UPDATE -RESPONSE FROM DR MARC EDGE IN THE COMMENTS SECTION:
You have to wonder what is going at the Fiji Times when its senior reporters write blatant commercials masquerading as news. How else to explain the piece below by Verenaisi Raicola extolling the virtues of the Cozmo Lounge in Suva? At the very least, this puffiest of puff pieces should have been heavily labeled as an advertisement or advertorial. But it appears on the FT’s website in the general news columns.
Editor Fred Wesley has some questions to answer about this. Did the owners of Cozmo Lounge pay the Fiji Times to write a story about it? Or is the FT receiving any other consideration from the business? Leaving aside any media regulations that might pertain to instances like this, it’s a blatant breach of normal journalistic practice.
It’s not the first time it’s happened. Readers are still to receive any explanation of the circumstances of another blatant plug in the FT for an apartment complex at Suva Point. We highlighted this in a previous posting, in which we also asked for an explanation from the subject of the article – Dr Marc Edge, the Head of the School of Journalism at the University of the South Pacific. Dr Edge – who was extolling the virtues of where he lived in superlative terms – has declined to respond to our questions about what he or the Fiji Times received from the owners in return. It’s an extraordinary stance – we think -for a journalist educator whose job it is to instill proper media ethics.
And guess who the reporter was on that one? Yes, Verenaisi Raicola. Is this merely coincidence or is Raicola now the dedicated advertorial reporter on the Fiji Times? It’s not as if she’s incapable of doing hard news. She’s a senior writer who’s covered many of the country’s most important events so she should know one or two things about ethics. Time was when the Fiji Times became famous for “skirt journalism”, for two of its female reporters (not Raicola) becoming romantically involved with successive prime ministers and gaining pillow-talk scoops as a result. The Fiji Times did nothing to stop this at the time but surely it learned something from the damage caused to its reputation. If Raicola is doing these promotional “stories” off her own bat, she should stop. But the fact that it sailed through the editorial process and was published suggests it’s more likely to be a case of the management compromising the reputation of one of its more talented writers by assigning her abject pap.
It would never have happened under News Limited – the previous owner – but according to sources working there, the Motibhais who took over have little concept of media ethics and regard newspapers as just another business. The Fiji Times is not a happy ship, according to these sources, with reports of tension between its general manager, Hank Arts, and the editorial and production teams. Perhaps the “Cozmo Lounge affair” explains why – a lack of appreciation of the need to keep the business separate from what goes in the news pages. There are two “clarifications” also published today, which also suggests lapses in the editorial process. The readers of Fiji’s most venerable paper – the country’s journal of record for 143 years – deserve better.
FIJI’S NEWEST AND COOLEST BAR
Verenaisi Raicola Thursday, July 05, 2012
ITS ideal location, sleek furniture, cool atmosphere and exquisite interior makes Cozmo Lounge Fiji’s newest, coolest and trendiest spot. Yes! Cozmo Lounge in Tappoo City is available for special events.
Planning a launch, press conference, birthday or even a small party? Cozmo Lounge, a non-smoking bar can meet all your event needs with its 200 standing capacity, 120 sitting capacity for dinner parties, finger foods, delicious meals from the restaurants, great music, soothing atmosphere, excellent customer service, a fourth-storey view overlooking the Suva harbor, and the breathtaking sunrise across the ocean.
Cozmo Lounge is intimate and ideal for family drinks or even that special date with only your loved one. The lounge which opened in September last year is one of the top hot spots for friends and colleagues wanting to enjoy a few cocktails, alcohol and beverages over good music and a great atmosphere after a hard day’s work….or for those simply wanting to catch up.
Their wine list is accomplished, interesting and approachable and they also have a good selection of local and imported spirits and cocktails.
They have great happy hour specials from 12 noon to 6:30pm daily. On weekends, there is a 25 per cent price off on all their wines and hard liquor. Every month, Cozmo Lounge holds a barrel night that is like no other. Customers are treated to top class, professional service as they get their drinks served to them. Sports fanatics need not worry about missing out on that much-anticipated rugby, football, league or tennis match with the huge screen television.
