Combining detached watchdog journalism with development ideals: An exploration of Fijian journalism culture

Abstract

Development journalism has been a key focus of discussion among journalism scholars for around half a decade, but most of the attention has been firmly on African and Asian countries. This article examines the situation on the little-researched island nation of Fiji, which has experienced considerable political instability since independence in 1970. Based on interviews with 77 of the country's small population of just over 100 journalists, we find that journalism in Fiji exhibits similarities to Western journalism ideals, but also a significant development journalism orientation. A comparison with six other countries from the global South shows that this mix is not unique, and we argue that Western journalism approaches and development ideals are not by necessity mutually exclusive, as has often been argued. In this way, the article aims to contribute to a reassessment of our understanding of development journalism and how journalists in developing societies view their work.

Pacific Journalism Monographs No. 6: Watching Our Words: Perceptions of self-censorship and media freedom in Fiji

“…The results in the current study mirrored some of those in the previous Fiji study by Hanusch and Uppal (2015) carried out in 2008 and 2009. For example, in this study 90 percent of journalists ranked their role 'to monitor and scrutinise political leaders as 'extremely or very important', compared to 87 percent in the study carried out six years earlier.…”

“…It is fair to anticipate some concern about the scientific rigour of the survey and the sample size, however 40 respondents to a survey in a media environment like Fiji's could be considered indicative of several factors. A previous study estimated journalists in Fiji at about 100 (Hanusch & Uppal, 2015). A list of more than 180 journalists, editors, photographers, and other news production workers was drawn up, with the estimated population size between 180 and 220.…”

“…Academics agree that research in Fiji's media industry is both difficult and infrequent (Hanusch & Uppal, 2015;Robie, 2004) . This study replicates some of the questions posed to Fijian journalists between 2008 and 2009 by Folker Hanusch and Charu Uppal (Hanusch & Uppal, 2015).…”

“…Academics agree that research in Fiji's media industry is both difficult and infrequent (Hanusch & Uppal, 2015;Robie, 2004) . This study replicates some of the questions posed to Fijian journalists between 2008 and 2009 by Folker Hanusch and Charu Uppal (Hanusch & Uppal, 2015). It also deploys the Willingness to Self-Censor Scale developed by Andrew Hayes and his colleagues (Hayes et al, 2005) to test self-censorship tendencies among media workers without explicitly asking them about self-censorship.…”

‘Journalism of hope’ realities in post-election Fiji

“…On election day, September 17, joining the 413 local media workers registered by MIDA and the Fijian Elections Office to cover Fiji's first national polls in eight years, were 37 foreign journalists (Naleba, 2014). Studies have shown that Fiji's journalistic cadre is relatively young (Hanusch & Uppal, 2015;Robie, 2004). Combined with the industry's high turnover rate and the immense brain drain of experienced editors and journalists after 2000 and 2006, this would have meant that in 2014 many journalists would have been covering their first general election, one in which they would also have voted for the first time.…”