Press freedom up, but threats remain for journalists: FMA

Fiji’s leap to 24th in the world for press freedom is cause to celebrate, but journalists are still being attacked outside courthouses, summoned to testify in court, and warned off doing their jobs.

This was highlighted by the Fijian Media Association (FMA) yesterday on World Press Freedom Day.

The FMA statement said gains from the return of media freedom remained tenuous, despite significant improvements in Fiji’s global media freedom rankings.

Fiji improved 16 places on the Reporters Without Borders (RSF) media freedom index for 2026, now ranking 24th globally, up from 40th last year and 84th in 2023.

But the FMA pointed to a string of incidents that have put pressure on the industry.

Among the most serious were repeated physical attacks on journalists covering court cases.

Last November, a senior journalist sustained injuries after a convicted murderer lunged at him while attempting to capture footage outside the High Court in Suva, chasing the reporter down a flight of stairs.

A similar incident occurred last August, when another convicted murderer also attempted to attack journalists outside the same courthouse.

The FMA also raised concern over the Minister for Information Lynda Tabuya’s call for an end to “doorstop-style” interviews, a standard newsgathering practice.

“Such a method of newsgathering is well-established in healthy democracies as a necessary part of holding officials accountable,” the FMA said.

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