Cozmo Lounge takes customer care very seriously and all their staff have weekly training to better equip themselves with the skills they need to keep customers content.
Cozmo Lounge in Suva City is a bar scene, offering fantastic service, great value wine and food in a sweet, laidback setting. They open from 12 noon to 7pm on Sundays, 12 noon to 9pm from Mondays to Wednesdays and 12 noon to 10pm from Thursdays to Saturdays.
UPDATE JULY 6th: And here’s another piece by Verenaisi extolling the virtues of a Mexican food outlet written in the same breathless PR style. Looks like it’s part of an arrangement to promote businesses in TappooCity, Suva’s newest retail complex.
Do they offer massages too?
@ Semi
Ya, massages with a ‘happy ending’ ….like the ones the Korean girls now offer for a fee at the old Southern Cross Hotel in Gordon Street, Suva.
Wonder whether Tavita knows about this place already?
The Fiji Sun is equally guilty of “blatant breach of Journalistic practice” as you put it. Why highlight only the Fiji Times?
Because, Raibe, I don’t see the Fiji Sun running blatant commercial plugs in their news pages, whatever quarrel you might have with them on other issues. This kind of thing in the Fiji Times would never have happened under News Limited. So why is it happening under Motibhai? The FT has been Fiji’s newspaper of record since 1869 and the reading public is entitled to expect better.
Medals for The Fiji Times “skirt journalism” fame should go to Russell Hunter and Netani Rika. Skirt journalism happened under their watch. It was the lowest point in Fiji journalism. A book is waiting to be written. How about it Victor Lal?
Thakur Ranjit Singh has provided solid documentary evidence of this in his thesis.
Russell and Rika contributed to the fall of one government and demise of News Limited in Fiji – quite a record.
After jeopardising free speech and media freedom in Fiji by their unethical behaviour and incompetence; after comprising the whole news industry in Fiji, these two are preening around like paragons of free speech.
As they say, only in Fiji, the melting pot for carpetbaggers, can colonial screw-ups like Russell Hunter come out looking like knights in shining armour.
Graham,
Below is an article from the Fiji Sun’s Business section. It is equally disgusting as the puffery you found in the Fiji Times. Neither have a place in a newspaper.
But what I find more offensive is you only attack the Fiji Times but lay off the Fiji Sun. But then what can we expect from you, Graham Davis internationally respected journalist, but an attack on a medium that has the temerity to have opposed your Glorious Leader at some point.
Every day on Grubsheet your bias is showing more and more. Your Dear Leader must be defended at all costs. Any hint of repression in Fiji must be shouted down as LOUDLY and shown to merely the kindly advice of our Avuncular Frank.
Nepotism does not exist in Uncle Frank’s world. His brother became an ambassador on merit, his brother escaped from prison all by himself and was given the job as Navy Commander as his reward for showing how to improve security in Naboro. His daughter got her job on merit at the Sports Council. Riyaz with his extensive business skills was well qualified to become CEO of a major media organization. Aunty Nur is the only one who can advise incoming investors properly and if they choose another consulting company like PWC her nephew just won’t taker the meetings.
The economy is doing so well and poverty has been eradicated and everyone has a job and we all have such a high disposable income even little children have iPADs. Oh that reminds me when Frank’s granddaughter lost her IPad at school- in fact she had left it at home but thought it had been stolen- 2 policeman and 6 soldiers turn up to find the culprit and questioned lots of 10 year olds.
Oh Graham what a perfect world we live in Fiji and thank goodness you are there to remind us of how lucky we are to be led by our Dear Leader Uncle Frank.
Outrigger fills gap for teens
July 4, 2012 | Filed under: Business | Posted by: newsroom
http://www.fijisun.com.fj/2012/07/04/outrigger-fills-gap-for-teens/
By RACHNA LAL
A new range of activities for teenagers has been launched at Outrigger on the Lagoon Fiji to fill in the gap between kids clubs and adult activities.
Traditionally offering activity programmes aimed at younger children, the resort’s new Teenager Activity Programme ensures teens have an unforgettable holiday and don’t get lost in an age gap as they mature from childhood to adulthood.
The popular activities include spear-making lessons, a Sigatoka Sand Dunes tour, Tavuni Hill Fort tour, a Bebe Hill hike and an Enchanted Pool hike.
A trip to a local high school is the most popular programme and gives teenagers an opportunity to learn how local children are educated and provides them with an insight into the daily Fijian way of life.
In return, local high school children have the opportunity to meet similar-aged students from foreign countries and learn more about the world.
All activities are supervised by the resort’s experienced activities crew and are designed to be both culturally educational and fun, often including local attractions which aren’t on the mainstream tourist circuit but are rich in local history and culture.
A fee is charged to cover expenses and admission fees where applicable and profits raised from the high school visits are donated back to the school to assist with educational resources.
The Teenage Activity Programme is supported by the Outrigger kids clubs, Little Riggers for three to seven-year-olds and Beach Riggers for eight to 12-year-olds, which provide a range of fun and age appropriate activities and cultural experiences.
The Meimei nanny service provides one-on-one care for children aged six months to two years and two children per nanny for children aged three and over.
“Bring back Rika”, sigh. Yes, I concede that the story you cite from the Fiji Sun isn’t ideal but at least Rachna Lal doesn’t give the teenage club’s opening times. It’s also arguably a news story of sorts in that it highlights the development of programs for teenagers at Fijian resorts instead of the usual “kid’s clubs. But again I concede your point that PR handouts appear to have become a cheaper option of filling pages than legitimate news.
On your wider point, I do take the regime to task from time to time, as in the previous piece on the New York Times coverage. I made a particular point there of referring in disapproving terms to the Government’s attitude to the media and beatings in military custody. But, yes, I do generally support it over the alternatives – largely because of its multiracial agenda – and I think many people in Fiji think the same. The Lowy Poll gave it a 67 per cent approval rating last year so I’m hardly alone.
You don’t and that is your prerogative. I concede that you have made some valid points. But I’d submit that the tone of your missive demonstrates a far more passionate stance against the regime than the blind enthusiasm you accuse me of in its defence. So who is being more balanced and fair?
Graham,
You say “But I’d submit that the tone of your missive demonstrates a far more passionate stance against the regime than the blind enthusiasm you accuse me of in its defence. So who is being more balanced and fair?”
I admit to being passionately against the regime but it was not always so. I have not supported any coups in Fiji and nor for the record was I a Qarase supporter. However, I kept an open mind in 2006 because it seemed as if Bainimarama had carried out this coup for the right reasons.
He was going to end racism, corruption, nepotism and give us a democracy of which we could be proud.
He even enshrined his plans to an extent in the People’s Charter. I found it a very naïve but noble document and a good target for the people of Fiji to aim for.
For me the time after the People’s Charter is where it all started to go wrong. Bainimarama had the framework on how to govern but he chose not to.
Where the Charter talks about transparency we have none.
Where the Charter talks about Good Governance we have none.
Where the Charter talks about upholding the Constitution we did not
Where the Charter talks about freedom of the Press we don’t have it
Where the Charter talks about free speech we don’t have it
Where the charter talks about poverty reduction we see an increase
Where the charter talks about increased investment we have a decrease
Where the charter talks about an independent judiciary we don’t have one.
All this time Bainimarama is saying all the right words but delivering none of it.
What fires my passion and anger is leaders who are hypocrites, leaders who lie, leaders who do not know what they are doing or the damage they are causing.
Let’s look at the Fiji TV debacle as in one incident it highlights most that is wrong with the regime.
NEPOTISM – Riyaz Khaiyim CEO of FBC was appointed by his brother Aiyaz Khaiyum. The brother organized a $22m loan guaranteed by the Government from the FDB. Aiyaz Khaiyum organizes that 80% of Government’s TV media spend is with his brother’s company and only 20% goes to Fiji TV.
CORRUPTION – See Above + the $22m was spent without proper tender processes and the specifying consultant was also the supplier and a friend of the brothers. It is not proven but under these conditions there it would be very easy for bribery to occur.
