The Herald: Ten Years After

The Cook Islands Herald celebrates its 10th Anniversary this month, chalking up a decade of news highlights and staking a long term claim on the multifaceted national print media. As a weekly, the Herald once shared the spotlight with three other Pitt Media Group publications – The Times, The Independent, and The Press. When asked ‘why four newspapers?’ one of the owners, George Pitt, simply replied ‘why not?’ These days, the magazine-style newspaper continues to occupy a mid-week slot and still packs a surprise punch or two, each Wednesday. When the Herald scoops the daily newspaper on occasion, expect to see fumes rising, up the road in Maraerenga!
It all began back in July 2000 when the Directors of Pitt Media Group realized there was an unprecedented amount of news being generated, which failed to make headlines in the daily newspaper. The national broadcasters had already dived into publishing two years earlier with Today’s Vision Magazine (TVM) – a pocketbook-sized magazine designed to promote Cook Islands Television. The Herald was shaped a lot by TVM in those years so it’s helpful to put things into perspective.
The modest TVM was a handy pick-up guide, which provided the TV programme listing each week along with informative commentary on popular programmes, celebrities, and other entertainment. To add spice to the promotional material, TVM carved out a keen following for editorial columns where staff and other contributors could voice opinions. Early starters included seven-year old Te Riu Woonton, who kicked off her writing skills with a rather revealing column about school life. The infamous Chooks Corner also got its start in TVM, ruffling feathers (and egos) from the word go. Inevitably, politicians got to have their say in TVM and local news content began to grow steadily, including insightful articles on depopulation, DVD piracy, and an insider’s view of the political deal that was struck to form the Coalition III Government.
By 2000, in-roads were made to access newsmakers in the then Coalition and the floodgates on information flew open. The backbone of promotional material generated by television was folded into The Cook Islands Herald and suddenly, the news of the day took centre stage.
A news media niche developed rapidly and soon put an end to a widely-held belief that Rarotonga could not support more than one newspaper. After all, there had been many others previously. Several were established but none could be sustained over the long term, largely as a result of costly overheads and competition for advertising revenue.
Moreover, the staying-power of the Herald immediately changed the dynamics of local media by rattling ‘the establishment’ cage. The ‘establishment’, which was comprised of the daily newspaper and a small band of seasoned journalists, had been used to a weak, government-owned broadcaster and immediately resented a challenge to the status quo. The influx of government-sourced news created derision and skepticism about the broadcasters’ motives and abilities to carve out a commanding position in the supply of information.
The Herald, however, blossomed. One early innovation was to rid the entire front page of news and hand it over to advertisers. The well-known Pearl Girl Cover was born and continues to this day. In 2002, a rare opportunity presented itself to broaden the Herald reach with an Aitutaki-based ‘lift-out’. Thanks to sponsorship from Air Raro, the Aitutaki Herald ran successfully under Shona Pitt for nearly a year. However, an attempt to establish the Herald off-shoot as a stand-alone publication could not be sustained, despite staff being trained in Rarotonga and a string of outlets. Even still, the AH had a close hand in covering top items of the day like the dramatic rescue of Tahitian fisherman Tauaea Raioaoa (Papa Ru), who was lost at sea until washing up on the reef at Aitutaki, 118 days later.
The reach of the Herald actually extended well beyond Aitutaki when an arrangement was entered into with Government to supply the Outer Islands broadcasters with news videotapes. Along with each tape went a steady supply of Heralds, much to the delight of Government Reps (GRs), Mayors, and other eager readers.
To the great amusement of the publishers, the first two years of the Herald fielded a lot of criticism for being government-friendly. Even the daily newspaper started calling itself “Your Independent Cook Islands News”. But the weekly newspaper continued unabated with no Editor – only shoot-from-the-hip, guerilla-style managers, who stayed fluid and responsive to building and sustaining relationships.
Access to news came easily and anyone and everyone could have their say. Both the Leader of the Government and the Opposition were assigned columns, and opinion pieces flowed from all quarters. In those early years, no Letters to the Editor were accepted without the signatures of real names. Needless to say, letters were a rarity. The bottom line for the Herald was to establish credibility early and this was achieved to the extent that the competition for advertising dollars became rather heated.
