Media academic slams ‘superficial’ foreign reports on Fiji

A Suva-based journalism educator says overseas media reports that the Fiji media was running “dog and cat stories” and that there was a general decline in journalistic standards are “superficial”.

Shailendra Singh, head of journalism at the University of the South Pacific, was responding to an ABC Radio report.

Singh said some overseas journalists full of “idealism” but out of touch with the ground realities in Fiji were giving a misleading impression of the everyday situation in the country.

He said it seemed that overseas media expected journalists in Fiji to operate like counterparts in Australia and New Zealand.

Singh said it was “naïve” to judge journalism and journalists in Fiji from the Australia and New Zealand prism because the situation in the Pacific country was quite different.

“What kind of journalism should Fiji journalists practice?” asked Singh. “Is it the kind that will lead to the closure of their news companies?”

Singh said Fiji journalists were being realistic, pragmatic and operating and surviving as best as they could in the environment that they were working in.

More than politics
“It is great to be a martyr but you do not live to fight the next day,”  said Singh.

Singh, a former newspaper and magazine editor in Fiji, said news was not only about politics or government.

“There are people in Fiji fed-up with the media fixation on race and politics year-in-year-out,” said the senior lecturer in journalism.

Singh said the cynical manner in which the “cat and dog” reference was made gave the false impression that there was no serious reporting being done in Fiji.

“The fact that the media is reporting ‘cat and dog’ stories is not necessarily a bad thing,” said Singh.

“No one talks about pets or animal welfare in Fiji.  What is wrong with the media highlighting their plight? You see cat and dog stories in Australian and New Zealand news all the time – and with good reason.”

On the topic of journalistic standards, Singh said any such discussion should be contextualised and compared with standards in other sectors, services and professions in Fiji.

“What is the standard of doctors and lawyers in Fiji? What about the quality of our politicians, or the quality of governance? How well has our civil service served the country?

“If you do a comparative study, you will find that journalists, who not charge fees or use taxpayers’ money, give their readers very good value for money.”

Singh added that while lapses in media ethics and standards are inevitable, all media companies in Fiji are investing money and striving for improvement because it is their “bread and butter”.

Nasik Swami is a reporter on the Fiji Sun.

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