18 Jan 2011

Fiji Times publisher Swinstead leaves

2:30 pm on 18 January 2011

The Fiji Times publisher Dallas Swinstead will be leaving the company and return to Australia at the end of the month.

The chairman of Fiji Times Limited, Mahendra Patel, says the company is grateful to Mr Swinstead for his leadership since the Motibhai Group took over ownership from News Limited last September.

Mr Swinstead says he will return to Australia with a great feeling of satisfaction and pride at the quality achieved, despite sometimes difficult circumstances.

The appointment of a new publisher is expected to be announced shortly.

The Fiji Times was sold after the Media Decree came into force, which limits foreign ownership of Fiji media to no more than 10 percent.

The interim regime promised at the same time to lift emergency regulations, including media censorship, but has not done so.