PFF, Rarotonga, COOK ISLANDS-- In a double whammy this week for Fiji's media, a regime decree warning media they will face jail sentences if they mention defunct political parties has been followed by a hefty High Court sentence against the country's biggest daily newspaper, the Fiji Times. A $300,000 FJD fine for the Fiji Times and six-month suspended jail sentence for its editor Fred Wesley formed the key part of yesterday's sentence following a contempt of court verdict in November 2011. Regional media monitoring watchdog the Pacific Freedom Forum says the timing of the political parties decree and the heavy sentence will ensure more self-censorship and control over Fiji's media in the lead-up to the 2014 elections.
The Fiji Times has three weeks to pay the fine, its former publisher has been fined F$10,000, and Wesley has two years to live with the fact he could go to jail at any time.
"The verdict itself given the circumstances is clearly sending a warning on what media can expect to receive if they step one inch out of line, even by mistake," says PFF co chair Titi Gabi of Papua New Guinea.
Fiji Times was found guilty of contempt of court in November 2011, after reprinting an article published by New Zealand's Sunday Star times where Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) general secretary Tai Nicholas had commented on legal issues involving a case against a Fiji football executive.
"You should be aware that with no judiciary there," he had said, "it is not a court per se." Nicholas was a leading lawyer in the Cook Islands before taking on his FIFA position.
Fiji's military appointed attorney general, Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum, claimed the comments scandalised the court and posed the risk of undermining public confidence in the independence and impartiality of the Fijian judiciary and the administration of justice in Fiji.
Nicholas was convicted in-absentia and fined F$15,000 for contempt of court.
"The pressure for more media coverage of the election issues and platforms is a normal part of elections reporting for Pacific journalists," says Gabi. "We urge the regime to demonstrate its commitment to the free and fair component of democratic elections by allowing the media to be free in order to fairly do its job."
The Fiji Times already has a complaints procedure clearly printed in its daily newspaper and any citizen or group who wish to take up grievances over editorial and content can do so.
"The path back to democracy can be so much better if a free media is able to do its job and hear from candidates," says PFF co Chair Monica Miller of American Samoa. "But the space for that debate has taken a big hit this week. If you worked knowing that reprinting an article your audience can read elsewhere, or the mention of now-banned past political parties in your journalism could potentially cost you and your colleagues their jobs and send you to jail -- that's an incredibly powerful pressure which the regime is well aware of. We can only call on the leadership to stop running Fiji's media via decree and puntive legal actions, and see them as partners towards getting Fiji back on the path to democracy."--ENDS
LINKS
Pacific Media Watch: http://www.pmc.aut.ac.nz/pmw-nius
Radio New Zealand International: http://www.rnzi.com/pages/news.php?op=read&id=74157
Radio Australia:http://www.radioaustralia.net.au/pacific/2013-02-19/fiji-regime-to-abolish-14-political-parties/1090824
CONTACT:
PFF Chair
Titi Gabi | Freelance Journalist | Papua New Guinea
Mail: PO Box 7776, Boroko, NCD, Papua New Guinea | Mob: (675) 7314 3929 | Email: titi.gabipng@gmail.com
PFF co-Chair
Monica Miller | KHJ Radio | American Samoa
Mob 684 258-4197 | Office 684 633-7793 | Email: monica@khjradio.com
The Pacific Freedom Forum are a regional and global online network of Pacific media colleagues, with the specific intent of raising awareness and advocacy of the right of Pacific people to enjoy freedom of expression and be served by a free and independent media.
We believe in the critical and basic link between these freedoms, and the vision of democratic and participatory governance pledged by our leaders in their endorsement of the Pacific Plan and other commitments to good governance. In support of the above, our key focus is monitoring threats to media freedom and bringing issues of concern to the attention of the wider regional and international community.
Pacific Freedom Forum is a regional media body, monitoring threats to press freedom and journalism ethics across Oceania.
Wednesday, 20 February 2013
Saturday, 16 February 2013
Jim Richstad: a Pacific media giant remembered
 |
| Remembering a media giant -- Professor Jim Richstad (centre) at his last PINA convention in Vanuatu, 2009 (photocredit: Lisa W-Lahari) |
Richstad is widely remembered and referred to as a 'founding father' of the PINA organisation, which emerged from a series of news training workshops in the 70's. Leading journalists of the time began to discover a common bond in issues around training, media independence, and the complex role of the media in the developing Pacific.
