The excerpt of the FV article:
Stuff Magazine article also covered the comments.Driti tells Shamima to stay out of politics
Publish date/time: 27/03/2009 [17:04]
The military has today called on the Coordinator of the Fiji Womens Crisis Centre Shamima Ali to stop getting involved in politics.
RFMF Land Force Commander Colonel Pita Driti said Ali should concentrate on tackling the rise in sex related offences and stop blaming the events of December 2006 for the increasing statistics.
While speaking from NZ, Shamima Ali said it seems her words have had an effect for Colonel Driti to be responding to her. Meanwhile, Colonel Driti is now calling for a period of silence from the politicians and NGO's to ensure that the political forum is successful.
He says the political parties and NGOs have to stop attacking the RFMF and the interim government if they want Fiji to move forward. Shamima Ali said they cannot be silenced and will continue to speak out.
The excerpt of Stuff article:
In a bizarre outburst the head of Fiji’s land forces has claimed the military is fighting to prevent the nation falling into an abyss of genocide and civil war. Fiji Military (RFMF) Land Force Commander Colonel Pita Driti has issued a statement while his boss and coup leader Commodore Voreqe Bainimarama is out of the country.
Bainimarama seized power in Fiji's fourth coup in 2006. Within hours of Bainimarama leaving for India, Driti called for the closure of the top circulation Fiji Times which he said was attacking the military government.
After a burst of criticism, Driti this afternoon has responded saying that those who attacked him have not experienced anarchy."Many of us experienced it slightly in the civilian backed coup of 2000 when rebels almost took over the country," he said in reference to the George Speight led coup. "That is anarchy in a minute scale and the RFMF is trying to prevent Fiji fall into the abyss of lawlessness and disorder with mass genocides, ethnic cleansing and battle between warlords, let alone civil war - now that is a national security angle that I am speaking from on behalf of the military as the final bastion of law and order," he said in a single sentence.
Among those who criticised him was Shamima Ali who leads Fiji's Rape Crisis Centre. Driti said she should "focus more on her field of work and stop babbling..."Her conclusion that the rise in such social crimes is due to the current political trend, is cheap and very nonsensical, because these crimes have a higher percentage rating in stable democratic countries the world over. "She should not waste her time trying to be an expert in politics even though we know that she is being paid to babble away with her nonsense," Driti said.
Fiji Times article.
While some of these NGO's have used the media to further their own agendas, these celebrated icons must also take the blame for their own incompetence. Take for example, Shamima Ali's role in the Fiji Womens Crisis Centre, which at times takes a back seat role for her over indulgence in the political sphere.
It appears that Ali has been negligent on the job for the empowerment of women in the rural areas of Fiji, who are more in a crisis than their urban dwelling counterparts.
While the issue of Freedom of the media, may blur the contentious issues being raised by the Fiji Army; it does raise the argument about the limits to free speech; which some of these libertarians in Fiji have obfuscated. Croz Walsh's recent blog post highlights the static imbalance in Fiji Times articles.
While Fiji Media Council head, Daryl Tarte is quoted in Radio New Zealand online article:
“The media in Fiji, just as in Australia, is entitled to be be partisan if they want to be. It’s probably more dangerous to be partisan in Fiji than it is in Australia but the fact is that I think most media in Fiji are trying to report as objectively and in a balanced way as they can. It is very dangerous for them not to do so. And the examples of the recent attacks on the editor of the Fiji Times is evidence of this”
While media in Australia may be partisan, it does not give license for the Fiji media to adopt that same paltry excuse for unbalanced coverage. It is a fact, that Tarte has been a Pollyannic mouthpiece for the litany of ethical violations, committed by the Fiji media.
While the Fiji Media Council is currently under review, it also means that any remarks made by the current chair, is seen as operating under the old rules; despite the tabling of its much anticipated report, by the review team. The actual Fiji Media Council(FMC) 2009 Review Report (PDF).
Other recommendations, include a staff change, according Fiji Times article. Cafe Pacific blogger, David Robbie also addressed that issue is an earlier posting.
The excerpt of Fiji Times article:
Review urges staffing change
Thursday, March 19, 2009A REVIEW committee on the Fiji Media Council has recommended that full-time staff listen to and discuss complaints against media organisations.
In their report on the Fiji Media Council, the review committee said it believed that the efficient running of the council could no longer be entrusted to unpaid, part-time volunteers. The committee recommended that paid workers were needed to discuss the complaints.
"Given the ambitious nature of the council's objectives, especially in its aim of improving the standards of the Fiji media, the council needs the services of an executive secretary who can serve a number of
functions," stated the report.The report said a paid employee should be available at a known office address to provide complainants with someone whom they could discuss their complaints. It said having permanent staff would enable the council to maintain its website.
The exceprt of Radio Fiji article:
A report on the review of the Fiji Media Council says government has no place in the regulation of the media. Prepared by a three member team led by Jack Herman, and comprising of Suliana Siwatibau and Barrie Sweetman, the findings are based on submissions and oral interviews.
The report says, both the government and the Media Council need to work together. It further says despite the level of rhetoric from partisans on either side of the media-government adversarial relationship, it is the view of the Review that the Fiji Media Council has maintained a proper relationship with government. The Review's belief is that the government has no place in the regulation of the media. The report was tabled at yesterday’s Media Council meeting.
While SiFM does not cordone violence, it also recognizes the fact that some media outlets in Fiji are actually culpable in "falsely shouting fire in a crowded theater" and used their gate keeper role to silence dissenting opinions and artificially skew their content (articles, Letter to the Editor) potraying a one sided coin.
Even the UN has deliberating on a resoulution that limits free speech, according to Jerusalem Post article.
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