Fiji Focus

Last updated
Fiji Focus
"A better Fiji, for you and me"
Typebi-monthly
Owner(s) Government of Fiji
PublisherMinistry of Information
FoundedJune 13, 2009
Political alignmentpro-government
Language English, Fijian and Hindustani
Headquarters Suva
Website New Dawn

Fiji Focus is a Fijian bi-monthly newspaper, originally launched as New Dawn by the government of Fiji's Ministry of Information and Archives in June 2009. [1] Its motto is "A better Fiji, for you and me". [2]

Contents

New Dawn

Front page of the seventh edition of New Dawn, on September 12, 2009. The main headline is the meeting of Fijian Prime Minister and coup leader Voreqe Bainimarama (left) with Commonwealth envoy Sir Paul Reeves, in talks following Fiji's suspension from the Commonwealth of Nations on September 1. The masthead depicts the coat of arms of Fiji. New Dawn 1-7.JPG
Front page of the seventh edition of New Dawn, on September 12, 2009. The main headline is the meeting of Fijian Prime Minister and coup leader Voreqe Bainimarama (left) with Commonwealth envoy Sir Paul Reeves, in talks following Fiji's suspension from the Commonwealth of Nations on September 1. The masthead depicts the coat of arms of Fiji.

The purpose of New Dawn, as stated by interim Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama's government, was "to effectively and directly inform Fiji’s citizens of [the government's] numerous policies and programmes". It also contained a section on civil service vacancies. Articles were written in any of Fiji's three official languages - English, Fijian or Hindustani. It was founded with an aim to counter what the authorities described as an anti-government bias in the media. Permanent Secretary for Information Lt.Col. Neumi Leweni stated:

"Much too often the people have learnt of Government policies and programmes of assistance through secondary sources. Information on Government policies, programmes and achievements had always been conveyed to the people largely through the mainstream media. While Government appreciates that some section of the media practice true journalism ethics by focusing on accurate, balanced and responsible reporting, majority of the media organisations have failed miserably to abide by fair and accountable standards." [1]

At that date, however, the media were subject to strict censorship, following the constitutional crisis of April 2009. [3] [4]

The newspaper contained articles highlighting government policies and their effects, with a positive slant. The inaugural edition of the newspaper, on June 13, 2009, included articles entitled "Tourism grows", "US Senator moots new approach to Fiji", "Support for Peoples Charter expands", "Govt to improve services", and "Devaluation positive". [2]

The New Dawn contained twelve pages and was published by Sun News Limited, the publishers of the Fiji Sun . [1] It was also available online on the Fiji government website. [5]

Front page of the first edition of Fiji Focus, on June 12, 2010. The main headline is the concurrent launch of Fiji Today News, a Ministry of Information news programme on Mai TV. The image, however, depicts Permanent Secretary for Information Sharon Smith-Johns viewing the new layout of Fiji Focus at the Ministry. The masthead depicts the national flag. Fiji Focus 1-1.JPG
Front page of the first edition of Fiji Focus, on June 12, 2010. The main headline is the concurrent launch of Fiji Today News , a Ministry of Information news programme on Mai TV. The image, however, depicts Permanent Secretary for Information Sharon Smith-Johns viewing the new layout of Fiji Focus at the Ministry. The masthead depicts the national flag.

From New Dawn to Fiji Focus

In the twenty-fourth edition, on 29 May 2010, the publisher's note by Sharon Smith-Johns (Permanent Secretary to the Ministry of Information) stated:

"New Dawn celebrates its first anniversary in June. The establishment of the Government newspaper last year was intended to provide you news on Government’s key programmes, initiatives, and policies that impact Fiji. The objective remains and we hope to continue to improve New Dawn in the coming year. You will see a new look New Dawn appear in the anniversary edition due for publication June 12th." [6]

On June 12, the paper was launched under a new name: Fiji Focus. Smith-Johns' note explained:

"The decision to change the name ‘New Dawn’ to Fiji Focus is [...] timely. We felt that as a Ministry we had moved on from the concept of a new beginning as clearly articulated in the People’s Charter and encapsulated in the name New Dawn to a complete focus on capturing the implementation of the various stages of the People’s Charter and the milestones of the Strategic Framework for Change and Road Map.
Fiji Focus is simply modernising itself to meet the Government’s objectives. Much has been achieved in the past year. The Ministry of Information must continue to be at the forefront of public awareness of Government’s policies, programmes and achievements." [7]

