Fiji Media Mounts Campaign Against Broadcast Bill
http://www.usp.ac.fj/journ/wansolnews/2006/August/wansol2508061.html
By Sushil Patel
SUVA (Wansolwara Online/Pacific Media Watch): The media in Fiji has started a campaign against a Broadcast Licensing
Bill currently before a parliamentary select committee.
The media says the government is attempting to control the media through the bill.
The Fiji Sun, in a strongly worded editorial yesterday, said if the bill is enacted, Fiji would be regarded as "little
more than a banana republic, a pariah Mugabe-like state".
The editorial said the bill proposed to set up a body of "political appointees" at taxpayers' expense when the
self-regulating Fiji Media Council was already doing an efficient job at no cost to government.
The bill vests in the Minister of Information the powers to appoint a chairperson and five other members of the
Broadcast Licensing Authority.
Among other things, the authority will have a say on programming and content, and whether they serve the public interest
or not.
It will also have the power to set up a complaints committee consisting of three members from the authority including
the chairperson.
The bill proposes a fine of $500,000 levied on broadcast companies for any breach of their licensing agreement.
Breaches could also result in licences being revoked.
The Fiji Times, in a full-page article yesterday, highlighted the concerns of broadcasters while Fiji TV ran interviews
with broadcasters castigating the bill as a gagging tool.
At a Fiji Media Council meeting on Wednesday, media company representatives lamented the lack of consultation.
They said they were hardly given a look at the bill before it was introduced into Parliament.
Council chairman Daryl Tarte said the bill, if passed, would make the council redundant.
Media companies agreed to mount a public awareness campaign about the bill, which they said was an attack on media
freedom.
Government shelved a proposed Media Bill some years ago following a fierce anti-media bill campaign.
Ends