Fiji to set up media monitor ahead of election Updated Thu 27 Mar - TopicsExpress



          

Fiji to set up media monitor ahead of election Updated Thu 27 Mar 2014, 1:29am AEDT VIDEO: Fiji announces plan for media monitoring unit (The World) RELATED STORY: Pacific media urged to hold governments, organisations to account MAP: Fiji Fijis media authority has announced a unit will be set up to monitor the way media outlets report on the election campaign. The chairman of the Media Industry Development Authority (MIDA), Ashwin Raj, made the announcement at a press conference in Suva on Wednesday. Mr Raj said MIDA will make sure that newspapers and radio and television stations do not show bias in the way they report on politics. He stressed the unit would be independent. MIDA will have the ability to demand a right of reply to all opinion columns, and also wants the code of conduct to extend to foreign journalists working in Fiji and any local journalists working for foreign media outlets. Penalties for journalists and media organisations found guilty of breaching media decree guidelines are fines or jail terms of up to five years. AUDIO: Fiji media authority complains about ABC reporter (ABC News) Mr Raj also explained why it had lodged a complaint about ABC reports on Fiji media restrictions. The ABCs Pacific correspondent Sean Dorney is currently banned from reporting in Fiji. Authority not satisfied by ABCs handling of complaint In the press conference MIDA indicted it was unhappy with a recent interview Mr Dorney did with ABC radio program Pacific Beat regarding a recent Pacific Island News Associations Media Summit in New Caledonia. MIDA said its not satisfied by the ABCs handling of a complaint against Mr Dorney. Fiji-based reporter Samisoni Pareti said a copy of the complaint letter MIDA sent to the ABC about Mr Dorneys report was released to the media on Wednesday, as well as the ABCs response. AUDIO: Veteran Pacific reporter questions impact of new MIDA body (ABC News) They took offence to an interview that Sean Dorney did with some weeks back, Mr Pareti said. Apparently Mr Dorney made some remarks concerning the freeness of the media or otherwise in Fiji. So they took that up. One of the first foreign journalists to be expelled from Fiji is Fairfaxs New Zealand-based Pacific correspondent, Michael Field. He labelled the proposed media monitor farcical. What were looking at now is a Fiji media scene that is so remote from any sort of concept of free and fair media that its insulting to even try and offer any other suggestion that it is representative of open and fair democracy and media, Mr Field said. This MIDA group seems to be totally about control and dictation and order. Radio Australias Pacific Beat program made repeated efforts to contact Mr Raj for comment. Fiji is due to hold elections by September.
Posted on: Fri, 28 Mar 2014 03:18:02 +0000

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