet and tour with the Prime Minister.  This is puzzling and rather bizarre.  He has been given an opportunity to face Tuilaepa -and ask the questions he wants – and yet he has chosen not to accept.  Why?  Funding is not an excuse for a story this big.  If the Campbell Live budget can accommodate a trip to Samoa to interview a crippled rugby player (no disrespect intended) then surely they can scrap together enough money to fly here to interview the leader of this nation.

As the Prime Minister said, Campbell requested the interview, not the other way around.

Mohammed must come to the mountain; the mountain will not go to Mohammed.

This entire fiasco does not take away from the important role that the media plays in this country and overseas.

Being free of state ownership, private media organisations have the prerogative to take on the mantle of Government Watchdog.  Not a light responsibility and one that holds an important function in society.

The media in this country (as well as visiting journalists) are given unprecedented access to the Prime Minister, and unlike some other Pacific nations, freedom to question without fear of reprisal in the form of incarceration is something we all enjoy with him.

However, this does not mean that we have a licence to diminish and destructively criticize for the sake of it.  Imbalanced and unfair reporting is a slippery slide towards the fulfillment of personal agendas.  If private media purport to be government watchdogs, then do it fairly and give equal attention to all facets of the issue, not just the one that best serves your purposes.

Perhaps the guerilla tactics employed in last week’s Hollywood style chase down of the Prime Minister by Campbell Live lend more credence to their status as entertainment journalists, looking for lurid headlines instead of the often-times, overlooked truth.

Campbell Live’s coverage was embarrassingly slanted.  He did not seek to find answers to the right questions, he sought to find selective solutions to meet the show’s agenda.

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