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South Pacific Independent News Network · 06-12-2021, 03:12 PM

Year 18 | 12 June 2021

JUNE 2021 CABINET ELECTION
MINISTER OF MEDIA INTERVIEW
Moderator: James D. Halpert | Participant: Belschaft

Welcome to the June 2021 Minister of Media Interview!

I am James Halpert and I will be the moderator of this interview with Belschaft, candidate for Minister of Media. This interview is sponsored by the South Pacific Independent News Network.

The format of this interview will consist of a single section:

• The only section will feature questions on the candidate’s qualifications, intended policies and their vision for the coming term.

The candidate is asked to clearly mark the end of their answers so that I may know when to move on to the next question and to answer no later than 3 minutes after a question has been asked.
Opening Remarks

[Belschaft] Hello Jim, and thank you for having me.

I have a simple, clear proposition for the electorate of TSP - the Ministry of Media shouldn't exist, and if elected I will abolish it.

Over the last eight months we have clearly seen that creating the Ministry was a mistake. The simply reality is that media is best left to independent players with a genuine interest in journalism and that creating a government Ministry has simply been an exercise in unnecessary bureaucracy. The output of the Ministry has been irregular and of variable quality, and many of it's proposed programmes and initiatives have been left abandoned.

The government should get out of the media business instead of continuing to pretend that the Ministry is working. Sometimes admitting that you were wrong can be the hardest thing, but I would challenge people to look at the performance of the Ministry of Media today and ask themselves if they think it's doing well. Is it doing what was promised and proposed when it was created? If it didn't already exist would you vote to create it?

It's time we as a region admitted our mistake and moved on.

Islands of Unity won the February 2021 Election, presumably obtaining a mandate to make the Ministry of Media work. How do you think things have done in the term? Given the fact that you are running again, is it safe to assume that you don't think there has been an improvement?

[Belschaft] I object to the existence of the Ministry of Media on a fundamental and philosophical basis so would likely have run again on the same platform regardless of the success or failures of the Ministry, but I do not consider the last four months to have been a success.

Let's look at the campaign priorities of Islands' campaign from Febuary;

"TSJ: I plan to continue publishing this at a more regular interval rather than a monthly publication if i continue on as minister for a whole term. The regions abroad series will continue to bring foreign regions and players in for interviews or pieces."

Looking back over the content of The Southern Journal, I don't think it's publishing scheduled could be called regular. The Regions Abroad series has not been continued.

"Llama drama: I plan to continue publishing breaking news through the LD publication as it develops. I have cleared it with the chair (who is the founder of the publication) to clear legislation news otherwise considered private to the assembly if we should need in order to provide breaking news about our own internal workings and debates."

The Llama Drama has published twice in the period in question.

"Real time: This is another area im weak on, we havent been working on RT to any significant extent, but i hope to start producing content through this ministry organ soon or in a whole term. The barrier is my unfamiliarity with the technology we use for the service, so once im able to get a grasp on it we could expect RT content to be released more regularly."

Real Time has not published anything since 2019.

"Statistics Department: I plan to continue on with polling services administered about regional debate topics, crucial polling around elections, and humourous polls. The Stats. Dept. Is the quickest growing part of the ministry and i see it only getting better and growing as we continue on. To self criticize here, i missed several crucial polling areas since ive been minister due to my own forgetfulness, i hope to remedy this by having a list of things to poll on and when concerning elections and other important parts of the region, so it isnt on the minister or staff to remember to start those processes."

The statistics department has conducted polls, but there has been a worrying trend for these to be push-polls or otherwise fail to meet proper polling standards.

Other promises and proposals, such as more use of VC have also failed to appear.

Essentially noting that was promised in February 2021 has been achieved. I don't think that is strong record for the Ministry.

Would you say that the problems you identify in the ministry are a result of mismanagement, a general lack of motivation, or are they just inherent to any iteration of the ministry?