MEDIA CENSORSHIP – The AG calls in Fiji TV for running interviews with opponents of the regime Qarase, Chaudhry and Beddoes. Further
REGIME INTIMIDATION – Fiji TV does not have its licence renewed and is only given an extension 24 hours before it needed to stop broadcasting. The 6 month extension is a form of ongoing intimidation.
BAD GOVERNANCE – Fiji TV is a listed company and should have made announcements to the Fiji stock exchange that its license was in danger of not being renewed. The board decided not to because of the danger of further antagonizing Khaiyum.
NO INDEPENDENT JUDICARY – Well even if there was an independent judiciary Fiji TV cannot go to court because the new decree prohibits this cause of action.
ABUSE OF POWER – The AG has given himself the power to close Fiji TV for any infraction real or imagined with no recourse for Fiji TV
GOVERNMENT LIES – Sharon Smith Johns asserted in an interview with Bruce Hill that Fiji TV had its licence on 14th June. That clearly was a lie
DESTRUCTION OF THE ECONOMY – Actions like this scare away investors, if the regime takes against your company it can do anything it likes so who wants to invest in such high risk conditions.
GRAHAM DAVIS MISLED – On the 14th June you made the following comments.
1/ Fiji TV will get its license renewed for another 12 years. It has been given this undertaking by the Attorney General and is entitled to expect that the undertaking is kept.
7/ If I was running Fiji TV, I would operate on the basis that the licence has been approved because that was the specific undertaking and any company is entitled to take the government at its word.
8/ If I was running the Fiji TV newsroom, I would continue to report without fear or favour but ensure adherence to the established guidelines and address any alleged breach with the Media Authority – the proper body to deal with such an issue.
As we all know the license was not renewed.
The company was wrong to take the government at its word
The power of the media Authority has been usurped by Khaiyum
This is one incident which demonstrates clearly what is so wrong about this regime. What also get me going is the way you just accept everything they say as gospel and even afterwards when you find out the truth you continue to give them your unqualified support.
You have said the truth of the pudding is in the eating. How many puddings do you have to eat before you realize they are rotten to the core?
Bring Back Rika, leaving aside the distinct impression I get that you must be from Fiji TV, I agree with what you say about it being very poorly dealt with and have said so, not least because I took the regime at its word and – as you rightly point out – have been left up the creek without a paddle myself.
But just as two swallows do not a summer make, one or two missteps or even several are not enough to reflect me from the belief that as things stand, the regime represents the best hope for stability in Fiji and equality for its citizens.
You have lost faith, I haven’t, even while we have some points of agreement that things could be been handled better.
Graham
Why are you moaning from the sidelines. Now you are a Fiji citizen, why dont you become chairman of the Media Authority in Fiji, to oversee and keep in check the Fiji press – you complain too much – with one eye on getting your column above reproduced in the Fiji Sun
“Newspaper Reader”, I am just an opinionated hack whereas Professor Subramani – the present head of the Media Authority – is a distinguished thinker who knows the country far better than I do and I’m sure has both the media and the public’s best interests at heart.
@ Newspaper Reader
Come on, man…be reasonable….just coz anyone who is a Fiji citizen and have an opinion that you dont like, you dont have to be sarcastic and try and put them down by yourremarks…in this case that Graham should go apply to be the head of the Media Authority.!!!!!
Why dont you, yourself, go apply to be the Head of the Media Authority?
I mean, you have certain fixed views too…..so what the @#%$% are you talking about?
You seem to want to be the arbiter of what is good and not good with regard to Fiji media standards.
Viavia wannabe judge and jury…..who are you? what have you done for Fiji?
Tamata macawa
@ Newspaper Reader
Cool it bro…
You sounding like a dickhead with no idea as to where your going with your statements…quick to put the knife into others…but no sense of balance
You must belong to one of them ‘pro-democracy’ dickheads with their one sided views of the world.
Graham
With respect, I disagree about Fiji Times being a better newspaper under News Ltd. One only has to read Thakur Ranjeet Singh’s thesis to see what a biased one track newspaper it was under Rika.