Indeed, unlike New Dawn, the masthead of Fiji Focus identifies it explicitly as "a publication by the Ministry of Information". The motto "A better Fiji, for you and me" is retained. It also retains the other features of New Dawn, including articles in all three national languages, and a list of civil service vacancies. The inaugural edition was twenty pages long. [7]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Foreign relations of Pakistan</span> ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF PAKISTAN

The Islamic Republic of Pakistan maintains a large network of diplomatic relations across the world. Pakistan is the second largest Muslim-majority country in terms of population and is the only Muslim majority nation to have possession of nuclear weapons.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">TVNZ</span> New Zealand state-owned television network

Television New Zealand, more commonly referred to as TVNZ, is a television network that is broadcast throughout New Zealand and parts of the Pacific region. All of its currently-operating channels are free-to-air and commercially funded.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Statistics New Zealand</span> National statistical service of New Zealand

Statistics New Zealand, branded as Stats NZ, is the public service department of New Zealand charged with the collection of statistics related to the economy, population and society of New Zealand. To this end, Stats NZ produces censuses and surveys.

<i>Dawn</i> (newspaper) Daily English-language newspaper published from Pakistan

Dawn is a Pakistani English-language newspaper that was launched in British India in 1941. It is the largest English newspaper in Pakistan, and also serves as the country's newspaper of record. Dawn is the flagship publication of the Dawn Media Group, which also owns local radio station CityFM89 as well as the marketing and media magazine Aurora.

The Ministry for the Environment is the public service department of New Zealand charged with advising the New Zealand Government on policies and issues affecting the environment, in addition to the relevant environmental laws and standards. The Environment Act 1986 is the statute that establishes the Ministry.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Censorship in the Empire of Japan</span> Political, pornographical & religious censoring in Japan from 17th Century

Censorship in the Empire of Japan was a continuation of a long tradition beginning in the feudal period of Japan. Government censorship of the press existed in Japan during the Edo period, as the Tokugawa bakufu was in many ways a police state, which sought to control the spread of information, including Christianity, the influx of Western ideas, pornography and any political writings critical of the shōgun and government.

<i>Al-Hayat</i> Pan-Arab newspaper in London (1946–2020)

Al-Hayat was a London-based, pan-Arab newspaper owned by Saudi Prince Khalid bin Sultan, that had a circulation estimated over 200,000. It was the newspaper of record for the Arab diaspora and the preferred venue for liberal intellectuals who wish to express themselves to a large public. Founded in 1946, the paper closed in March 2020 after years of financial problems.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yusuf Raza Gilani</span> Prime Minister of Pakistan (2008–2012)

Yusuf Raza Gilani is a Pakistani politician who served as the 18th prime minister of Pakistan from 2008 to 2012. He is a veteran of Pakistan Peoples Party, and is currently serving as the vice-chairman of the party's Central Executive Committee of the Pakistan Peoples Party of the Pakistan. and in 2021 was elected as a Senator.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Immigration to New Zealand</span> Overview of immigration to New Zealand

Migration to New Zealand began with Polynesian settlement in New Zealand, then uninhabited, about 1250 to 1280. European migration provided a major influx following the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840. Subsequent immigration has been chiefly from the British Isles, but also from continental Europe, the Pacific, the Americas and Asia.

The People's Charter for Change, Peace and Progress was a proposed legal document which would have complemented the 1997 Constitution of Fiji. It would have established compulsory guidelines for any government policy in Fiji over the coming years. The People's Charter was due to be completed and come into force prior to the scheduled 2014 general election.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sino-Pacific relations</span> Bilateral relations

Oceania is, to the People's Republic of China and the Republic of China, a stage for continuous diplomatic competition. The PRC dictates that no state can have diplomatic relations with both the PRC and the ROC. As of 2019, ten states in Oceania have diplomatic relations with the PRC, and four have diplomatic relations with the ROC. These numbers fluctuate as Pacific Island nations re-evaluate their foreign policies, and occasionally shift diplomatic recognition between Beijing and Taipei. The issue of which "Chinese" government to recognize has become a central theme in the elections of numerous Pacific Island nations, and has led to several votes of no-confidence.

