ARCHIVES: Pacific Region
Fiji's military government, which has been questioning several local journalists in custody, should immediately rescind emergency regulations censoring the island nation's media, the Committee to Protect Journalists has urged. At least a dozen local journalists have been interrogated by police since the regulations came into force on April 10, according to the Associated Press (AP). Initially introduced for 30 days but recently extended until June 10, the regulations forbid "negative" reports... MORE
Fiji's interim government must relax its reporting restrictions after the government declared a 30-day state of emergency on Friday, the Committee to Protect Journalists has demanded. Three foreign reporters have since been ordered to be deported and one local journalist detained, according to international news reports, and newspapers and broadcasts have been censored. Australian Sean Dorney and New Zealand's Sia Aston and Matt Smith, said Monday that immigration officials ordered them to... MORE
Cook Islands has launched the country's Official Information Act (OIA) implementation plan, the Pacific Islands News Association (PINA) has said quoting Cook Islands News . "We are the first Pacific Island jurisdiction to introduce a freedom of information regime and there is a lot of interest from other Pacific Island countries who are considering a similar thing," said deputy Prime minister Sir Terepai Maoate. Sir Terepai said there were a wide range benefits for introducing the act which... MORE
Fiji deported Fiji Times publisher Rex Gardner on January 27, five days after he and the newspaper were fined 100,000 Fiji dollars (40,000 euros) for publishing a reader’s letter criticising a court decision. Gardner is the third newspaper publisher with Australian nationality to be expelled by Fiji’s military-backed government in the past year. His predecessor at the Fiji Times , Evan Hannah, was expelled last May. Fiji Sun publisher Russell Hunter was expelled in February. Paris-based... MORE
The editor of Fiji's oldest newspaper has been ordered to jail and the publication has been fined F$100,000 (NZ$104,000) for printing a letter critical of the military regime and the court system, Fairfax Media has reported. Fiji Times editor-in-chief Netani Rika has been convicted of contempt and jailed for three months with a suspended sentence for two years on a good behaviour bond. The ruling, by Fiji High Court Justice Thomas Hickie, an Australian, is a stunning win for the Voreqe... MORE
The publisher of Vanuatu's Daily Post newspaper, Marc Neil-Jones, was recently attacked in the capital of Port Vila, according to Pacific Islands News Association (PINA). Radio New Zealand International reported that Neil-Jones sustained a broken nose and a black eye. Neil-Jones has filed an official complaint with the police and alleges that those involved are police officers who are employed at the Correctional Service Centre in Port Vila. The publisher believes his assailants were officers... MORE
Tensions between New Zealand and Fiji have heightened further after the latter deported ONE News Pacific Correspondent Barbara Dreaver and threatened to expel New Zealand's top diplomat there in the developing row over travel sanctions. Dreaver landed in Auckland Tuesday afternoon after being detained at Fiji's Nadi Airport Monday night. Dreaver had flown in Monday night to cover the escalating diplomatic row between New Zealand and the government, led by self-appointed prime minister Frank... MORE
Heads have begun to roll in the Australian media industry with the chief executive of FairFax Media Limited, David Kirk, putting in his papers last week. Kirk left the 120-year old media giant after serving three years in the organisation that is currently facing a shrinking advertising revenue and a collapsing share price in the face of a severe economic meltdown. Kirk’s resignation came as a rude blow to the Australia’s oldest newspaper company that has already witnessed the exit of Alan... MORE
Former Herald Sun editor-in-chief Bruce Guthrie has launched a $2.8million unfair dismissal claim against the Australian newspaper's publisher, News Limited. In a writ filed on Monday in the Victorian Supreme Court, Guthrie claimed that the company's decision to terminate his employment last month was "capricious, unfair and unreasonable" and a breach of contract, the Australian reported. Guthrie, a former editor of the Age in Melbourne, was paid out the final year of his three-year contract... MORE
Fiji's interim government has asked the court to jail the publishers and editors of two of the country's daily newspapers for six months each and impose a fine of $1 million (approx. US$539,000) over their publication of a letter that criticised the High Court's validation of the 2006 military coup. The Fiji Times and Daily Post newspapers have published statements acknowledging their guilt on contempt of court charges after publishing a letter to the editor from a person said to be residing in... MORE
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