“Ram Sami”, whatever the failings of the Fiji Times under Netani Rika, it didn’t – so far as I’m aware – do blatantly commercial pieces like this in its news columns. The perception is that the columns of the oldest newspaper in Fiji are for sale. And that any nightclub or apartment developer and the like can buy favourable – no, gushing -editorial coverage for their businesses. Even if that’s not the case, it’s the perception. So let’s see if we all get plausible answers to the questions I’ve raised.
The most incredible thing to me about all of this is that the guy at USP who’s meant to be the custodian of journalistic integrity in Fiji and the entire South Pacific appeared in one of these travesties. And he doesn’t think he has to explain anything to anyone.
We have journalists and media proprietors harping on about living in fear of the regime and indulging in self censorship and this is what we get – a bastardisation of the craft for base commercial purposes? Gimme a break. Maybe it’s time for journalists to start fighting for integrity in their places of work rather than conning their readers by passing off PR releases as news.
mmmmmm…….wonder then why Frank hasn’t thrown this grub (Marc Edge) out of the country?
Marc Edge belongs to the wrong time and space ….n should be thrown out of the country back to Canada!
Fiji will be voting for Luxembourg when it comes to the Security Council vote.
When that vote happens….heh..heh…heh..heh…we shall be seeing how Samoa will vote!
Guess what?…the Samoans under Tuilaepa …..who will they vote for?
Without question…the ass kissing Tuilaepa will be voting for his paymasters in Wellington and Canberra!
They will be voting for Australia for the UN Security Councnil seat!
What does that tell you about Samoan ‘two timing’ ?
I
Congratulations, Terry, you’ve just won the competition for the shortest contribution ever made to Grubsheet. I. I what? Or is that the Samoan finger? Whatever it is, it must have taken a Herculean intellectual effort on your part. Well done!
Graham
Thank you for the clarification.
Your point is well made.
OK
“Newspaper Reader”, and you are the runner-up. OK?
Since when has Graham Davis become an expert on Fiji media – I never heard his name here at home in the Fiji press until Fiji SUN began reproducing his Grubsheet pieces – most written after the coup. The danger is that Graham might lose respect if he continues to pick on the Fiji Times, unless he is eyeing to become the next editor of that paper – Ranjit Singh thought the job was going to be his when Fiji Times was up for sale.
“Newspaper Reader”, you don’t need to be an expert on the Fiji media to know a sow’s ear when you see one. I was startled when I read the Marc Edge “isn’t my apartment block fabulous!” “story” but the Cozmo Lounge piece takes the keke – a blatant case of commercial infiltration of the news columns.
It reads like a PR release and maybe it is. Maybe the requirement for every story to carry a byline meant the subs had to put someone’s name on the “story” and Verenaisi’s was the first to come to mind? We await an explanation.
Graham
I dont understand why you have taken it upon yourself to monitor the contents of the Fiji Times – who cares if it is a commercial or news item – there are far more important stories that are not appearing in the papers in Fiji, and you yourself will be reluctant to write them, for either Fiji Sun will not publish them or you will get a kick up your backside by the regime, and your citizenship will be revoked for being a “naughty” new citizen.
It is quite simple really. The Fiji Times and other media outlets in the Banana Republic of Fiji print nice fluff advertorials masquerading as ‘news’ because they are not allowed to print REAL NEWS lest it be critical of that criminal Bainimarama and his lackeys.
Graham, did your daddy Bainimarama like his tea for breakfast this morning? Was it extra sweet? Good lackey.
Ah, the sun has finally risen in Samoa and Petelo – the lackey of Tuilaepa and his lapdog Tavita – raises his head from the pillow, shakes his kava-addled head and farts in the direction of Fiji. Just another day in paradise.
Ava (kava) is not a social drink in Samoa..it is only reserved for ceremonial occassions..and even then you sip only half a cup..that’s why Samoans are the brainboxes of the Pacific..
@ Tavita
I thought the Tongans, with a greater number of PhD’s per head of population, are the brain boxes of the Pacific.
Fiji has never claimed to be the brain boxes like you Samoans, even though you guys are classified as a ‘least developed country’ cf Fiji.
Lets give the Tongans credit for their individual educational achievements.
Dont try and stake a claim in an area where you guys are nowhere.
