''The Fiji Times'' is a daily English-language
newspaper
A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background.
Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as politics, business, spor ...
published in
Suva
Suva () is the capital and largest city of Fiji. It is the home of the country's largest metropolitan area and serves as its major port. The city is located on the southeast coast of the island of Viti Levu, in Rewa Province, Central Div ...
,
Fiji
Fiji ( , ,; fj, Viti, ; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी, ''Fijī''), officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consis ...
. Established in
Levuka
Levuka () is a town on the eastern coast of the Fijian island of Ovalau, in Lomaiviti Province, in the Eastern Division of Fiji. Prior to 1877, it was the capital of Fiji. At the census in 2007, the last to date, Levuka town had a population ...
on 4 September 1869 by George Littleton Griffiths, it is Fiji's oldest newspaper still operating.
''The Fiji Times'' is owned by
Motibhai Group of Companies, which purchased it from
Rupert Murdoch
Keith Rupert Murdoch ( ; born 11 March 1931) is an Australian-born American business magnate. Through his company News Corp, he is the owner of hundreds of local, national, and international publishing outlets around the world, including ...
's
News Corp
News Corporation, stylized as News Corp, is an American mass media and publishing company headquartered in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. The second incarnation of the original News Corporation, it was formed on June 28, 2013, following a ...
on 22 September 2010. The Fiji Times Limited board is chaired by
Kirit Patel (as of 2010), and includes
Rajesh Patel
Rajesh Patel, MOF (born on 3 April 1961) is a member of FIFA Council and senior vice-president of the Oceania Football Confederation. He is presently elected as the president of Fiji Football Association.
He has been the first sport administrato ...
, a resident director appointed in 2010 and
Jinesh Patel, the marketing manager for the Motibhai Group of Companies.
The former publisher
Evan Hannah was forcibly removed from Fiji in 2008 as he was accused by the
interim government of meddling in Fijian politics. This was prior to the sale by News Corp to the Motibhai Group of Companies.
An online edition is published, featuring local news, sport and weather.
History
Two editions of the ''Fiji Times'' manufactured from
bark-cloth are held at the
Auckland Museum
The Auckland War Memorial Museum Tāmaki Paenga Hira (or simply the Auckland Museum) is one of New Zealand's most important museums and war memorials. Its collections concentrate on New Zealand history (and especially the history of the Aucklan ...
. The editions, from July 4, 1908 and February 17, 1909, provide and insight into the production of newspapers in the colonial era in the tropical Pacific. The editions are printed on a single white laminate bark cloth, also known as
masi in Fiji, and was of a standard width requiring no trimming to fit in the press. Sometimes, the left or right sides were fringed by cutting the sheet to a depth of around 20mm. These editions are some of about a dozen known examples of bark cloth newspapers worldwide.
Title history
Coups and censorship
The
Rabuka administration
censored the ''Fiji Times'' for a while following the first
military coup
A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct ...
of 14 May 1987. In protest, the newspaper published an edition with large blank spaces, where articles censored by the
military
A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct ...
would have been placed.
The ''Fiji Times'' announced on 5 December 2006, in the wake of the
overthrow of the civilian government by the
military
A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct ...
, that it was suspending publication rather than bow to government censorship. Military officers had visited the premises that evening to prohibit the publication of any "
propaganda
Propaganda is communication that is primarily used to influence or persuade an audience to further an agenda, which may not be objective and may be selectively presenting facts to encourage a particular synthesis or perception, or using loaded ...
" in support of the deposed government of
Prime Minister
A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is ...
Laisenia Qarase
Laisenia Qarase (pronounced ; 4 February 1941 – 21 April 2020) was a Fijian politician. He served as the sixth Prime Minister of Fiji from 2000 to 2006. After the military quashed the coup that led to the removal of Mahendra Chaudhry, Qaras ...
. The online edition would be continuing publication as normal, however. Just before midday on 6 December, the military granted permission for the ''Times'' to resume publication without censorship.
The ''Times'' reported on 9 December that two members of the public had been detained and questioned by the Military over letters they had written to the ''Times'' editor during the week, and were given a "verbal warning."
Nonetheless, from December 2006 to April 2009, the ''Times'' was able to publish continuously articles critical of the interim government. The latter voiced its displeasure, but did not impose censorship. Following the
2009 Fijian constitutional crisis
The Fijian constitutional crisis of 2009 began on Friday, 10 April 2009. Fijian President Ratu Josefa Iloilo announced on a nationwide radio broadcast that he was abrogating the Constitution of Fiji. He dismissed all judges and constitutiona ...
, however, all Fiji's media were censored, including the ''Fiji Times''. Censors are present in the paper's newsrooms. The newspaper's chief editor
Netani Rika told
Radio New Zealand International
RNZ Pacific or Radio New Zealand Pacific, sometimes abbreviated to RNZP, is a division of Radio New Zealand and the official international broadcasting station of New Zealand. It broadcasts a variety of news, current affairs and sports programme ...
that "his journalists continue to cover every story in detail as if they were working in a democratic country without restrictions. And he says they challenge the censors by putting every possible news item before them." The website of the ''Fiji Times'' has also been censored since April 2009.
Criticism
The
Fiji Labour Party
The Fiji Labour Party (FLP; fj, Ilawalawa Cakacaka ni Viti), also known as Fiji Labour, is a political party in Fiji. Most of its support is from the Indo-Fijian community, although it is officially multiracial and its first leader was an i ...
was once highly critical of the ''Fiji Times'', accusing it of political bias. In July 2008, the party published a report alleging that the ''Fiji Times'' had collaborated with others in a deliberate effort to unseat the 1999/2000 Labour-led government.
See also
*
Culture of Fiji
The culture of Fiji is a tapestry of native Fijian, Indian, European, Chinese, and other nationalities. Culture polity traditions, language, food costume, belief system, architecture, arts, craft, music, dance, and sports will be discussed in th ...
References
{{Reflist
External links
L.G. Usher: ''Brief History of The Fiji Times'', Paper read to the Fiji Society on October 15, 1962
Fijian culture
English-language newspapers published in Oceania
Newspapers published in Fiji
Publications established in 1869
Former News Corporation subsidiaries
1869 establishments in Fiji