The vicious murder of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl in Pakistan focused international attention on the dangers faced by journalists covering the U.S. “war on terror,” yet most attacks on journalists in Asia happened far from the eyes of the international press. In countries such as Bangladesh and the Philippines, reporters covering crime and…
Fiji’s diverse and energetic media have remained strong despite ongoing political instability in the country. Tensions between indigenous Fijians and the ethnic Indian population dominate political and social life and are often played out in the media, which include several English- and Hindi-language newspapers, the partially privatized Fiji TV, and two major radio broadcasters that…
Shortly after U.S. president George W. Bush arrived in South Korea’s capital, Seoul, in February 2002 for a state visit, the North Korean state news agency, KCNA, reported a miracle: that a cloud in the shape of a Kimjongilia, the flower named after the country’s leader, Kim Jong Il, had appeared over North Korea. “Even…
Journalists across Asia faced extraordinary pressures in 2001. Risks included reporting on war and insurgency, covering crime and corruption, or simply expressing a dissenting view in an authoritarian state. CPJ’s two most striking indices of press freedom are the annual toll of journalists killed around the world and our list of journalists imprisoned at the…
Ongoing political turbulence continued to plague Fiji’s media. Tensions between indigenous Fijians and those of Indian descent are often played out in the media, which is divided along ethnic and linguistic lines. The year began with Court of Appeal hearings to determine the legality of prime minister Laisenia Qarase’s interim government, which was installed with…
DESPITE PRESS FREEDOM ADVANCES ACROSS ASIA IN RECENT YEARS, totalitarian regimes in Burma, China, North Korea, Vietnam, and Laos maintained their stranglehold on the media. Even democratic Asian governments sometimes used authoritarian tactics to control the press, particularly when faced with internal conflict. Sri Lanka, for instance, imposed harsh censorship regulations during the year in…
FIJI’S PRESS, AMONG THE FREEST AND MOST DIVERSE IN THE PACIFIC REGION, endured a tumultuous year, marked by a coup attempt that effectively dismantled the country’s democratic foundations. While former prime minister Mahendra Chaudhry had been a harsh critic of the press during his brief tenure, journalists came under much greater pressure during the months…
Your Excellency: The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is alarmed by the recent harassment of three Radio Fiji journalists who had aired a controversial news item alleging divisions within the Fijian military concerning the composition of the interim government.
Click here to read more about press freedom conditions in FIJI New York, July 19, 2000–The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) condemned recent attacks by forces under the control of rebel leader George Speight and called on the coup leader to respect the right of the press to work freely. The press in Fiji has…