How many Samoan chiefs are graduates of Oxford or Cambridge? Do you guys know where that is?
Samoa, the brainbox of the pacific…LOL!!!! Perhaps your brain is boxed up to the size of a matchbox. Another dumb, or should I say “brainbox” comment from an outrageously stupid asswipe. By your comments, you make it seem that Samoa is the dumbest place in the south pacific.
How many samoan’s – compared to say Fiji – have been awarded gold medals at USP (our own premier regional university) ?
Go back to your hole and mind your farkin business.
terry tavita
You write like a retard more than an actual retard could if he tried. Seems you have the intellect of a dead ant (a live one definitely has more brains than you!)
Ava (kava) is not a social drink because Samoa cannot afford it with its water-gun worth of budget.
get a life, pal….and for once, GROW UP!!
tarry
I was the first samoan to graduate, I did not go to oxford like Ratu sukuna and Ratu Mara.
tarry
Brainboxes in playing rugby. We the indians are the brainboxes, come to silicon valley and see for yourself.
A recent article in the FT reported a flottiler of american warships including an aircraft carrier cruising the pacific north of Austrailia. Why?
Has their intelligence indicated to them that something is brewing in this area? If so, from where will the threat come from? According to the report, They were mealy monitoring illegal fishing activity in the area. Believable??? There is no mention of this in other media either here or overseas. (aust & NZ ) Like to get your thoughts on this. Please make it ridicularly funny. ( just as their reason for being there is)
@ Tui Benau
When you start thinking of the US being a threat to Fiji, then my friend you have serious mental health issues.
For your info, Australia is a signatory to the ANZUS Treaty and it (Australia) can do what it pleases in its own territorial waters. I encourage you to read up on the ANZUS Treaty and what it stands for.
We need US fleet in the Pacific , in the same way we needed them in 1941-1945!
anybody can get a PhD if you’re willing to put in an extra four years at Uni you stupid idiot..unstable Tonga and Fiji (a far bigger country and population, but a backward mentality) lags far behind Samoa in terms of public service delivery and political stability..
@ Tavita
Please answer my question: how many Samoan chiefs have an Oxford or Cambridge education?
If Samoa, as you claim, is so far advanced why is it still categorized by the UN as a ‘Least Developed Country” (LDC)?
Whats your take on the idea that in the Southwest Pacific, Samoa is just another spoke in the wheel whereas Fiji is considered the Hub?
“Pious, no point in asking Terry a question here. He can’t answer because he’s been blocked from responding. After successive racist and now legal provocations, he’s been banned from Grubsheet.
The reasons are outlined in “The Silencing of Tuilaepa’s Racist Lout”. I don’t censor anyone here except those who threaten violence and in his case today, attack the judiciary in Fiji and try to derail the most significant criminal trial in a decade.
The whole Pacific Fleet is on the lookout for that Tongan Carrier……I think its called Mara Catcher!!!
tarry
if you guys are a bunch of brainboxes why your country is still poor and most live in poverty
Satish
Terry Tavita has been banned from writing here.
Graham finally flexed his muscles and Tavita has to take a nose dive into quicksand.
Graham, “Bring Back Rika” sounds like the backdrop of Ken Clark and Tarun Bull-shit Patel. Move on Fiji TV… You were given tax breaks under previous Governments; enjoyed monopoly and played ” the political game”. And now you want sympathy??? Any ways FBC TV is doing a better job of delivering Free-To-Air to its citizen…. for me its tax money well spent.
Graham
You should remove yourself from this commentary pages – you are making an arse of yourself by picking on Fiji Times, accusing it of running a commercial story as a news item
In March your opinionated piece (even though you said you are not an expert on Fiji like Professor Subramani) was splashed on the front page of Fiji SUN under the crude banner headline QARASE STIRS UP TROUBLE – Rumblings of the next eruption in SDL talk. Worst, your own smiling mugshot accompanied the front page story alongside photos of Frank and Qarase. What do you call that – opinion or news item?
http://www.grubsheet.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/D7K6745.jpg
Newspaper Reader, I agree with you about this instance and lodged a complaint with the Fiji Sun. I was assured that it would not happen again.
