‘Irreverent, tendentious and eagerly read:’ The role of the press in developing a political consciousness in Melanesia.

Abstract

This paper examines the role of the press in Anglophone Melanesia (Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Vanuau and Fiji) in developing a political consciousness among its readers in the period before independence. The paper argues that while the press was successful in creating such an awareness, it did not and has not succeeded in creating a widespread national consciousness that supercedes regional, ethnic and clan loyalties and that this has hampered the efficient functioning of the inherited Westminster model of government.