Located in the beautiful South Pacific lies 332 islands and 522 islets. When combined the number of islands and islets form the beautiful Fiji Islands. With a population of almost 909,389 civilians living amongest the islands, the Fiji Islands is dedicated to bringing local news through it's media power sources (TV/Newspaper/Radio). Though the media is dedicated to bringing local news to it's civilians, the radio stations bring a variety of local content. While these radio stations bring a variety of local content, the corporation/broadcasting companies who own these radio stations must follow a set of established codes. These codes established by the Fijian government is to control what information is released and how that information gets released to the public.
While stations in other nations have a mixture of content between music, commercials, and local news, the content played on Fiji radio stations are mostly local news (Music is played but only on 2 radio stations). The radio stations are divided amongst five sectors. These are broadcasting, commercial, church, community radio, and education/community radio. Throughout Fiji there are 16 radio stations. Two of the radio stations are broadcasting stations , 10 are commercial stations, two are church stations, one is community radio, and one is education/community radio. The language spoken on these stations are not only done in English. Some stations are spoken in one of the two languages spoken throughout the Fiji Islands. These two languages are Hundustani and Taukei . While there are 16 radio stations each radio station is operated by a corporation/public broadcaster. Some of these corporations/public broadcaster's regulate more than one station. In total there are 7 corporations/public broadcasting companies. The most popular public broadcaster in the Fiji Islands is the Fiji Broadcasting Corporation. To demonstrate how much dominance this corporation has in radio media the following example is provided. For example, the Fiji Broadcasting Corporation regulates Bula FM 102.6FM, Radio Mirchi 97.8FM, Radio Fiji Two 105FM,Gold FM 100.2FM, Radio Fiji One 93 FM, and 2Day FM 95.4FM.
While these corporations/ public broadcasters control from as one to as many as 6 radio stations codes must be met as set by the Fijian government. This is done in order to establish censorship. The following codes on what news these radio stations can present and how they present it are the following:
The first censor control law was established in the year 2010. This law was called the Media Industry Development Decree. Under this decree "...it punishes the distribution of content considered to be against public order with large fines or jail" (PACMAS , http://www.pacmas.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/14.-Fiji-PACMAS-Country-Report_FINAL.pdf). This decree also allows the Fiji Media Industry Development Authority to conduct an investigation if they see the codes under the decree are being violated.
However, a new decree was introduced two years later. This new decree allowed Fijians to portray the thoughts and ideas of individuals from government ministers to the public without being thrown in jail or fined. Though these decrees were established or revised within a two year time frame the government also established the following orders. 90% of civilians who have ownership in radio (as well as in other media) must be a citizen of Fiji and
"...requires that all stories run by the media be balanced, with comment obtained from both sides where there is any disagreement on the facts. This requirement enables government departments and private businesses to prevent stories from being published by not responding to media questions, thus making it impossible for the media to fulfill the decree’s requirement for comment from both sides" (Telecommunications in Fiji,Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telecommunications_in_Fiji).
From this alone, this government censorship that has been placed upon radio stations makes it difficult for them to put the Fijian government in a negative light. These codes prevent the radio stations ability to fully express their thoughts and ideas about government policies and from rebelling. To the government's advantage these codes allow Fijian government officials to run the country they best see fit while oppressing those who are around them.