PFF co-chair Monica Miller, a former PINA president and the only woman to ever lead the organisation, expressed deep sadness at the passing of one of the fathers of PINA.
"I met Dr Richstad in 1987 at the first PINA Convention in Tonga and recognized his genuine desire to help develop independent media in the Pacific."
A few years before, Richstad, who was then based at the Journalism school of the University of Hawaii, helped organise a first gathering of Pacific Island journalists -- a meeting where the idea of PINA was first conceived.
Among those pioneers were Faalogo Pito, Savea Sano Malifa, and the late Tavake Fusimalohi.
"I say with all conviction that Jim helped plant, nurture and grow PINA and he truly cared about Pacific journalism and journalists. His large cadre of contacts the world over was of benefit to PINA when we were organizing workshops and the annual conventions."
For more than 30 years, from where ever he was, and working with partners he brought to the regional table, Richstad continued his efforts to help Pacific journalists and media professionals take on excellence and leadership in their industry.
"He was the type of man you would want to be your journalism teacher," says Miller. "He knew his trade, no question, but was not arrogant about it. He came across as just a very gentle and warm person who made you feel important and that your point of view counted. And he made an effort to understand and appreciate why some western fundamentals of journalism could not be transplanted without adjustments to Pacific society."
"Farewell Jim, thank you for all you have done and your unshakable belief in Pacific media."
While saddened in recent years by the divisive factioning within media regionalism, Richstad urged journalists to remain unified and inclusive, and was a quiet voice of reason for anyone he met during what was to be his last PINA convention in Vanuatu, in 2009.
He is deeply missed by his Pacific media family.--ENDS
LINKS
Obituary by Floyd K Takeuchi http://www.pmc.aut.ac.nz/articles/jim-richstad-life-dedicated-pacific-journalism
Search Pacific Media Watch http://www.pmc.aut.ac.nz/pmw-nius
CONTACT: PFF Chair Titi Gabi | Freelance Journalist | Papua New Guinea Mail: PO Box 7776, Boroko, NCD, Papua New Guinea | Mob: (675) 7314 3929 | Email: titi.gabipng@gmail.com PFF co-Chair Monica Miller | KHJ Radio | American Samoa Mob 684 258-4197 | Office 684 633-7793 | Email: monica@khjradio.com The Pacific Freedom Forum are a regional and global online network of Pacific media colleagues, with the specific intent of raising awareness and advocacy of the right of Pacific people to enjoy freedom of expression and be served by a free and independent media. We believe in the critical and basic link between these freedoms, and the vision of democratic and participatory governance pledged by our leaders in their endorsement of the Pacific Plan and other commitments to good governance. In support of the above, our key focus is monitoring threats to media freedom and bringing issues of concern to the attention of the wider regional and international community.
Thursday, 7 February 2013
PFF: Zero tolerance for compensation threats.
PFF, Rarotonga, COOK ISLANDS-- The
use of so-called custom compensation claims in the Solomon Islands by
anyone upset over media content has been condemned by the Pacific
Freedom Forum, PFF.
PFF supports the decision by the Solomon's Star this week to lay a police complaint over two incidents on January 4 and 5 at the daily newspaper's offices in Chinatown, Honiara. On both occasions, a group claiming to have been sent by first lady Bronwyn Lilo, demanded compensation linked to headline-coverage of allegations of the Prime Minister Gordon Darcy Lilo having an extra-marital affair.
"Regardless of how strongly people feel about editorial values shaping the news and how it's reported, there should be zero tolerance for extortion of any kind. We call on individuals and groups responding to media content to take their concerns in writing to the management of the outlet concerned," says PFF co-chair Titi Gabi.
"Media associations including the Media Association of the Solomon Islands, have governing codes of ethics which call on organisations and journalists to meet editorial standards. If anyone feels these standards have been breached, they should be able to peacefully make their concerns known and be confident that their concerns will be dealt with."
