By Jennifer Lush

Copy of the Fiji Times run to protest against censorship. Image: Jachin Sheehy

Under a new set of rules released last week, Fijian journalists will now be forced to reveal their sources, to publish favourable government material and could be fined up to $280,000 for breaching guidelines.

Ever since Commodore Frank Bainimarama’s military coup in 2009 the Fijian press have been faced with even harsher restrictions on reporting.

Jack Herman, executive secretary of the Australian Press Council said that these restrictions would have two major effects upon the freedoms of the Fijian media.

“One is that it imposes a set of very stringent punishments for members of the media who report things that are regarded as not in the best interests of the government, the second thing it does is that it limits to ten percent the amount that any foreign individual or group can own in any media company in Fiji,” he said.

If these restrictions are enforced, News Limited will have to divest itself of ownership of one of the best sources of news for Fijians, the Fiji Times, which may then be forced to close.

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Mr Herman said that both the punishment of journalists and the need for foreign media to divest ownership would leave many Fijians in the dark.

Restrictions similar to these have already had an adverse effect on the freedom of the Fijian press and have meant that the people of Fiji remain relatively uninformed of the actions of their government.

“What happened after the 2009 coup last year was that Commodore Bainimarama put soldiers in every newsroom, and all stories had to be cleared through the military censors before they could run. And that’s when the real problems for the press and for the media started in Fiji,” he said.

“The Fijian press have not been able to tell what’s been going on, they’ve not been able to report any resistance if there were any, or any criticism of the government and what they are doing, all of which means that the people in Fiji have not got the information they need to make decisions.

“The other thing is that the military leadership there has imposed a situation where there are not going to be any elections for a period of time, no parliament is going to be convened and again that’s something that the people haven’t got the full details on.”

Jennifer Lush is a reporter for the Wire.