Online Newspapers, Live TV Channels, Radios

The media scenario in Samoa is not favorable for the islands. This is a set of nine volcanic islands and had a different name until 1997. The existing media outlets contain newspapers, radio and television station. But none of them are able to operate independently. The media outlets are subject to domination by the government.

The history of independence for the islands is long and they underwent ruling from different types of government. Since World War II, there were different changes in the political climate and media outlets were also affected by the changes. Most of the rulers tried to dominate over the media outlets. Hence, the media activities are a bit sloth in the islands.

The newspapers are available in both the local language and in English. In fact, both the languages are applicable in the islands. But the readers of the English newspapers are more than the locally used language. In line with the daily newspapers, there are weeklies also available. And they are published in several languages. The literacy rate of the country is higher than the other surrounding nations. Around 97 percent of the people are literate and they go through the newspapers.

The economy of the nation is based on fishing and agriculture. A large number of fishes are available there while the production of agro products is also remarkable. Most of the people are engaged in fishing. So, they try to know about the weather updates from the newspapers and radio stations.

The opposition parties have less or no access to the print media outlets as some of the outlets are run by the state. The state-run outlets try to cover the positive aspects of the government. The private-owned media outlets are not that much biased to the government. They try to publish reports over the corruption of the government and also criticize the government policies to some aspects.

One of the mainstream print media outlets has been sued several times for its activities. The outlet published some reports that went against the government and so, the government sued that.

Besides, the newspapers are often subject to attack. The newspaper offices are burnt down, and in some cases, the presses were also destroyed so that the newspapers could not publish their copies. Sometimes, the journalists are physically assaulted too in the country when they go against the government.

The country has six television stations altogether. And the TV stations broadcast a good number of news and shows for their audience. This is one of the primary sources for the audience to get entertained. There are some specific shows and events are available for a specific group of audience. They enjoy the shows to the last minute for their attractive contents.

The country has four radio stations. The radio stations are available in several waves – there are three FM stations while the remaining one is AM. The radio stations mostly broadcast bulletins, news, weather updates, musical shows and more.

The country has only two internet service providers. And as a result, the use of the internet is limited to some people. The people who have their access to the internet mostly use it for their social communications and browsing the local newspaper websites.