Days after the incidents, the Prime Minister in a press conference denounced what had happened, saying compensation claims of any kind against companies and individuals in the Solomon had to stop. The Solomon's Star has already been served with a defamation action by the Prime Minister, who says he prefers the whole issue to be dealt with by the courts.
The issue of legal action should be a last and not a first resort in the complaints process, and the hope is that speedy resolution via a more direct mediation process via MASI will save face and money for
both sides, says PFF.
From Papua New Guinea, Gabi says the dynamics of kastom and groups affronted by reporting the 'private' lives of public figures is a challenge for Melanesian newsrooms, but one that must be met with directness and strength.
"We fully support the stance taken by Katherine Lamani and our colleagues at the Solomon's Star in making what happened a matter for Police investigation. We urge other newsrooms and journalists to
quickly speak up when faced with threats related to their work."
"In a region where cultural practice forms a strong part of identity, it's critical that the media help to highlight events of opportunism, extortion, and abuse trying to pass themselves off as custom," says
PFF co chair Monica Miller of American Samoa. "Many events like this are breaking the law, so it rests with journalists and their employers to educate the public on media complaints processes, and take threats to the Police."--ENDS
LINKS
Solomons Star Online:
http://www.solomonstarnews.com/news/national/17095-star-files-case-against-extortionists
CONTACT: PFF Chair Titi Gabi | Freelance Journalist | Papua New Guinea Mail: PO Box 7776, Boroko, NCD, Papua New Guinea | Mob: (675) 7314 3929 | Email: titi.gabipng@gmail.com PFF co-Chair Monica Miller | KHJ Radio | American Samoa Mob 684 258-4197 | Office 684 633-7793 | Email: monica@khjradio.com The Pacific Freedom Forum are a regional and global online network of Pacific media colleagues, with the specific intent of raising awareness and advocacy of the right of Pacific people to enjoy freedom of expression and be served by a free and independent media. We believe in the critical and basic link between these freedoms, and the vision of democratic and participatory governance pledged by our leaders in their endorsement of the Pacific Plan and other commitments to good governance. In support of the above, our key focus is monitoring threats to media freedom and bringing issues of concern to the attention of the wider regional and international community.
PFF supports the decision by the Solomon's Star this week to lay a police complaint over two incidents on January 4 and 5 at the daily newspaper's offices in Chinatown, Honiara. On both occasions, a group claiming to have been sent by first lady Bronwyn Lilo, demanded compensation linked to headline-coverage of allegations of the Prime Minister Gordon Darcy Lilo having an extra-marital affair.
"Regardless of how strongly people feel about editorial values shaping the news and how it's reported, there should be zero tolerance for extortion of any kind. We call on individuals and groups responding to media content to take their concerns in writing to the management of the outlet concerned," says PFF co-chair Titi Gabi.
"Media associations including the Media Association of the Solomon Islands, have governing codes of ethics which call on organisations and journalists to meet editorial standards. If anyone feels these standards have been breached, they should be able to peacefully make their concerns known and be confident that their concerns will be dealt with."
Days after the incidents, the Prime Minister in a press conference denounced what had happened, saying compensation claims of any kind against companies and individuals in the Solomon had to stop. The Solomon's Star has already been served with a defamation action by the Prime Minister, who says he prefers the whole issue to be dealt with by the courts.
The issue of legal action should be a last and not a first resort in the complaints process, and the hope is that speedy resolution via a more direct mediation process via MASI will save face and money for
both sides, says PFF.
From Papua New Guinea, Gabi says the dynamics of kastom and groups affronted by reporting the 'private' lives of public figures is a challenge for Melanesian newsrooms, but one that must be met with directness and strength.
"We fully support the stance taken by Katherine Lamani and our colleagues at the Solomon's Star in making what happened a matter for Police investigation. We urge other newsrooms and journalists to
quickly speak up when faced with threats related to their work."
