CORRECTION. SEE NOTE BELOW.
Pacific Freedom Forum has a brief tribute to Daryl Tarte (photo) who recently resigned from the Fiji Media Council, after 13 years service in what became one of the most difficult jobs in the country. The FMC attempts to improve media quality and "provide a neutral and trusted link between media houses and a public complaints process" but since 2006 the Council has had the unenviable job of mediating between a generally hostile media and a short-fused Government. Striking a balance that called for media independence and freedom of the media on the one hand, and responsible reporting on the other hand was a particularly challenging task.
Tarte demonstrated his own goodwill by agreeing to join the National Council for Building a Better Fiji. It is a pity Government's response was less generous. Tarte is a descendant of one of the old European 'planter' families whose great-grandfather (or great-great-grandfather?) established a copra plantation on Taveuni in the 19th century that is still farmed by family members. His calm presence on the Council will be greatly missed.
PFF Chairperson Susuve Laumaea of PNG said whoever takes over Tarte's job will have a "challenging time, to be there as a watchdog for media standards, and use every opportunity to convince the military junta that the media should be seen as a partner in getting Fiji well and truly on the way back to full democratic rule.” See also Pacific Scoop.
NOTE: "It is incorrect to say that Daryl Tarte resigned as Chairman of the Fiji Media Council he served terms of three years at the end of which he was eligible for re-election. His last term ended in May 2009 and he stated that he wished to RETIRE he therefore did not put his name forward for re election; he did however agree to serve for a further three months to allow time for a new Chairperson to be selected..
8 comments:
We don't need the Fiji Media Council anyway.
The F.M.C. has utterly failed to achieve its stated aims.
Good to see that at least one of the 'old guard' can take a hint.
An old boys club, conducted to hide any faults of the big boys,and dominated by foreign pres owners who care nothing for Fiji. Time to abolish the Council by decree.
@ ulamila
I agree with you totally. Get rid of this useless body but if any form of body were to exist to have the kind of mandate they have, let it be just a media ombudsman where ordinary people can go to and lodge their complain. Give the ombudsman some kind of power like the one created for the lawyers.
@ Anonymous and Ulamila
Absolutely agree about the Media Ombudsman. The Fiji Media Council has deserved its fate. It self-destructed through inattention and lack of acute observation of how world media now works and what its governance should be. If investigative reporting had been doing its work, then how would corruption have been allowed to soar in Fiji? No one got onto that. They were deaf and blind. Indeed, they were all guilty of a dereliction of duty to the nation in this regard. Too harsh? I think not in the circumstances.
You pay peanuts, you get monkeys. Very low pay for journalists and reporters, untrained, overworked, underpaid. Major media organisations did not recruit USP- trained graduate journalists, they opt for cheap green school-leavers and now standard of Fiji media has gone to dogs. No investigative journalism. If they had looked at Fijian Holdings saga and the Fijian initiative group, then they would have unearthed many thieving fat-cats. But why should a Fijian-controlled media reveal Fijian thieves. It only did muckraking when Chaudhary was in power and remained silent when Fijians were in control. They are now paying the price for it. And all this while, Fiji Media Council was like a white-man’s circus.
@ Liu Muri
Well, 'The White Men's Circus' (note the plural)cannot claim they were not warned nor advised of where they should have been positioning themselves. There was more than ample opportunity for them to lift their act. Like the politicians who were contemporaneous with them, they took no heed, acted 'The Fool' and the rest is history.
The government should create a media tribunal with a retired judge (whatever happened to the sacked judges from April?) presiding with strict timetables for hearing complaints. Please Frank get rid of the Media Council. We have had enough of this toothless tiger. Incidentally, if I were to send this blog to the Times and the Sun, the Times would refuse to publish it. The Sun would publish. With or without the PER.
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