Journalism Comes to Paradise   

Until recently, the only newspapers delivered in the Marquesas Islands of French Polynesia flew in on a plane, sailed in on a ship or floated up on shore sealed inside a bottle. But that's changing thanks to a project aimed at helping islanders produce their own native-language publications.

An archipelago of rugged volcanic peaks and lush tropical valleys, the Marque-sas pop up in the South Pacific farther from continental landfall than any other island chain in the world. Their beauty and isolation have long been a siren song for hardy adventurers such as author Herman Melville and eccentric artists such as French painter Paul Gauguin. That legacy is what caught the attention of Al Hester, director of the James M. Cox, Jr. Center for International Mass Communication Training and Research at the University of Georgia.

After consulting with French and Marquesan officials, Hester shipped computers, printers and digital cameras to the Marquesas' main island of Nuku Hiva and began sending teams of instructors to conduct training workshops with community leaders. An American named Rose Corser, who owns one of the few hotels on the islands, cosponsored the project by holding the seminars at her inn.

About 12 Marquesans participated in the seminars. With little computer experience and no background in journalism, they started a small publication called Toake Oa (Tow-ACK-ee-OH-ah) — named after a bird said to fly from Marquesan island to island delivering news and gossip.

Except for a small radio station, there is no home-grown media in the Marque-sas. Nevertheless, the Marquesans produced three issues of Toake Oa, with stories and photos covering the local outrigger canoeing team and a native dance festival, as well as spirited editorials protesting nuclear testing in the region.

The first two issues of the paper were distributed only on Nuku Hiva, at the post office, the town hall and local stores. The third issue, which covered a local election, was sent to every post office box in the archipelago. The next day, participants received their baptism in public affairs journalism when a candidate angrily accused the paper of printing a story he claimed cost him the election.

Such experiences are a watershed for Marquesan culture, according to Dr. Robert Suggs, author of several books about Marquesan archaeology and culture. "Most Polynesian cultures are very oral in nature," he says. "Other than some printed textbooks published in the 1860s and some material produced by the Catholic Church, there's been virtually nothing printed in Marquesan."

Finding a voice in print may be a crucial step for the Marquesans if they are to preserve their culture and language. The Center hoped that all the stories in Toake Oa would be written in Marquesan, but younger participants insisted on writing in French. Eventually the pioneer group of Marquesan journalists settled on writing part of Toake Oa in Marquesan and part in French.

The growth of indigenous-language publications also places a great deal of responsibility on the shoulders of new journalists. "Every word, every sentence, every nuance has to be exactly correct," says Nina Ratulele, administrator of the Pacific Island News Association, an organization that, among other things, helps start native-language publications. These publications "are the main reason these languages are growing. And if people writing and editing them use [the languages] poorly, this will have an impact far beyond the pages of these newspapers and magazines."

Peter Lomas, a training coordinator for the Pacific Island News Association, says such publications are also important because they are among the few independent voices in the region. "Most broadcast media is still controlled by the government, particularly in the French territories," he says. "Native-language publications often are a feisty and independent voice."

Weary souls from more media-saturated countries might balk at the idea of bringing headlines and deadlines to paradise. But for the people of the Pacific, print publications are more than just vehicles for the news; they represent a new voice for telling their own stories and are becoming a tangible reservoir of their language and culture.