The long-awaited merger between the Pacific Islands New Association, PINA, and the Pacific Islands Broadcasting Association, PIBA, may finally take place sometime in the next two months.
After a conference between the two organisations, the vice-president of PINA, Francis Herman, was critical of the twelve month delay to the merger.
He said financial issues in both organisations were creating the delay which he says was wreaking the professional development of media personnel around the region.
He says the new organisation will be a powerful journalistic force in the southern hemisphere, through its news agency, PacNews.
"What you will see is a very strong and formidable force in Pacnews. There will be some changes in terms of the content, turning PacNews into a fully fledged news agency, independent of any influence and following the normal journalistic practices and standards. We strongly believe the pacific needs a voice in the international community and we believe that PacNews will be that voice."
The vice-president of PINA, Francis Herman
