Bloggers, blog commenters and forum posters are commenting on the draft media decree released by Fiji’s government that would replace censorship rules established under the emergency regulations in place since shortly after the country’s constitution was abrogated in April 2009. The Media Industry Development Decree 2010 (download here) would establish an authority to oversee content and media ownership issues; a media tribunal to hear complaints from the public; a code of ethics for journalists and laws governing media ownership. The head of this new authority would be appointed by a government minister and charged with the power to investigate and to subpoena people and information (including computer documents). The authority will insure the media will not publish material: - against the public interest or order; – against the national interest; – that offends good taste and decency; and, – creates communal discord. Other highlights of draft decree includes: – Publishers and editors found breaching media codes could face up to FJ $500,000 (about $258,000 US) in fines and/or a prison term not exceeding five years. Reporters, if found guilty of violating the code, could face a fine up to FJ $100,000, or US $51,500, and/or a prison term not exceeding five years. – A tribunal, whose chair must be qualified to be a judge, will hear and determine complaints referred by the authority, considering cases regarding media standards, media disputes and complaints from the public. – Only 10 percent of ownership of each media outlet can be foreign-based, meaning 90 percent of owners must be permanent residents of Fiji, spending five of the previous seven years in the country, nine months out of 12. – A person who owns a “beneficial” interest in one media outlet cannot hold more than five percent of a second media organization. – The minister in charge of media and information will have emergency powers to prohibit the publication or broadcast of information which could create disorder, undermine the government or breach the peace. – No court or commission will have the jurisdiction to challenge the legality of the decree, any decision of the authority, the tribunal or the minister. Attorney-General Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum said the decree, which is undergoing consultations this week, would emphasize “fair, accurate and responsible reporting.” He also pointed out that media organizations will be held responsible to comply with these codes. Radio Fiji reported that some of the 50 members of the media and other organizations who gathered for the consultation in Suva, the country’s capital, worried the media authority would not be independent because its head would be appointed by a government minister. Journalists also unanimously opposed the amount of fines for breaching media codes, especially without the right to appeal. Worries also surfaced about who would define “good taste” and “decent.” Debate from within and outside Fiji took place regarding the limiting of foreign owners in Fiji’s media. The country’s oldest and largest paper, the Fiji Times, is owned by Rupert Murdoch’s News Limited. The paper has sparred with the government of Frank Bainimarama since dissolving Parliament and deposing the elected Prime Minister in December 2006. The decree’s rules, as currently written, would force foreign owners to divest from the media outlet within three months after being formalized. The Australian reported the company would be forced to withdraw from Fiji, closing down the Fiji Times, creating the loss of 170 direct and 100 indirect jobs. John Hartigan, Chief Executive, said the company has attempted to resolve the ownership issue with Fiji’s government. Let’s start with journalist and academic David Robie, who previously taught in Fiji and writes Café Pacific. Had the Fiji news media got their act together and improved things on their own accord, rather that persevering with the “toothless tiger” Fiji Media Council with all its overdue faults, this draconian draft might have been headed off… Now we have a ruthlessly chilling climate of self-censorship being imposed in post-coup Fiji. A year of censorship since the 1997 constitution was abrogated on April 10 is taking its toll. Soon we will have a generation of journalists (average age in Fiji is less than 25)that will barely know what it was like to work in a genuinely free press. The regime is systematically destroying what had been traditionally one of the strongest media industries in the Pacific. Media improvements were needed, true. Especially over “fairness and balance”.