Farewell regime crony! Salim with Bainimarama In a statement issued by the Indonesian High Commission on January 28th to ABC Pacific beat the Indonesian Embassy denies that Mr Aidil Chandra Salim had expressed support for Commodore Bainimarama in the context of the proposed September elections. It also denies there was anything questionable about the payment of $500,000 from Indonesia to Commodore Bainimarama. But Indonesia‟s support for Bainimarama is a matter of public record and Ambassador Salim lavished praise on Bainimarama in an interview as reported in the Fiji Sun on December 8th I am referring to. His comments have not been retracted by the Embassy or the Fiji Sun, in fact we waited for more than a month in case there was a retraction before issuing our statement, but none came so the article stands as evidence against Indonesia as far as the UFDF is concerned. Read more below:
Marc Edge Singapore-style press control? Not in Fiji
"My article comparing press control systems in Fiji and Singapore has now been published online by Sage and will be forthcoming in the April issue of the A-ranked journal International Communication Gazette, which is published out of the Netherlands. It is a revised version of a paper I presented at the 2011 Fiji Literary Festival. Here's the abstract:
Constraints imposed on the press in Fiji under the 2010 Media Decree have been compared with the system of press control in Singapore. The two systems are, however, quite different. The type of hegemonic control that has been achieved in Singapore is unlikely to be replicated in Fiji. The press in Singapore was brought to heel over a period of decades through regulation, including licensing, and legal intimidation in a sophisticated system that utilizes corporate control to ensure that journalists exercise self-censorship. A military dictatorship in place in Fiji since 2006 instead criminalized journalism ethics in the Media Decree and has engaged in repression and censorship of journalists. Fiji’s press system, and the regime’s attempts to control it, were the subject of intense scrutiny in advance of elections planned for September 2014..." Read more HERE
"My article comparing press control systems in Fiji and Singapore has now been published online by Sage and will be forthcoming in the April issue of the A-ranked journal International Communication Gazette, which is published out of the Netherlands. It is a revised version of a paper I presented at the 2011 Fiji Literary Festival. Here's the abstract:
Constraints imposed on the press in Fiji under the 2010 Media Decree have been compared with the system of press control in Singapore. The two systems are, however, quite different. The type of hegemonic control that has been achieved in Singapore is unlikely to be replicated in Fiji. The press in Singapore was brought to heel over a period of decades through regulation, including licensing, and legal intimidation in a sophisticated system that utilizes corporate control to ensure that journalists exercise self-censorship. A military dictatorship in place in Fiji since 2006 instead criminalized journalism ethics in the Media Decree and has engaged in repression and censorship of journalists. Fiji’s press system, and the regime’s attempts to control it, were the subject of intense scrutiny in advance of elections planned for September 2014..." Read more HERE
