Croz Walsh's Blog -- New Zealand and Fiji: How Much Fairer They Could Be

Following the misleading typhoid outbreak reports by the NZ media, I complained to RadioNZ and TVNZ. Below are my letter of complaint,  Barbara Dreaver's reply from TVNZ, and my reply to Barbara.  RadioNZ has not replied.

My Letter of Complaint
TVNZ, RadioNZ and teletext news could lead our tourists to believe they are in danger of catching typhoid if they visit Fiji. Navosa, where the outbreak has occurred, is 50km inland from Sigatoka and the Coral Coast, in an area only visited by tourists on arranged tours of Fijian villages. The main tourist areas are nowhere near Navosa, and the chance of any tourist catching typhoid is extremely remote. To my knowledge no tourist has ever died of typhoid in Fiji, and I doubt many have been infected. The disease can be avoided by taking normal precautions: Do not drink unboiled  water, and wash your hands before eating and after using the toilet.

Further details may be found on my blogsite: crosbiew.blogspot.com

While I am sureTVNZ has not …

(o) Barbara Dreaver and TVNZ found guilty of unbalanced reporting. Barbara Dreaver, who sent a number of misleading reports on Fiji until she was denied entry, has been found wanting for one of her reports on Samoa, and TVNZ that screened and added to her story suggesting Samoa was awash with drugs and guns, has been fined $5000 by the Broadcast Standard Authority, payable to the Samoa Government, with another $2000 payable to the Crown.

"In the Authority's view, the cumulative effect of such a dramatic introduction coupled with the information presented in the item was to create an impression for viewers that not only was the situation in Samoa extremely serious, but Government officials were complicit in the guns and drugs trade."

Two years ago the BSA ruled against Michael Field for misrepresentation.  It's always too late but thank goodness there is some check on sloppy and irresponsible journalism.

(o) Journalists need some knowledge of geography. F…

What a weekend!

Fiji lost to Scotland, and I've spent too much of the weekend, with help from friends in Fiji, trying to find out why blog links to Fiji were down again.  More on this below.

One interesting development over the past few days had been the mounting calls for the NZ and Aust.Governments to take a re-look at relations with Fiji. Nik Naidu of the Auckland-based Coalition for Democracy in Fiji, for one thinks their attempts to "steer Fiji more quickly towards democracy isn’t working.” He says the Fiji Government is now even more entrenched, and he can't understand why ANZ won't engage directly with Bainimarama. They "must take an unusual approach to the situation with Fiji for the sake of its people," he said.

The Fiji New Zealand Business Council has taken a similar line.It says "there comes a point when countries need to be co-operating to boost trade and forestall the impacts of the global recession." The Council called on NZ to dr…

Last Week in Fiji II: Fact and Opinion

[Flashback: This weekend Fiji (and Serevi) are in Wellington for the Rugby 7's. Remember Trevor Mallard's embarrassing comment that he hoped the Fiji team wouldn't get very far in the competition (because of the 2006 coup)? And then Fiji went on to thrash NZ in the finals. A double embarrassment.]

Does anyone know why the Fiji Human Rights Commission website cannot be contacted?



Floods First, Forum LaterHelp Sugar Now -- or ElseSingh and Beddoes Speak OutPeople's CharterSamoan and Ni-Vanuatu CommentaryLitigation: Qarase and the Interim GovernmentWages Up, Fares Down - Helping the PoorMinimum WagesMischievous or Just Bad Reporting - Fiji Daily NewsThe Good News: 3000 New Jobs?And from NZTV 7 Robie, Dreaver and Khan
(G) Attention Floods First, Forum Later
Interim PM Voqere (Frank) Bainimarama has called for sacrifice in the face of suspended EU loans and further sanctions following Fiji's possible suspension from the PI Forum later …

(o+,o-) Three Letters to the Editor, DominionPost
20 December 2008 on

(o+)In no position to scream
I’d hoped that the new Government would lift the petty, yet vindictive, sanctions on Fiji.It has never done New Zealand any harm and it’s both presumptuous and arrogant for us to try to dictate its form of government, especially when former prime minister Helen Clark welcomed to Wellington and effusively praised Pakistan’s General Pervez Musharraf, who, like Bainimarama, used the military to overthrow a corrupt civilian government that was robbing the country blind.A cynical and unprincipled government such as New Zealand’s, which happily concludes a free trade agreement with communist China - probably the most murderous, odious and environmentally destructive regime on earth - is in no position to preach to Fiji.The campaign against Fiji, driven by an elite of Left-wing, liberal ideologues in the Foreign Affairs and Trade Ministry, is clearly against our national interests, because it wil…