No Democracy Without Free Press
No Democracy Without Free Press
Democracy, religious freedom, freedom to assemble & petition and freedom of speech are all curtailed when freedom of the press is compromised.
As the world
celebrates Press Freedom Day today, the Fiji Women’s
Rights Movement urges Fijians to reflect on the importance
of a free press.
“All societies need a set of
checks and balances to ensure there is democracy and freedom
from corruption. A free media is one of the most critical
components of these checks and balances,” said FWRM’s
Executive Director Virisila Buadromo.
“You
cannot rightfully say that a country is democratic and that
its citizens enjoy basic human rights and freedom from
discrimination, unless and until its press is free from
censorship and regulations.”
“As the Fourth
Estate, the press is essential in the monitoring of the
political process to ensure accountability and
transparency”
“In fact, if you look around the
world, you can clearly see that the freer a country’s
press is, the more democratic the country is,” Buadromo
added.
In Fiji, all successive States since the
country’s first coup of May 1987 seemed to think the Fiji
press was too liberal, thus the constant threat of
regulation. The threats became a reality in 2010 when the
Media Industries Development Decree was implemented. .
“As a feminist and human rights-based
organisation, FWRM has always condemned the control and
censorship of the media. Without a free media, women and
girls as members of society cannot make informed and
educated decisions that affect their lives, families and
communities. It is critical that the State recognizes that
the success of Fiji’s democratization process needs to
involve meaningful public consultation that is informed and
educated. This is only possible when the media is free from
any form of censorship – State or otherwise”, she
said.
ENDS