"In a region where cultural practice forms a strong part of identity, it's critical that the media help to highlight events of opportunism, extortion, and abuse trying to pass themselves off as custom," says
PFF co chair Monica Miller of American Samoa. "Many events like this are breaking the law, so it rests with journalists and their employers to educate the public on media complaints processes, and take threats to the Police."--ENDS
LINKS
Solomons Star Online:
http://www.solomonstarnews.com/news/national/17095-star-files-case-against-extortionists
CONTACT: PFF Chair Titi Gabi | Freelance Journalist | Papua New Guinea Mail: PO Box 7776, Boroko, NCD, Papua New Guinea | Mob: (675) 7314 3929 | Email: titi.gabipng@gmail.com PFF co-Chair Monica Miller | KHJ Radio | American Samoa Mob 684 258-4197 | Office 684 633-7793 | Email: monica@khjradio.com The Pacific Freedom Forum are a regional and global online network of Pacific media colleagues, with the specific intent of raising awareness and advocacy of the right of Pacific people to enjoy freedom of expression and be served by a free and independent media. We believe in the critical and basic link between these freedoms, and the vision of democratic and participatory governance pledged by our leaders in their endorsement of the Pacific Plan and other commitments to good governance. In support of the above, our key focus is monitoring threats to media freedom and bringing issues of concern to the attention of the wider regional and international community.
Monday, 4 February 2013
Kiribati: climate frontline needs free media
PFF, Rarotonga, Cook Islands--Kiribati needs robust media freedoms if it is to adapt successfully to
future challenges from climate change, says the Pacific Freedom Forum.
"That is why PFF is welcoming the return to publishing by the Kiribati
Independent fortnightly newspaper," says PFF chair Titi Gabi. "Without independent news media, there is no guarantee that people of Kiribati will get all the information they need to survive and adapt successfully to future climate change challenges."
PFF welcomed recent reports from Pacific Media Watch noting that the paper had been out of circulation for six months, but was to start publishing again.
Kiribati Independent Taberannang Korauaba closed the paper down in June last year after the country's ministry of Communications laid a complaint with police.
The complaint alleged the newspaper had breached the Newspaper Registration Act.
"Any substance to the complaint appears doubtful, given that government has not responded to written requests for clarification from the newspaper's lawyer," says Gabi, based in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea.
The Kiribati Independent has a print run of 500. In 2010, the Kiribati census recorded a total of five journalists, one editor, three media officers, seven writers, three photographers and 23 radio announcers working in-country. There were some 5,000 television sets in household use.
PFF co-chair Monica Miller said the census shows a remarkable degree of media diversity for a small, remote location with few resources, and that press plurality was essential to a healthy democracy.
"There is extensive reporting on how climate change processes have become swamped in political controversy," says Miller.
"However for countries like Kiribati, climate change is not a remote possibility but a daily reality."
Miller says media freedom can help keep governments accountable and on-track, ensuring that people and not political processes come first, including in climate change.
PFF notes that budget documents call for the Communications ministry to "inform, entertain, and educate the people of Kiribati through the media, preferably through modern information and communications technology."
iller says that the Kiribati Independent is a vital contributor to these outcomes, providing i-Kiribati everywhere with an independent source of information.
PFF supports a recent editorial by the Kiribati Independent calling for the
government to regard the newspaper as a partner in development.
"We join the newspaper in hoping that the government of the day pays more
attention to the message of the media rather than punishing them," says Miller,
based in Pagopago, American Samoa.
LINKS:
Kiribati Independant homepage: www.thekiribatiindependent.co.
Pacific Media Watch: http://www.pmc.aut.ac.nz/
CONTACT: PFF Chair Titi Gabi | Freelance Journalist | Papua New Guinea Mail: PO Box 7776, Boroko, NCD, Papua New Guinea | Mob: (675) 7314 3929 | Email: titi.gabipng@gmail.com PFF co-Chair Monica Miller | KHJ Radio | American Samoa Mob 684 258-4197 | Office 684 633-7793 | Email: monica@khjradio.com The Pacific Freedom Forum are a regional and global online network of Pacific media colleagues, with the specific intent of raising awareness and advocacy of the right of Pacific people to enjoy freedom of expression and be served by a free and independent media. We believe in the critical and basic link between these freedoms, and the vision of democratic and participatory governance pledged by our leaders in their endorsement of the Pacific Plan and other commitments to good governance. In support of the above, our key focus is monitoring threats to media freedom and bringing issues of concern to the attention of the wider regional and international community.
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