[IRCA] "Radio Free Fiji"? New Pirate Radio Plan

[Geralyn Hollerman <lynnhollerman@xxxxxxxxx>]

For anyone interested:
---
Media Release
Radio Heritage Foundation
www.radioheritage.net

"Radio Free Fiji"?
New Pirate Radio Plan
______________________ 

WELLINGTON [NZ] - In the past few days, Usaia Waqatairewa of the
Australian based Fiji Democracy & Freedom Movement has floated the
idea of broadcasting uncensored news and music programs to Fijian
radio listeners from a 'pirate radio' ship anchored in international
waters near Fiji.

The Radio Heritage Foundation [www.radioheritage.net] which maintains
an extensive database of Pacific radio broadcasters believes this is
the first proposed 'pirate radio' station in the South Pacific since
landbased Radio Tanafo and Radio Vemerama hit the headlines from
Vanuatu several decades ago.

Interviewed on Radio Australia's Pacific Beat program and also
reported in The Australian newspaper this week, Mr Waqatairewa says
that
starting such a new radio station would help Fijians obtain a
different perspective on events in Fiji where a recent media decree
has tightened restrictions on media ownership and cemented ongoing
censorship of news reporting and the broadcast of some banned pop
songs.

Recent reports have discussions underway with the owners of a Dutch
radio ship that could be repositioned to the South Pacific to
broadcast on AM and FM to the scattered islands of Fiji.

Mr Waqatairewa says "Sure, the dictatorship might try to jam us, but
we would certainly move frequencies. The ship need only be a floating
transmitter because we could send the signal from Australia on a live
stream over the net. It would not be difficult to do."

A review of Fijian news websites including Radio Fiji, Communications
Fiji, Fiji Times, Fiji Sun, Fiji Daily Post and www.fijilive.com
reveals no reference to the remarks by Mr Waqatairewa.

However, the personal Facebook page for Commodore Bainimarama, the
Fijian government leader is more revealing on the subject. 

Not only is the pirate radio proposal mentioned, there is even a
direct link to Radio Australia's Pacific Beat interview with Mr
Waqatairewa.

A revealing comment is also attributed to Commodore Bainimarama
himself - "our favourite former resident Usaia Waqatairewa wants to
set up a pirate radio station in international waters around Fiji and
play banned pop music."

The Facebook page includes a range of responses from readers such as
'Just another project that will go bust'.......'We've got more than
enough radio stations here in Fiji'.....'Sounds like a brilliant idea
but wrong time, wrong situation'.......'What a waste of money. Any
investors must be mad'....and chillingly, 'I wonder how his kin folks
are feeling for they could be classified as persons of interest to
our security personnel'.

Mr Waqatairewa is the former deputy director of the Fiji Human Rights
Commission and now resides in Sydney where he is president of the
Fiji Democracy & Freedom Movement.

He claims his organization has been in contact with News Limited
which is owned by Rupert Murdoch, the global media billionaire and
which also owns the Fiji Times newspaper which is now for sale to
comply with a recent media ownership decree.

Pro-democracy blog 'Fijitoday' has a recent headline 'When Will
Murdoch Bring His Big Guns to Bear' and observes 'It's not just the
media he owns. It's billions of dollars he has at his disposal and
the human resources he can muster and deploy to make things happen.'

Fijian radio listeners will know in the weeks and months ahead
whether Mr Murdoch will use some of those dollars and human resources
to bankroll the floating pirate radio station that Mr Waqatairewa's
organization is suggesting.

In the meantime, the Fijian government has since announced a new
decree requiring the registration of every telephone in the country
within the next 30 days or owners face fines of up to F$10,000 or six
months in jail.

Many Fijians now use mobile phones for cheap local calls, phone
banking, and, of course, listening to the many popular local FM radio
stations currently on the air. 

If a 'Radio Free Fiji' does float onto the Fijian airwaves, there may
be many listeners nervous about tuning in with their mobile phone FM
receivers if the state has their photo ID, date-of-birth, home
address and name on a central database.

For now, Fijians wanting to know about the pirate radio plans can
reportedly still listen to Radio Australia news on state run Radio
Fiji, have access to local FM relays of the BBC in Suva and Nadi, can
tune to many Australian and New Zealand AM signals at nighttime, and,
of course, read Commodore Bainimarama's Facebook page.

________________________________________________________

Radio Heritage Foundation is a registered non-profit organization
connecting popular culture, nostalgia and radio heritage across the
Pacific. 
You can read about early radio broadcasting in Fiji [Radio
ZJV Suva] and Vanuatu and enjoy other Pacific radio features at our
global website www.radioheritage.net. 
Our recently updated Pacific Asian Log Radio Guides include data on
thousands of regional radio stations.
You can also become an annual supporter from as little as US$10.

________________________________________________________ 

Lynn.
Lafayette, LA
Check out the IRCA web site at http://www.ircaonline.org


      
_______________________________________________
IRCA mailing list
IRCA@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
http://montreal.kotalampi.com/mailman/listinfo/irca

Opinions expressed in messages on this mailing list are those of the original contributors and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of the IRCA, its editors, publishing staff, or officers

For more information: http://www.ircaonline.org

To Post a message: irca@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx