Fiji has received a much improved ranking based on the latest assessment by global press freedom watchdog, Reporters Without Borders where we have been ranked 44 out of 180 countries.
Reporters Without Borders says after 16 years of recurring attacks on press freedom by former Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama, pressure exerted on the media by civil and military authorities has eased since the election of Sitiveni Rabuka as head of the Republic of Fiji in December 2022.
The global press freedom watchdog says the repeal of the draconian and unpopular Media Industry Development Act (MIDA) in April 2023 is an important step forward.
In 2022, Fiji was ranked as the worst place in the Pacific region for journalists.
In Reporters Without Borders 2022 World Press Freedom Index, Fiji was placed 102 out of 180 countries.
In that report, it was said that journalists critical of the government were regularly intimidated and even imprisoned.
The latest report says until its repeal on 6th April 2023, the news media were regulated by the draconian 2010 Media Industry Development Decree, which was turned into a law in 2018, and they were supervised by the Media Industry Development Authority (MIDA), which was created by the decree and was directly linked to the government.
Under that law, journalists could be jailed for up to two years for violating the law’s vaguely worded provisions.
The latest report adds that the authorities had used discriminatory advertising practices to blackmail the media, withholding ads and legal notices from those regarded as critical of the government.
It says for example, at the height of the COVID pandemic, the pro-government Fiji Sun benefitted from a preferential advertising allocation at the expense of its rival, the Fiji Times.
Reporters Without Borders says journalists’ interests are represented by the Fijian Media Association (FMA), which was often critical of the harassment of the media by the previous FijiFirst government.
It says after the repeal of the Media Act, the FMA has worked hard to restore independent journalism and public trust in the media.
Meanwhile the South Pacific regional leader in media freedom is Samoa which is ranked 22.
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