There is hypocrisy amongst some politicians and political players when it comes to media independence, says Fijian Media Association General Secretary Stanley Simpson.
Referring to the period immediately after the 2006 coup, Simpson says some political parties went missing or stayed silent as the media were abused and came under attack.
“At that critical moment, when media freedom was under siege, some political leaders and political party chose silence or complicity instead of defense. Their silence emboldened further attacks. To get into bed and in power with the military regime – they turned a blind eye or stayed silent as media rights and journalists were being smashed. They didn’t believe strongly enough in media freedom to speak out. By the time they were finally chewed up and spat out by the military government – and spoke out – the damage had been done,” Simpson said.
He was speaking at the USP Journalism Media Freedom Day celebrations yesterday on the theme “Strengthening Media Independence and Sustainability.”
Simpson said Fiji editors were attacked by a political party on a recent trip to the US for visiting The Wonderful Company farms – owners of Fiji Water. The party said the media was being lured by plane rides, sumptuous food and gifts and nothing short of submitting to corrupting influence.
“We were ok to be criticised and be held to account – and the people can judge us by our reporting,” Simpson said.
“But this criticism was from the same political party that joined the military regime and ruled with it after 2006, and was silent when journalists were beaten, threatened and put in cells for questioning the undemocratic behaviour of the military. They didn’t speak out for media independence in 2006-2007 when they were with the ruling regime but doing so now.”
Simpson said there is a misconception in Fiji – that being independent means you can’t have contacts or relationships.
“There is a need to build your networks – and be able to access and get information from a wide variety of sources. In fact, strengthening media independence means it being able to talk to everyone and all sides, but not being influenced. Get all views and present to the public in a fair, balanced and accurate manner.”
Simpson said that independence – while difficult and challenging – is a must in the media industry for it to maintain its credibility.
