Juliet Rowan, Chris Chang and Jason Walls at the American ambassador's residence in Delhi. Photo/supplied
Juliet Rowan, Chris Chang and Jason Walls at the American ambassador's residence in Delhi. Photo/supplied
Bay of Plenty Times Weekend writer Juliet Rowan has just returned from India on an Asia New Zealand Foundation media trip. While in Delhi, she and other New Zealand journalists attended the East-West Center International Media Conference with 350 journalists from Asia-Pacific, Africa and the United States. There was glamour and debate, as well as the realisation that life for journalists in New Zealand is pretty sweet.
We are like excited school kids lined up outside Roosevelt House, the American ambassador's residence in Delhi, for the opening night of our conference.
I'm with Jason Walls of the National Business Review and Chris Chang of TV One, and we're already getting told off for taking selfies underneath theAmerican crest on the gate.
We get through security and walk past a basketball hoop and elaborate rose petal decorations in the entrance way.
The ambassador, Richard Verma, greets us at the door and says he recently went to New Zealand and loved every moment.
He's a cool and friendly guy, and his residence is spectacular - big and American but distinctly Indian, with Ganesh, god of prosperity, in the foyer next to a pool of red petals at the foot of a majestic staircase.
Historic photos of American presidents and Indian prime ministers line the concrete lattice walls. There is also a startling photo of the huge public gathering held in Delhi when man landed on the moon.
The other rooms are left open for us to tour and we see pictures of the ambassador and his wife with President Barack Obama and Michelle.
While in Delhi, reporter Juliet Rowan and other New Zealand journalists attended the East-West Center International Media Conference. Photo/Juliet Rowan
While Roosevelt House is formal and majestic, it is also a family home, a budgie and fish tank occupying a spot in the corner.
We are told power players from Indian media are putting in appearances at the event, but the closest we get to figuring out who is who in the crowd of several hundred is when we meet two glamorous journalists from CNN India who seem to enjoy our Kiwi sense of humour.
The next morning the conference proper begins, one of the opening speakers 2014 Nobel Peace laureate Kailash Satyarthi, who has dedicated his life to fighting child labour.
The Indian activist is credited with freeing 85,000 children in 144 countries from slavery, and talks of being beaten up and having a gun held to his head while executing raids to rescue trafficked children.
That night, the East-West Center, which is based in Hawaii, gives awards to six journalists for bravery and determination in the face of threats.
They include Afghani journalist Habib Khan Totakhil, who was held captive by the Taliban for eight days but continues to report from Kabul for The Wall Street Journal.
Filipino journalist Rowaida Rhima Folloso Macarambon, who breaks down in tears when talking about the threats she faces from drug lords and while reporting government corruption.
Juliet Rowan and Afghan journalist Habib Khan Totakhil, who was kidnapped by the Taliban and faces ongoing threats in his job reporting for The Wall Street Journal from Kabul. Photo/supplied
Another award goes posthumously to a Sri Lankan journalist who was assassinated on the job.
According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, 30 journalists have already been killed this year, 14 of them murdered.
It is shocking to hear firsthand from those who risk their lives for the job. For us in New Zealand, journalism can be complicated and a source of contempt, but rarely does it threaten your life.
Mahfuz Anam, editor and publisher of Bangladesh's most popular English-language newspaper The Daily Star, tells the audience that in the last three weeks, forces connected to the government and judiciary have filed another 84 defamation cases against him.
He is already facing a similar number of charges, including for sedition, that could potentially see him sentenced to hundreds of years in prison.
The most compelling speaker of the three-day conference for me is Kishalay Bhattacharjee, an Indian journalist, documentary maker and director of the Reachout Foundation (ourstories.org.in).
His stories of conflict reporting on the India-Bangladesh border are horrifying, revealing that the insurgency masks illegal trade in guns, narcotics and protected wildlife.
Mafia, he says, capture and sell trafficked people to government armies to kill and increase their head counts, making it look like the official forces are winning the war against rebels.
"They go shopping for human beings, absolutely innocent human beings," Bhattacharjee says.
"To buy a human being you need about 50,000 rupees to 3 lakh ($1000 to $6000) depending on the category you're buying."
Bhattacharjee knows of the trade through decades of reporting on India's borders, and reveals he has spoken to mafia believing him to be an army official and offering him various cost options for a person.
"Insurgency is just a front," he says.
We also get fascinating insight from journalists who have gained access to North Korea and talk about the indoctrination of the people and the contrived reporting allowed by the regime.
The discussion is timely - on the opening day of the conference, North Korea tests a nuclear bomb, a huge escalation from the missile testing it has been doing and representing a serious threat to Asia-Pacific's stability.
I moderate a panel on Northeast Asia cross-border challenges with journalists from China, Taiwan, South Korea and Japan.
The debate gets heated on the issue of "comfort woman", the term used for Korean women forced to provide sex for Japanese soldiers in World War 2, illustrating the historical grievances that endure in the region.
Tom McRae of TV3's Newshub joins a panel discussing the American election from outsiders' perspectives.
His opening remark, "We love Trump in New Zealand," captures plenty of attention, some of the audience not getting his sarcastic tone.
Most of the American journalists we meet say Donald Trump is a serious contender to win the presidency in November, having won the hearts of marginalised Americans whose economic and social position is being increasingly eroded.
We meet a regional US TV journalist who has interviewed both Trump and Obama, getting the opportunity thanks to his network being in a crucial swing state.
He says Trump's only response to any serious question is: "Everybody loves me."
See Juliet's Facebook page, www.facebook.com/juliet.rowan.9, for photos of the East West Media conference and opening night party at the American ambassador's residence in Delhi.
