If you can’t beat them, join them, that’s one possible resolution to dealing with the rise of social media.

Considering its effect on profitability for media houses.

The 2019 Pacific Update at the University of the South Pacific held a panel discussion on the digital disruption and the rise of fake news and how media practitioners are dealing with it.

Former ABC journalist and now journalism trainer, Jemima Garrett spoke about the possibility of joining forces and getting the internet giants to do more in the region.

“Ask Facebook to have a Pacific Office, Facebook offers fact checking, you know they talk a lot of their ability to identify fake news, to change the algorithms to downgrade it, but they need people who speak the language, tok pisin, speak Fijian, speak Tongan, speak Samoan to do this, there’s none of that in the Pacific. So at the moment, Facebook which everyone knows is huge is got everything to gain from the Pacific and is contributing nothing.”

The Pacific Update is a three-day event, organized by the USP and the Australian National University.

The annual update brings together policymakers, academics and development partners to present and discuss research relating to economic and social issues in Pacific Island Countries.