Opinion should be labelled opinion and articles like that which are clearly highly opinionated shouldn’t be passed off as news.
Graham, please do not ban Terry Tavita. His lunacy is good entertainment value.
Graham, Please keep Terry on this site..comments by him re:trials should be deleted immediately but I beg you to keep him on….these Samoan clowns are the only ones helping me digest my food…besides where else will Tui hang his balls.Tui deserves a break as well…..
And what about the cloned clown Petelo…(X-between Terry and Tui)…what will happen to him.
And the entertaintment value that all the Samoans at USP derive from these clowns….we don’t want them to be deprived of that value. And the Pacific as a whole who follow Grubsheet…what about their entertainment…they deserve better…I mean these guys are the greatest shows in town…
The Tongans are enjoying the show.
And what about the landless boatpeople at Christmas Island..at least they feel better about themselves…they need to be entertained..(yeah they have computers provided to them)….these clowns of the Pacific are the only source of entertaintment for a lot of people and I am sure you will not disappoint them Graham. I don’t know what will happen to me…..so please Graham I hope I have given enough reasons to keep him on site…
Sorry “Chand”, but I too found him mildly entertaining until he appeared determined to drag me into the gunsights of the law.
You’ll notice that my own piece on the Qarase trial is factual and devoid of the usual strong opinions I display. It’s for good reason. Qarase is innocent until proven guilty and nothing can be said that prejudices his opportunity for a fair trial.
Terry Tavita has made public comments that are in contempt of the proceedings and leave Grubsheet exposed to the potential for legal action. He can hide in Apia under the wing of his patron, the Samoan PM. I can’t. So he’s not just your run-of- the- mill racist buffoon but dangerous. He’s terminated.
Pious, I strongly recomend you read my posting again. Nowhere do I mention or even imply U.S being a threat to Fiji. On the contary. It’s on record, that in recent times Fiji and the U.S. have formed a stronger and more intimate relationship. And they continue to build on this. You’ve missed the three main questions to my postings.
1) Why would you need a whole flotiller includung an aircraft carrier, armed to the teeth with jets and choppers.?
2)Why is there no mention in the NZ and Australian Media.?
3) Is monitoring illegal fishing activity the real reason for this naval presents?
Pious, I take offence to you suggesting I have a serious mental problem. Please no mud slinging. Keep it clean. Thank you.
Graham
Why have you not ventured a reply to News Reader to his last posting?
What do you call that – opinion or news item?
http://www.grubsheet.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/D7K6745.jpg
Graham
Apologies – morning blues – thanks for your reply
Graham,
Your criticism is hampered by the fact you live in Oz (literally and figuratively) and see only the online content of the Times. You thus end up looking like an idiot when your complaints prove unfounded. In the newspaper, the puff piece on Cozmo appeared under a “Dining and Entertainment” banner. Verenaisi Raicola is clearly credited as the advertising features editor, as she is on all such stories that she writes. That’s her job. She writes “advertorials.” Is it good journalism? No. Is it even journalism? Well. . . .
Your bias is blatant because you criticise only the Times, whose politics you dislike, while you give the Sun a pass for the same transgressions because you share its politics. What does that do to your credibility? In my book, you have none left.
Marc Edge
Thank you, Marc. That the Head of Journalism at the University of the South Pacific should defend this on the grounds that you have is disturbing. You ought to be insisting on a division between editorial and advertising on the internet as well – increasingly the dominant platform for newspapers the world over – not gloating that I look like an “idiot” because it was delineated – in your view – in the hard copy sold on the streets of Suva. But then, you have been hopelessly compromised yourself by appearing in one of these advertisements masquerading as journalism.
