Radio New Zealand - Te Reo Irirangi o Aotearoa

Pacific commentator says regional broadcasting body will lose credibility by holding meeting in Fiji

Posted at 23:18 on 30 June, 2009 UTC

A broadcasting conference scheduled to be held next month in Fiji looks set to go ahead despite what appear to be on going emergency regulations that place severe restictions on the media.

The website of the Asia-Pacific Institute for Broadcasting still lists its Annual General Conference as being held in Nadi.

An earlier media summit held by the AIDB strongly backed media freedom, without specifically mentioning Fiji.

A veteran journalist in the Pacific, Dr David Robie, who is the Director of the Pacific Media Centre in New Zealand, says the AIDB has made a bad choice:

“It just seems they’ve lost the opportunity to at least postpone the conference and allow the developments in Fiji to hopefully open up for a freer media future and the fact that they haven’t done that certainly undermines their credibility.”

The Director of the Pacific Media Centre in New Zealand, Dr David Robie.