Stories about Fiji

Did internal wounds kill the Fiji Times

  17 April 2010

Many prognosticators worry about how Fiji's proposed media ownership law will affect the Rupert Murdoch-owned Fiji Times. But a former staffer said in Cafe Pacific both foreign and local management are to blame for the paper's fall.

Fiji: New media oversight proposed

  8 April 2010

Fiji's journalists have been working under tough conditions since the country's military government abrogated the constitution last year. Now, that government has released plans to oversee Fiji's media.

Fiji: Contradicting censorship

  6 April 2010

It's hard to prove fully, but for the past six months, blogging platforms (including Global Voices) have been subject to on-again, off-again access problems in Fiji. As another round of blog blocking has been rumored, New Zealand-based blogger Crosbie Walsh writes an open letter to Fiji's Police Commissioner explaining the...

Fiji: History syllabus that should be history

  17 December 2009

Wendy, from the blog Babasiga, hopes that the history syllabus taught in Fiji's schools is not really from 1960. “Sobosobo, that was colonial! Before Independence, before coup culture!,” she writes.

Fiji: President announces retirement

  31 July 2009

Forum posters and bloggers are reacting to the announcement that Fiji’s president will step down. Ratu Josefa Iloilovatu Uluivuda announced his retirement after nearly nine years in office. At 88, he leaves office as the world’s oldest statesman.

Fiji: Tension rises between government and Methodist Church

  27 July 2009

The months-long standoff between Fiji’s government and the country’s largest Christian denomination became more heated last week when police arrested, held and later charged seven Methodist Church officials and a high-ranking chief for “incitement” and infringing on emergency rules regarding meetings.

Global: The push to boycott Shark Week

  22 July 2009

A group of scientists, scuba divers and self-described shark lovers are using the blogosphere to publicize their criticism of the Discovery Channel’s “horror-show” portrayal of sharks during its annual Shark Week. This loose coalition argues the Discovery Channel programming sensationalizes shark attacks and embellishes the dangers sharks pose to humans.

Fiji finds foreign friends?

  17 July 2009

Leaders of Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu and the Solomon Islands will lobby the 15-member Pacific Islands Forum to consider lifting Fiji’s suspension to re-start dialogue with the country to provide its military backed government time to complete reforms.

Why did Thailand’s former PM travel to Fiji?

  17 July 2009

Bloggers are debating the significance of the recent trip of Thailand’s ousted Prime Minister to Fiji and Tonga. Fiji and Thailand have no extradition treaties, fueling speculation that the former Thai leader traveled to the Pacific looking for asylum.

Fiji: Journalism schools’ standards questioned

  10 July 2009

A second journalism school has opened in Fiji, this one at the Fiji Institute of Technology. But given “the climate of censorship and media paranoia in post-putsch Fiji,” media educator David Robie in his Café Pacific blog argues the standards of these new programs should face heavy scrutiny.

Fiji: A roadmap towards elections?

  24 June 2009

Fiji’s Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama told an audience his government will soon begin work on the country’s new constitution and a “road map” to elections set to take place in 2014. He didn’t provide a timetable, or framework, but it is the first signs of the country gaining a new political and social code since April, when the President annulled the country’s 1997 Constitution.

The right to know in Fiji

  4 June 2009

Jonathan, the writer of the blog Oceanic: User Experiences from the South Pacific reports on a consumer complaint against his Fiji-based advertising agency stating that his advert for a local ISP attempts to benefit from the Swine Flu epidemic (now called H1N1) by misleading consumers into thinking internet service “is...

Fiji: Five taxicab conversations

  4 June 2009

Most taxi drivers in Suva, Fiji are quiet and uneventful. Every so often, however, you'll run into the driver who is the anti-barman, reports Paradise Fiji Blog. Instead of listening to your problems, these drivers are full of opinions and stories. Here lie five topics you'll most likely hear in...

Fiji: ‘A Christian state'?

  3 June 2009

Fiji’s government has canceled this year’s conference of the Methodist church, claiming the week-long meeting would foster instability. The move was announced from a statement from government police and military forces, arguing that “inciteful issues are going to be discussed at the conference.” Fiji’s Methodists gather each August at a...

Fiji: Reaction to detention of alleged bloggers

  25 May 2009

Global Voices previously reported that Fiji police detained and seized the laptops of three people who had been named as bloggers behind the anti-government site Raw Fiji News. The three lawyers had recently been named by the pro-government site Real Fiji News. While police confirmed the detentions and laptop seizures, a spokesman would not say why the three men were hauled in. All three have been released, but no word as yet on their laptops.

Fiji: EU cancels 2009 sugar subsidy

  21 May 2009

The European Union announced that it was suspending 2009 payment of 24 million Euro in subsidies to help prop up Fiji’s sugar industry. European Commissioner for Development and Humanitarian Aid, Louis Michel, admitted Fiji would have received the payment if it would have had a “legitimate government” in place. He...