Dr Shailendra Singh, head of the Journalism Programme at the University of the South Pacific, has urged Pacific governments to enact access to information laws to unlock data that journalists and the public need for accountability and civic engagement. Speaking at the Transparency International Pacific regional stakeholder dialogue held at the Holiday Inn in Suva last week, Singh said clearer legal access to official data is a prerequisite for stronger transparency and public-interest journalism across the region.
Singh framed the issue from a Pacific media perspective, arguing that while data is vital to integrity work, it is the region’s media that carry that information to the wider public. “News with factual data is stronger than news without such data,” he told the forum, stressing that evidence-based reporting builds public trust. He said that when data is integrated into journalism it can drive meaningful change, but only if it is accessible, understandable and presented in a relatable way.
At the dialogue Singh identified three linked challenges that constrain data-driven reporting in the Pacific: getting timely access to data, understanding often technical or complex datasets, and presenting information so it prompts public action. He said access to information legislation could address the first problem by guaranteeing access to everyone, not only accredited journalists — a point he called increasingly important in an era of social media and citizen journalism.
On the second challenge, Singh warned that complex or highly technical data is frequently underused, misinterpreted or ignored because many reporters lack the time or training to unpack it fully. He urged newsrooms to invest in skills that allow journalists to interrogate datasets and extract the most relevant, verifiable facts for their audiences.
Singh was particularly emphatic about the need to humanise data rather than “dump raw data on the public.” “We need to present it in a form that people can relate to and act on,” he said, arguing that when data is presented through stories that show how issues affect everyday people, it is more likely to rouse audiences from passivity into action. He described the media’s role as that of a “decipherer” of data, translating numbers and technical findings into meaningful narratives that can mobilise civic engagement.
The Transparency International Pacific dialogue provided a platform for these arguments amid broader regional calls for improved transparency and stronger civic oversight. Singh concluded that data can produce “a wonderful outcome” only if several elements align: people must be able to access and understand the data, and the information must be relevant and relatable to the communities it seeks to inform.