The Ministry for Women (Māori: Manatū Wāhine) is the public service department of New Zealand charged with advising the government on policies and issues affecting women. It was formerly called the Ministry for Women's Affairs (MWA), but it was announced that the name would be changed to Ministry for Women in December 2014. The minister in charge of the department is the Minister for Women (previously Minister for Women's Affairs), currently Jan Tinetti.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">China–Fiji relations</span> Bilateral relations

The Republic of the Fiji Islands was the first Pacific Island country to establish diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China, in 1975. China established an embassy in Fiji in 1976, and Fiji opened its embassy in China in 2001.

In April 2009, Fiji underwent a constitutional crisis when the Court of Appeal ruled that the 2006 Fijian coup d'état had been illegal. The Court dismissed the Interim Cabinet led by Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama that had governed Fiji since the coup. However, President Josefa Iloilo announced on a nationwide radio broadcast that he was abrogating the Constitution. He dismissed all judges and constitutional appointees, and reinstated Bainimarama and his cabinet. He also instituted emergency rule which increased police powers and allowed media censorship.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2009 swine flu pandemic in Oceania</span> Pandemic in Oceania

The 2009 flu pandemic in Oceania, part of an epidemic in 2009 of a new strain of influenza A virus subtype H1N1 causing what has been commonly called swine flu, has afflicted at over 22,000 people in Oceania, with 56 confirmed deaths. Almost all of the cases in Oceania have been in Australia, where the majority of cases have resulted from internal community spread of the virus. In addition, the government of New Zealand, where most of the remainder of cases in Oceania have occurred, is on high alert for any people travelling into the country with flu-like symptoms.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Human rights in Fiji</span>

Fiji is an island nation in Melanesia in the South Pacific Ocean with a population of approximately 849,000. It is made up of Fijians, Indo-Fijians, Europeans, Chinese, other Pacific islanders, and people of mixed racial descent. Fiji has been in a state of political unrest since their independence from Britain in 1970.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Privatisation in Pakistan</span> Economic programme

The Privatisation process in Pakistan is a continuous policy measure program in the economic period of Pakistan. It was first conceived and implemented by the then-people-elected Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and the Pakistan Muslim League, in an attempt to enable the nationalised industries towards market economy, immediately after the economic collapse of the Soviet Union in 1989–90. The programme was envisaged and visioned to improve the GDP growth of the national economy of Pakistan, and reversal of the nationalisation programme in 1970s— an inverse of the privatisation programme.

Mass media regulations are rules enforced by the jurisdiction of law. Guidelines for media use differ across the world. This regulation, via law, rules or procedures, can have various goals, for example intervention to protect a stated "public interest", or encouraging competition and an effective media market, or establishing common technical standards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pacific Media Network</span> Radio station

The Pacific Media Network is a New Zealand radio network and pan-Pasifika national broadcasting network, currently owned and operated by the National Pacific Radio Trust and partly funded by the Government. It includes the PMN 531 radio network, PMN News and Auckland-only broadcast station PMN NIU combined are accessible to an estimated 92 percent of the country's Pacific population. The network targets both first-generation Pacific migrants and New Zealand-born people with Pacific heritage. As of 2009, it was the only specifically pan-Pacific broadcaster in New Zealand.

The dawn raids were crackdowns in New Zealand from 1973 to 1979 and then sporadically afterward on alleged illegal overstayers from the Pacific Islands. The raids were first introduced in 1973 by Prime Minister Norman Kirk's Labour government, who discontinued them in April 1974. However, they were later reintroduced and intensified by Rob Muldoon's Third National government. These operations involved special police squads conducting often aggressive raids on the homes and workplaces of overstayers throughout New Zealand, usually at dawn and almost exclusively directed at Pasifika New Zealanders, regardless of their citizenship status. Overstayers and their families were often prosecuted and then deported back to their countries.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Govt launches New Dawn" Archived 2009-09-15 at the Wayback Machine , Fiji government website, June 12, 2009
  2. 1 2 "New Dawn, vol.1, n°1" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2009-09-13. Retrieved 2009-07-01.
  3. "Public emergency regulation in force in Fiji", Xinhua, April 10, 2009
  4. We comply with regulations Archived 2009-04-17 at the Wayback Machine , Fiji Times, April 16, 2009
  5. "New Dawn" Archived 2009-09-09 at the Wayback Machine , Fiji government website
  6. "New Dawn, vol.2, n°10". Archived from the original on 2012-03-31. Retrieved 2011-09-14.
  7. 1 2 "Fiji Focus, vol.1, n°1". Archived from the original on 2012-03-31. Retrieved 2011-09-14.