About a wrong paper
I WAS surprised and disappointed that our Commissioner of Police Sitiveni Qiliho declined a request for interview by The Fiji Times by saying “wrong paper”. I am not sure what his reasons were but I feel he should have granted the interview in a spirit of fairness.
I feel journalism has to be accurate but critical opinions must find a place. It should be a key function of newspapers that they let individuals respond to Government and the Government should respect it.
Of course, accuracy is the most fundamental requirement of good journalism. But since reporting is based on human endeavour, it is impossible to rid journalism entirely of errors. As a consequence, no codes of practice require perfect accuracy per se. Rather, they demand that journalists take due care not to get things wrong. When there is a failure in that regard, a resulting mistake becomes worthy of censure.
The Independent’s Code of Conduct sums up this requirement by noting that our journalists must: “use their best efforts to get all the facts right; do the necessary research; and seek a response from the subject of an article if appropriate (which it usually will be)”. That final point can often be crucial. If allegations have been made about an individual or organisation, natural justice obliges us to give them a chance to either deny the claim or to explain their actions.
I am an ardent supporter of the Government of the day and commend it unabashedly when it does something right. But if I feel it needs to improve in a certain area, especially education, I write to them about it. And the powers that be are aware of it.
Which brings up another issue. I have noticed that the civil service vacancies are not published in The Fiji Times and the publication is not available on Fiji Airways. That seems discriminatory. Some Fijians read the Fiji Sun and some read The Fiji Times. So the Government maybe depriving itself of some viable candidates who only read The Fiji Times. Does the Government also consider The Fiji Times to be a “wrong paper”? I certainly hope it will reconsider.
After all, we are all Fijians, right? Otherwise, we are preaching one thing and practising something else and that is quite contrary to the motto that we all should devoutly espouse: “salus populi suprema les esto” — let the welfare of the people be the supreme law.
ARVIND MANI
Nadi