CLCT Integrity Fiji
For us
in Fiji, World Press Freedom Day on the theme of “Shaping a Future of
Rights: Freedom of expression as a driver for all other human rights” is a
very important one given that for 16 years we lived in a repressive environment
where the media was not free.
We had
experienced that when freedom of expression and media freedom are suppressed,
all other freedoms are at risk.
This
is because the free flow of information and press freedom are preconditions
for the realization of the Sustainable
Development Goals.
For CLCT
Integrity Fiji and Transparency International we feel that partnerships between
journalists and civil society organisations are critically important in advocating
for policy changes and ensuring accountability for the corruption uncovered in
investigations in Fiji and the Pacific region.
The
best advice we can give is to learn from the mistakes of the past 16 years and to
help develop a national framework for genuine democracy where media freedom and
all other types of freedom are not just for show in our Constitution but is
actually practiced in the daily lives of Fiji’s people.
Young
people should nurture media freedom so we never find ourselves again in the
repressive situation of the last 16 years.
We are
grateful to the Government for repealing the Media Act on the 6th of
April.
However,
we should not take for granted that we will always have this kind of freedom.
The
media, academics and civil society have to constantly work to nurture such
freedoms.
During
World Press Freedom Day, we would also like to acknowledge our unsung heroes,
the journalists in Fiji who suffered great hardships in reporting the truth.
They
have done great work and we are all deeply grateful to them.
We acknowledge
the fantastic work of the Fiji Media Association, the Pacific Islands News
Association, the Pacific Journalists Against Corruption and many other dynamic
media groups in Fiji and the Pacific Region.
It is
noted that in the last National Elections, the Fiji Media galvanised a nation
and inspired a social movement and forced us to come out of our apathy, to make
changes in the ballot box.
On
social media and through meetings with countless people, they had expressed
that although they had registered as voters because it was compulsory, they had
not bothered to vote. The media reporting of the issues inspired them to vote
for a new dawn after 16 years.
During
today’s World Press Freedom Day, I would like to plead with Media Companies
like the Fiji Times, Fiji Sun, CFL, Mai TV to please improve the working
conditions and salaries of journalists. Please create affirming working
conditions so journalists can produce at their optimum level.
We note that the Media in Fiji and the Pacific
have been treated shabbily by donor agencies like UKAID, USAID, NZ MFAT, the
Australian DFAT and UN agencies.
I plead with donor agencies to provide the
necessary training, media equipment, exchange visits and other support through media
bodies, the Fiji National University and other local and regional higher education
institutions.
For
the Fiji National University, the new democratic freedom we now have is an
opportune time to nurture our students and academics to proactively use their
freedom of expression for the greater
good of Fiji, the Pacific and the world.
We
need to develop the full potential of
our University community in the digital ecosystem and the rapidly evolving
information environment.
For our
academics and students, the right to freedom of expression and the right to
access information enables us to seek, receive and impart information, ideas, concepts and beliefs
across borders and cultures.
Let us
be inspired today to go beyond the mundane things we do so we can develop a greater
renaissance of ideas.
For
the Department of Communications and Media and indeed the whole University, our
role is to nurture great investigative journalists who help verify and
disseminate facts, create spaces for ideas
to be debated, for the voiceless to
be heard, and to
report complex matters for the public to understand.
Let us
all work together to strengthen media freedom and to nurture our femocracy.
