Fijis brand of post-coup media censorship and other Pacific political curbs have been challenged in the latest Pacific Journalism Review published today. <\/p>\n
\"Even if the Fiji media are shackled, conferences in 2010 and 2012 provided opportunity and space to engage in some open dialogue, including criticism of the regime authorities,\" the AUT-published international journal says. <\/p>\n
\"The proceedings were not confined to the Suva conference venue, or within Fijis borders - this is the digital age after all.\" <\/p>\n
Many of the papers by Pacific journalists and media analysts were presented at a Media and Democracy in the South Pacific conference hosted at the University of the South Pacific last September. <\/p>\n
Other articles, in the edition, co-edited by USPs Shailendra Singh and AUTs Pacific Media Centre director Professor David Robie, feature New Caledonia, West Papua and climate change reporting in the region. <\/p>\n
Canadian communications professor and author Robert A. Hackett warns of significant democratic shortcomings in the medias watchdog, public sphere, community-building and communication equity roles. <\/p>\n
He advocates \"critical selectivity\" over \"wholesale adoption\" of Western media models in the South Pacific to avoid some \"entrenched shortcomings\". <\/p>\n
Such shortcomings have been highlighted in Shazia Usmans study on the Fiji print medias coverage of female candidates in the countrys 2006 elections. <\/p>\n
Reflecting international trends, the Fiji daily newspapers \"lavished attention\" on male candidates while \"cold-shouldering\" female candidates. <\/p>\n
The Fiji Times quoted female candidates 20 times and male candidates 218 times, while the Fiji Sun quoted females 29 times, and males 292 times. <\/p>\n
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\nNew PJR challenges Pacific censorship<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"