Media freedom under threat: Dorney
Title -- 5374 FIJI/PNG: Media freedom under threat In Fiji: Dorney
Date -- 14 March 2008
Byline -- None
Origin -- Pacific Media Watch
Source -- Pacific Magazine 13/03/08
Copyright - PM
Status -- Unabridged
Post a comment on PMW's Right of Reply: PMW feedback pmc@aut.ac.nz
MEDIA FREEDOM UNDER THREAT IN FIJI: DORNEY
www.pacificmagazine.net/news/2008/03/13/media-freedom-under-threat-in-fiji-dorney
By Alexander Rheeney
PORT MORESBY (PM/Pacific Media Watch): A controversial Fiji Human Rights Commission-produced report to regulate the media industry has come under fire from the Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s Pacific correspondent Sean Dorney.
“In Fiji at the moment is Fiji’s so called Human Rights Commission there, which is headed by a woman called Shaista Shameem, one of the things that she has decided to do is bring in a guy called Jim Anthony from Hawaii to do a report – allegedly on freedom of the media in Fiji and this report is just a complete diatribe against the mainstream media,” he said when speaking on media freedom issues at a media workshop in Port Moresby.
He said the report also recommended the establishment of a media tribunal as well as the taxing of media organizations.
“And amongst its recommendations are that they should establish a media tribunal, they it should be funded by 7 per cent tax across the board on all media advertising revenue and a further 7 per cent from all revenue generated from monthly user fees, that all expatriates employed in the media should lose their work permits and no new work permits be renewed – its just a full out tax on the mainstream media,” Dorney added.
Making a comparison of the tolerance of the media in PNG compared to the rest of the Pacific, the ABC Pacific correspondent said the PNG media industry was setting an example for the rest of the region.
“One of the good things about Papua New Guinea is that the media here is a really shining light for the rest of the region.
"There’s good media here, its free, its gutsy, its journalists are prepared to ask hard questions.
"Certainly that’s been my experience when I was here and on a number of occasions people from the media have had to band together to oppose attempts by various governments to control the media here. And it’s been a very successful fight," said Dorney.
Last month’s deportation of Australian newspaper publisher Russell Hunter by Fiji’s military-backed government is an example of the intimidation that Pacific journalists are often subjected to in their line of duty.
PACIFIC MEDIA WATCH is an independent, non-profit, non-government organisation comprising journalists, lawyers, editors and other media workers, dedicated to examining issues of ethics, accountability, censorship, media freedom and media ownership in the Pacific region. It is now published by the Pacific Media Centre at New Zealand's AUT University. Launched in October 1996, it has links with the Journalism Programme at the University of the South Pacific, Journalism Studies at the University of PNG (UPNG) and the Australian Centre for Independent Journalism (ACIJ), Auckland University of Technology in New Zealand. The website is hosted by the Association of Progressive Communications (APC).
© 1996-2008 Copyright - All rights reserved. Items are provided solely for review purposes as a non-profit educational service. Copyright remains the property of the original producers as indicated. Recipients should seek permission from the copyright owner for any publishing. Copyright owners not wishing their materials to be posted by PMW please contact us. The views expressed in material listed by PMW are not necessarily the views of PMW or its members. Recipients should rely on their own inquiries before making decisions based on material listed in PMW.
For further information and joining the Pacific Media Watch listserve,
go to http://lists.apc.org.au/listinfo.cgi/pacific_media_watch-apc.org.au:
Email: pmc@aut.ac.nz
Pacific Media Centre
Fax: (+649) 921 9987
Mail: PO Box 92006, Auckland 1142, Aotearoa/New Zealand
Website: www.pmw.c2o.org
Return to Pacific Media Watch