Fiji Times defends reporting of opposition comments

Transcript

The Fiji Times has defended its reporting of opposition comments, saying freedom of the press and the right to impart information is enshrined in the constitution.

The government has accused the newspaper of attempting to advance its own political interests and manipulating the news agenda.

Mary Baines reports.

In the Fiji Times article, the opposition leader Ro Teimumu Kepa attacked a government policy to prioritise rural students in the three government-run boarding schools in Suva.  She is quoted as saying the move by the minister, Mahendra Reddy, was aimed to re-engineer and weaken the iTaukei community, and such moves will now be resisted.  The prime minister Frank Bainimarama says the comments are divisive and a threat to national unity, and admonished the Fiji Times for running them.

FRANK BAINIMARAMA:  The Fiji Times also stands condemned for yet another grossly irresponsible piece of journalism. Rather than report dispassionately and in the interests of national stability, the Fiji Times is controlled by a cabal that manipulates the news agenda and uses inflammatory language to create disunity, division and instability and to advance its own political interests.

The education minister, Mahendra Reddy, joined in on the attack, saying there was not enough balance in the article.

MAHENDRA REDDY:  I absolutely share the sentiments expressed by the prime minister. Rather unfortunately Fiji Times pushed the whole article of their honourable leader at the beginning and my comments came in a corner right at the end. You know, this is not a reflection of good journalism to say the least.

But the Fiji Times editor-in-chief Fred Wesley has defended its journalism.  He says the prime minister's attack is unfortunate, as the comments made by the opposition are not the opinions of the Fiji Times.  He says both the government and the opposition have the right to be heard.

FRED WESLEY:  Freedom of the press and the right to impart information is enshrined in the Fiji constitution. In 146 years as a newspaper company the Fiji Times has been accused many times by politicians from all sides of having a political agenda. But we see ourselves as being our job to give our readers information from all sides of politics so that they can make up their own minds about current affairs.

The Pacific Freedom Forum editor, Jason Brown, says the government's response is an overreaction.

JASON BROWN:  To call a fairly straight piece of reporting grossly irresponsible piece of journalism - it seems to be comment from the leader of the opposition for which counter-comment was sought and printed, so I'm not sure what's grossly irresponsible about that.

Mr Brown says Fiji has been dominated by years of media censorship, and perhaps the government now needs to adjust its thinking about the media's role in society.

JASON BROWN:  Certainly there's not military censors in the newsroom and haven't been for quite some time. But it shows there's quite a way to go yet before government regains an appreciation of what the media is there for, which is to publicise different points of view on issues of the day.

The Fiji Media Industry Development Authority head, Ashwin Raj, says he has no comment on the issue.