Fiji Media Protected

http://www.fijisun.com.fj/2012/02/09/media-protected/

By Maika Bolatiki and Rachna Lal

SUVA (Fiji Sun / Pacific Media Watch): President Ratu Epeli Nailatikau yesterday approved the State Proceedings (Amendment) Decree 2012, which offers legal immunity to the media when reporting statements made by the Fiji government.

This means no media organisation can be held liable for publication of statements, verbal or written, made by the Prime Minister or any Cabinet Minister, whether in their official or personal capacity.

Attorney-General Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum said the decree gave the media the freedom to publish comments made by the Prime Minister or a government minister.

He stressed its purpose was to facilitate transparent discussion or exchange of views.

Giving an example, Sayed-Khaiyum said when there was a Parliament, under parliamentary privilege members of the Parliament and ministers could make comments within the Parliament.

“That privilege is not there at the moment,” Sayed-Khaiyum said.

“There are various individuals, who for example, had a very different political position when they held a public office or when they were board members of an organisation.

“But now that they are no longer in that position, suddenly their political position outlook has changed.

“If we were to point that out as to who these individuals are, media organisations would be reluctant to print this because perhaps they may think they may be sued for defamation.”

Sayed-Khaiyum said there may be an opportunity for media organisations to go ahead and print it if it was said by relevant ministers proving the clarification.

“So it does create more transparency and it should be seen as an opportunity for transparent discussions,” he said.

Fiji Television chief executive Tarun Patel said they would only comment after studying the decree in detail.

Communications Fiji Limited news director Vijay Narayan said they would be guided by the Media Code of Ethics.

“The code is also included in the Media Decree. Some of the guiding principles include accuracy, balance, fairness, accountability and transparency. We will continue to follow that and this amendment decree does not change anything,” Narayan said.

He said journalists should always be guided by the Media Code of Ethics.

“That will determine how they approach the story and it’s also clearly stated that personal bias should never be reflected in a story,” he said.

The decree is said to be consistent with the parliamentary privilege as was applicable in Fiji, which is applicable in countries throughout the Commonwealth.

However, it goes further by protecting media organisations.

The decree will expire upon the date when a new Parliament is convened which will have its usual privileges for statements made by parliamentarians.

Decree Offers Immunity To The Media
http://www.fijitimes.com/story.aspx?id=192908

By Serelisoni Moceica, The Fiji Times, 9 February 2012

Fiji government ministers now have the power to issue statements in the media freely leading up to the elections in 2014 after the State Proceedings Amendment Decree came into effect on Tuesday night.

The new decree will facilitate open discussions between government and public stakeholders as the country prepares for elections in 2014.

A government statement said media personnel would not be held accountable for publishing articles that contained statements made by ministers and the Prime Minister for the duration of the decree.

The decree is expected to expire after a new Parliament is in place.

The government likened the decree to "parliamentary privilege" which provided legislators protection when delivering statements during parliamentary proceedings.

Fiji Media Watch said the decree was an opportunity for media to report in a free media environment.

"This would mean more freedom for the media to do what they do best and that is reporting on issues relevant to the country," said Fulori Turaga, FMW's media monitoring coordinator.

She said the decree "opened up a new chapter to media freedom in Fiji".

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