[Belschaft] I would say they are inherent to the Ministry. The reality is that a successful media origination in NationStates requires genuine passion and dedication for journalism, and players who are willing and able to commit considerable amounts of their time to it. It also requires a rather specialist skillset. In the absence of a player who has that passion and dedication for journalism being Minister of Media it is always going to be a failure.

We do have players in TSP with that passion and dedication, as is clear from the success of both SPINN and NationStates Today. They just don't want to be Minister of Media, and I can't blame them.

The reality is that journalism and government aren't a good fit, and as such the Ministry of Media doesn't attract that kind of player it needs to be a success. In that sense it's set up for failure.

This is the second time you are running on a platform of abolishing the Ministry of Media, yet not once have you submitted a bill before the Assembly to actually abolish it. Why is that?

[Belschaft] Because I don't think there would be the votes in the Assembly to abolish it. I have absolutely no expectation of being elected Minister - last time I got just under a quarter of the vote, this time it looks like I will get less - but in a democracy everyone has the right to stand up for what they believe and make their case to the public, no matter how quixotic it may be.

I suspect TSP will keep voting for players who promise to make an unworkable ministry work, and that is the regions choice. But it's my choice to stand up and make the case that it shouldn't, even if I don't expect to win.

Recently SPINN received criticism for posting debate and interview transcripts in the Gameplay forum. What is your opinion on this incident?

[Belschaft] The nature of a free and independent press is that people don't have to talk to it, but once you do then what you say is open to the world. I think the criticism showed a great deal of naivety and ignorance about what journalism is.

It certainly effected how I voted in the Ministry of Engagement ballot.

As for SPINN's own handling of the incident, including the editorial it released, I have noting but praise for it. It was a strong defence of journalistic freedom and showed clear integrity.

If elected, and even if not, would you take any actions to support the rise of independent media in the region? What would you do, or think, if no independent media was established?

[Belschaft] I would certainly be happy to provide assistance to any player who wanted to establish their own independent media origination, but that assistance is best provided by non-political administrators on the Forums & Discord. I'd love to see more independent media organisations be started in TSP, but at the end of the day it's not the job of the government to establish or promote them. I want to get the government out of the media business, not re-define it's role.

While understanding that different publications could have different focuses, what role would you like to see South Pacifican media play in NationStates? Should it be focused on a local audience, or would you like to see regional media have a greater presence abroad?

[Belschaft] I think there is a strong case for both a local audience and a foreign audience. What NationStates at large is interested in isn't always going to be the same as what the local audience in TSP is interested in, and that might be best reflected by different publications writing and publishing for different audiences or a single publication deciding which articles to publish in what place. An article about a major political scandal or our elections will have more interest to a foreign audience than a piece about regional roleplay. At the end of the day it's up to each journalist and media organisation to decide what their intended audience is.

I've certainly always found reading the newspapers of other regions in NSGP interesting, and I know from experience that many players feel the same way. A presence there for TSP media originations can only be a good a thing in my opinion, helping to promote and advertise our region to the game at large.

Desserts are a contentious issue in the region. Do you prefer cake or pie?

[Belschaft] Ice cream.

Well played sir.

Closing Remarks

[Belschaft] I'd like to wish both Moonfungus & Rabbitz the best, and encourage them to write about what they find interesting in NationStates. Trying to write the kind of content you think others are interested in or that you think you should be writing will kill your interest in creative writing and journalism faster than anything else. If you what you want to write is a multi-edition study of regional roleplay, then write that. If you want to do a series on the oddities of small UCRs', then write that. We need more journalists and writers in NationStates, and don't let politics kill your passions. Be realistic in your aims, don't commit to anything you can't do, and prioritise your own happiness. This is a game, treat it like one.

And that is that.

The South Pacific Independent News Network (SPINN) is an independent news organisation established in 2003 with the goal of providing good, insightful and timely commentary on regional events for the citizens of the South Pacific. Opinions expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editorial Board. Content is published via pseudonyms. The SPINN is not associated with the Government of the South Pacific.

(This post was last modified: 06-12-2021, 03:16 PM by South Pacific Independent News Network.)