PINA secretariat set to stay in Fiji

Updated July 30, 2009 07:48:31

The Pacific's main media representative has decided not to shift its secretariat out of military-ruled Fiji. At the meeting in Vanuatu, the Pacific Islands News Association endorsed a motion from the Pitt Media Group in Cook Islands to keep the secretariat in Suva, despite the strict curbs on media freedom in Fiji.

Presenter: Geraldine Coutts
Speaker: Sean Dorney, Australia Network's Pacific correspondent

DORNEY: Well that's a question I did put to the former president, Joseph Ealedona from Papua New Guinea. Back several months ago he announced that Pacnews would shift and the PINA Secretariat may shift. I think that the statement was more about Pacnews and concern by subscribers that Pacnews original news service, which comes out of PINA, was not any longer carrying any Fiji news because of censorship in Fiji. And he announced the decision has been taken by the board to move Pacnews. Well when I questioned him about that during a session of the PINA convention, he said yes he had made that statement but a final decision was up to the annual general meeting. Well the annual general meeting was held yesterday and as you said George Pitt from the Cook Islands moved that Pacnews should remain in Fiji and that was passed by the AGM. I might say that there were only 18 paid-up members of PINA allowed to vote at the AGM. There were some Samoan members of PINA who were told they were not allowed to vote because they hadn't paid up their dues, and in fact quite a number of regional media organisations were denied voting at the AGM because of regulations brought in some years ago that you had to be a paid-up member by March of the year of the convention if you were to have a vote.

COUTTS: Well do we know what the thinking was, I know it was behind closed doors, but is that part of it? Did that help skew the vote in the fact that now that the association is going to remain in Fiji?

DORNEY: Well I don't know what was in the thinking of the people who did vote. It was very interesting also to see who was voted in as president. There were two nominees, Stanley Simpson who works for MAI TV in Fiji was nominated, and then Nanitee Fafeeta(?) from Tonga Television and Radio nominated Moses Stevens, the president of the Media Association blong Vanuatu. And in that vote Moses Stevens won 10 to eight. In the debate leading up to that, Moses Stevens said he thought it was important that the president should not be in Fiji, whereas Stanley Simpson argued that it was possibly better to have a president in Fiji who could confront the military there and stand by the journalists who were in trouble. In the end as I said that vote went 10 to eight in favour of Moses Stevens, which is an interesting decision because if there's any media organisation in the Pacific that's in trouble it's the Media Association blong Vanuatu, which is horribly split here on the ground. But now the president of that organisation has been elected President of PINA.

COUTTS: Is there a motion Sean for a review of the membership of the Fiji Ministry of Information in light of the strict censorship rules imposed on Fiji media? Is that going to be considered?

DORNEY: The new vice president of PINA John Woods from the Cook Islands moved a motion right towards the end. In fact one of the interesting things about the AGM is that when it came to other matters the secretariat was saying it could only be other matters that have been brought to the attention of the secretariat. Well John Woods, the new vice president said well hold on, one of the issues that was discussed over the last few days during the convention was whether the Fiji Ministry of Information, which is actively censoring other PINA members should be allowed to continue to be a member. So he moved a motion saying that if any member of PINA was actively engaged in censorship of other PINA members then they should be expelled from PINA, and if an existing, sorry, yes that they should be refused membership, but if an existing member was engaged in this they should be expelled. Moses Stevens then said that well why don't we leave that for the new executive to decide, and that's where it was left. It didn't even get a seconder.

COUTTS: Ok well very briefly Sean, Netani Rika from Fiji who's been given PINA's highest award?

DORNEY: Yes perhaps the strongest statement on media freedom came last night at the annual awards dinner, and Netani Rika from the Fiji Times, the Editor-in-chief was given PINA's media freedom award and the statement accompanying that award was full of condemnation for the current censorship going on in Fiji.