Radio New Zealand - Te Reo Irirangi o Aotearoa

Pacific Freedom Forum wants better monitoring of Fiji media curbs

Posted at 01:28 on 12 May, 2009 UTC

The co-chair of the online Pacific journalists’ network, the Pacific Freedom Forum, or PFF, says they are not trying to supplant the Pacific Island News Association or PINA.

Monica Miller attended a PFF workshop in Samoa last week discussing issues facing journalists in the region and how best to overcome them.

She says more awareness and better monitoring of curbs on media freedom need to be made and discussions must be held on whether the PINA secretariat should move from Fiji, given the censorship there.

Monica Miller says the PFF is keen to assist PINA’s secretariat in any way possible.

“We do believe that we should be talking with PINA. There’s no attempt by the Pacific Freedom Forum to overtake PINA or replace it. We hope that at least PINA will recognise us as a body and if there’s any functions that PINA cannot do now, especially media monitoring, that PINA can elect to have the PFF to be that group that monitors media freedom and issues alerts.”

Monica Miller.

PINA is due to hold its bi-annual meeting in Vanuatu in July and any decision on whether to relocate out of Fiji is likely then.