Fiji: TVNZ Accused of Poor Journalism

1 August 2005

Fiji Tourism Authority Suggests Visitors Misled By Poor Journalism

SUVA (RNZI Online//Pacific Media Watch): The chief executive of Fiji¹s Tourism Bureau, Bill Gavoka, suggests New Zealanders who have recently cancelled trips to the country have been misled by poor journalism by Television New Zealand.

Gavoka says the overall impression given by the report was that there was political tension similar to that before previous coups.

He says the report gave too much credence to the view of a security officer, Vilikesa Raqio, who said he had a private protection force ready to provide security for the prime minister and the government against the Fiji military.

³Yes we¹re really disappointed in the reporting. That aspect about the commander being interviewed. According to the army, they were given about 21 questions, and the two that came up, wrongly portrayed the whole scenario.² -- Bill Gavoka

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http://www.pmw.c2o.org

PACIFIC MEDIA WATCH is an independent, non-profit, non-government organisation comprising journalists, lawyers, editors and other media workers, dedicated to examining issues of ethics, accountability, censorship, media freedom and media ownership in the Pacific region. Launched in October 1996, it has links with the Journalism Program at the University of the South Pacific, Bushfire Media based in Sydney, Journalism Studies at the University of PNG (UPNG), the Australian Centre for Independent Journalism (ACIJ), Auckland University of Technology in New Zealand, and Community Communications Online (c2o).

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