My thanks to this reader who supplied this information -
I have a close friend who still works at the Fiji Times and this is the
situation: if a journalist doesn't add his byline as required by the new
media decree, these are added by sub-editors as they layout pages etc.
However the way that the website had been formatted by News Ltd to
automatically pick up and upload stories, meant bylines added by sub-editors
were not always showing up on the website layout. There were additional
problems with photobylines, that would appear in the newspaper, but would
not format correctly and were not being automatically picked up for the
website.
And to this reader who asked -
... Why doesn't Fiji Times print why they are offline?
5 comments:
Right. This makes perfect sense.
The FijiTimes earns THOUSANDS of US$ every single day with the placement of Google Ads on their site. I don't know who your "friend" is but this explanation is ridiculous.
I'm very much aware of the system which powers the Fiji Times website and the reason you describe would not explain this outage. Hundreds of thousands of people per month (many abroad) visit the site. The fact that it's offline is an embarrassment and a huge inconvenience for anyone trying to understand what's happening in the country.
I find it ironic and insulting to see Aiyaz call for the global community to understand what's happening in Fiji before making judgement while the media continues to be "silenced". Whether this is government silencing the Fiji Times or just idiotic management there (no phones in prison?), the FT online is a resource and important outlet which should be running all the time.
@ FT Fan ... I can assure you that my informant is not an Aiyaz or government supporter. Thanks for your comment.
Completely unbelievable: a small software fix that would take, at the very most, a day to deal with. Revenue losses will be very high, particularly as they have lost international traffic. The explanation offered is silly.
I never really understood freedom of speech until continually being told that Fiji Times is offline. I definitely smell a rat.
I fully understand what the current government is try to do, and am all for it, however if and a big if the government of the day is trying to muzzle the "The Fiji Times" then it definitely leaves a bad taste in my mouth.
We living abroad can read between the lines, and the current regime just needs to show the result, which they are.
Missing my Fiji Times.
Fiji Times Fan @"The FijiTimes earns THOUSANDS of US$ every single day with the placement of Google Ads on their site" is incorrect. Fiji Times would only collect money IF a browser clicks the link and purchases a product, thereby allowing Fijitimes a potential cut in the sale.
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