Due to this intensified level of competition – for news, and ultimately, advertising – a bitter media war broke out between the key players. During the years of the Coalition III Government, the then Prime Minister Terepai Maoate (1999-2002) tried to prompt better relations within the industry with a thinly-veiled threat of government intervention. This was short-lived and the Coalition III collapsed under a coup, sparking another twist in the media landscape. The Herald found itself at war with both its competitors and the new government headed by Robert Woonton (2002-2004).
The extent of this conflict was clearly demonstrated when the Woonton government intervened under the pretext of ‘bridging’ the warring parties. To counteract the harsh punishment dealt to the government by the Pitt Media Group, the Prime Minister led a campaign to destabilize and dismantle the national broadcasters. The media establishment saw that as an opportunity to piggy-back its efforts to discredit the Herald publishers and the fighting continued for almost two years. To serve his own agenda, the then Prime Minister sought Immigration ammunition for deportation and got Cabinet approval to take control over the broadcasting equipment operated (and owned) by Pitt Media Group.
The burning fuse of animosity finally exploded midway through 2004 when the Prime Minister took legal steps to open a Criminal Libel case against George Pitt and the Herald newspaper. Only the second such case to be brought to the court in the Cook Islands, the action against the media had a dramatic quieting effect – numbing almost, to the point where conflict stood still. The General Election rolled around just a few months later and the Herald steered a more even course of newsgathering – until the next threat arose in 2007.
Despite the bitterness of the media wars and the ongoing scourge of the Woonton Coalition, the Herald and its sister publications spearheaded a rousing tirade against corruption and abuse. The weekly papers for instance, exposed the shameful Superannuation scheme for MPs, which was grossly unsustainable, costly and unfair. Worse to come, was the golden handshake payout to those long-serving MPs, who had to be weaned off the Super teat.
The Audit Office experienced a surge in special investigations during these years and its reports became regular fodder for Herald readers. Many reports found their way into the Herald pages well before official tabling in Parliament. In fact, leaks out of the government had become so predictable that any suggestion of Freedom of Information law was laughable.
Perhaps the most satisfying of all the outcomes was the role that the Pitt Media Group publications played in the movement for political reform. The Herald and its partner newspapers, particularly The Independent, quickly aligned with the Group for Political Change (GPC) – a champion for reform, which scored a major victory in the abolishment of the Overseas Seat.
Although political reform remains very much a topical issue, the groundswell in favour of change that was generated from 2002 to 2004 has not yet been matched today. The traction for change at that time was spurred on by political instability in the wake of the 1999 General Election – the fifth coalition government was installed in late 2004 (five shaky years later).
Thanks to the quiet but firm hand of Prime Minister Jim Marurai, stability has prevailed – even through the course of a Snap Election in 2006 and at the expense of six cabinet ministers, who have been sacked since 2005 (Piho Rua, Sir Geoffrey Henry, Tupou Faireka, Tom Marsters, Wilkie Rasmussen, Sir Terepai Maoate).
The sacking of Maoate at the close of 2009 was cheered on by the Herald, and the media in general, for it was the former Deputy Prime Minister, who had tried to stifle broadcasting under the guise of new media regulations. Having successfully staved off a government threat to introduce controlling media law in the mid-1990s, the local media once more found common ground to cooperate – this time against the misguided Maoate-led Media Bill. A major achievement was secured from this new-found buddy team (a far cry from the Woonton years) in the form of a resurrected Media Council – a self-regulating body set up with a great deal of integrity and credibility.
Political stability has since made redundant the previous energy for political reform, which now only manages to flail about haphazardly, weighed down by the uncertainty over how and who will make the sacrifices associated with smaller government. But looking ahead, the Herald – and other media – may well become a vehicle for fresh change based on the widespread dissatisfaction over the continuing fragmentation of political allegiances. So here’s to another ten years of challenges!

Herald Issue 463 10 June
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