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When I was a kid growing up in Kiribati, Fiji was the big smoke. I'd cling to my mother's hand taking in the tantalising smells of curry and spices, crazy taxi drivers weaving across roads and what seemed to be a sea of people the changing faces of Fijians and Indo Fijians and lots of them. To a child it was the Disneyland of the Pacific, Fiji was huge.
As a young journalist working in the Cook Islands, Fiji was still the big smoke. I'd go for media workshops and argue politics over a beer in Traps bar, go shopping for salwar kameez in hidden treasure troves down Suva's winding back alleys and formed lasting friendships with the Fijian journalists I admired so much.
As my career has evolved, that admiration has stayed constant. Fiji is like an onion, you peel it and there is another layer underneath. It's a complex weave of politics, relationships and history.
Any foreign journalist - or foreign anything for that matter - who thinks they truly know Fiji is kidding themselves. It's changeable, fluid and I learnt early on that making predictions was dicey - things are seldom what they seem and whenever it appear something is going a certain way, the opposite will happen. It's just how Fiji is - and its a strength not a weakness.
As Fiji has catapaulted through turbulent times and information has become harder to get, it has been the local journalists who have dug it out under incredibly stressful conditions. Details of intimidation the Fijian media face are not publicly known. But despite the threats they've faced, the Fiji media keep doing their job day after day trying to uncover information about how their country is being run - the good and the bad - for the people who live there.
The concept of media freedom is really very simple. The public has a right to know.
In the last two weeks I've watched good journalists struggling to deal with no freedom of speech . It's finally come to this - if they report what's going on they face prison, or worse.
Just last week military leader and self imposed Prime Minister Voreque Bainimarama indignantly told a reporter:
"I allow free expression that's why they publish the paper every day, the television is on, the radio everything is broadcast - its irresponsible reporting I don't like".
The truth is what the Commander doesn't like is anything that deviates from or challenges his own inflated opinion. And that's why he's slammed media censors in every newsroom.
Free expression? What a joke.
For all his rhetoric, what Fiji has is a typical military dictatorship.
There would be few who do not believe Fiji's electoral system is in dire need of a hefty revamp. But to use this as an excuse to sack judges, censor media, threaten and lock up anyone who has a different opinion is criminal and arrogance of the highest order.
And so we come to World Press Freedom Day - a day where we defend media from attacks on their independence. It's a time when we think of our Fiji media friends whose words are monitored even when they travel overseas to conferences. It's a time when we think of our Fiji media friends who are under threat for simply doing their job. And it's a time when we applaud our Fiji media friends for their silent protest. They may not be publishing anything politically negative, but the positive stories are absent too.
Does Fiji deserve to get thrown out of the Pacific Forum ? Yes it does. Do the Fijian people deserve to be isolated from the region? No they don't. They deserve a media that's free and fair and they deserve to have a say in their country's future.
Fiji is no longer the big smoke. It is a smokescreen for power
hungry men who will do anything to get what they want.
Click here to watch
the Media 7 panel discussion on media censorship in
Fiji
Add a Comment:
Post new commentpitalema said on 2011-08-16 @ 12:50 NZDT: Report abusive post
Great story on Samoa Barbara! I applaud your writing on pacific island nations. Very informative and precise. I myself as a samoan born, but raised in NZ can understand the background to your story. I think we are a nation of "hope" and people of "dreams", always striving for that success. I think David is a trooper to get as far as he has and Manu Samoa are proving themselves all over again! Keep up the great writing Barbara!
Miusika said on 2010-04-05 @ 17:38 NZDT: Report abusive post
You are correct Pilinisi but isn't that her job to protect whoever is in government. At one time Eseta was a fierce enemy to Sevele when he (Sevele) was still an MP. I do not always agree with Eseta but I admire the woman for doing her job just as Clive Edwards did when he was minister. Loyalty is something that civil servants lack in Tonga. The truth will come out because nothing was hidden from the public and the onus is on the government and the Legislative Assembly. I hope that they will do the right thing especially the government because 16/11 is a constant reminder of people power.
Pilinisi said on 2010-04-04 @ 22:09 NZDT: Report abusive post
It is quite common in Tonga that Queen Esther, the PMs mouth-piece is nothing but was paid from Tongans tax money only to front for Seveles government whenever it happened to be accused for any wrongdoing. The wished-to-be-Queen is the great enemy of media in Tonga. Queen Esther, the Lady Puppet, should understand that since the commission of inquiry started every single word recorded went public despite the fact that no gagging order was issued. Whats cooking?
Miusika said on 2010-04-04 @ 14:36 NZDT: Report abusive post
Your article is very interesting but I do not agree with you on the fact that the government was hiding behind procedure. Like the New Zealand government or any other government they have protocols to follow and procedures. Yes the people need to know and they will but the report has yet to be tabled in parliament and I think that is where the minister was coming from. Dont shoot into the darkness like a parachute journalist often does coz you dont know what is out there.
Anon to save my skin said on 2009-05-05 @ 00:09 NZDT: Report abusive post
Great article Barbara! How come the Maori queen thinks this is about indigenous people? It's about madmen and their guns, greed, power and corruption!