The fact that the article in question appeared under a “dining and entertainment” banner in the hard copy of the Fiji Times is neither here nor there for the many thousands of Fiji Times readers across the globe. And I’d venture, readers in Fiji unable to see the distinction that you can and naively believe that what they’re reading is “real news”. Such pieces are identified on the Fiji Times website as “features” when they are actually public relations handouts or paid advertisements and are not generated by the normal editorial process; ie. a genuine, independent critique of these establishments on behalf of Fiji Times readers canvassing their good and bad points. You know as well as I do that in the western media generally – including the net – they are clearly labelled “advertising” or “advertorial”. Yet the 40-thousand Fijians living in Australia alone, let alone those fighting in Afghanistan or cleaning hotel rooms in LA, get conned into thinking that the Cozmo lounge is a superlative venue without any flaws because a senior Fiji Times journalist, with a reputation for breaking news, has now turned her skills to generating advertising income. It’s unacceptable and you know it.
You insult me but ignore the elephant in the room by continuing to refuse to respond to the questions I’ve posed about your own appearance in a similar Fiji Times piece some months ago. Marc, did you or did you not receive any personal consideration from the owner of your apartment block or from the Fiji Times for appearing in the piece? Was it a paid advertisement? You decline to answer, which gives rise to serious questions about the propriety of your own behaviour. You also dragged the University of the South Pacific into this grubby commercial exercise, tainting its reputation as well as your own.
Instead of acknowledging this serious lapse of judgment on your part, you make snide comments about my absence from Fiji ( I was there for a lengthy period last month ) and cast me as an “idiot” for doing your job from afar. Yes, you ought to be a principal custodian of journalistic integrity in Fiji in the position you hold but you’re not. Instead you tell local journalists that they ought to have unfettered freedom and attack those who argue that this needs to be tempered in countries like Fiji. Freedom? What, to write this kind of rubbish?
Local journalism – real journalism – is being swamp by the public relations deluge that makes possible these pieces and entire sections of the newspaper. Parsimonious and lazy proprietors and publishers love it because they are being paid by commercial establishments for editorial copy – not conventional ads but advertorial dressed up as genuine stories. And they shove a senior journalist’s moniker over it to lend it credibility.
I personally find it disquieting that instead of taking a stand against this – and reminding these outlets of their responsibility to their readers, you have actually participated in one of these travesties. Not a sin of omission in failing to blow the whistle on it as a journalist educator but a sin of commission by becoming a lead actor in one of them. Gamekeeper turned poacher.
I also find it amazing that you have the gall to launch this attack on me for doing your job – reminding media outlets of the need for more than a “Chinese wall” between news and advertising. I repeat, did you receive anything at all in return for your appearance in the apartment block story? Answer the question.
It’s also puzzling that someone like you with an international perspective would make a jibe about my absences from Fiji. I come and go like lots of other people in similar situations and being somewhere else makes little difference in the age of Skype and the Internet. Next week I am in New Zealand. So what? Does that render me ineligible to comment on events in Australia that week?
My relationship with the Fiji Sun is that they use my pieces from Grubsheet. I do not get paid, nor is there any discussion with the Sun about what I should write or which articles they will run. It therefore stands to reason that I have no control over what appears in the Sun in the way of advertorial. So this is another red herring – that people in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones – to cover up the seriousness of your own lapses of judgement.
The point of this article of mine was to highlight the way in which public relations in Fiji – which is creaming off the best journalists and you know it – is swamping the editorial columns of the country’s newspapers to the detriment of the reading public. It’s a developing country and people aren’t always savvy enough to distinguish an independent critique of a venue or business from a paid advertisement. Similarly, I have been critical of the lack of separation between news and opinion. You know that one of my opinion pieces appeared on the front page of the Fiji Sun as a news story. I lodged a written complaint with the Fiji Sun insisting that all my pieces be labelled opinion so that no-one reading them is in any doubt that they are the coloured views of one individual.
As head of journalism at USP, you should be mounting the same argument about the need for separation between editorial copy and advertising and the need to employ real journalists instead of feeding off the PR drip . But instead, you star in one of these travesties. The journalistic educator turned spruiker. Amazing! So who has really lost all credibility here, Doctor?
Graham,
You do not seem to be able to read. Either that or you suffer from a bad case of selective perception. I did not defend the article. I said it was not good journalism. I questioned whether it was journalism at all. What about that do you not understand? How simple do I have to make it for you? What I pointed out was that your criticism that this was outrageous ethically was based in large part on a false premise, ie. that it was not labeled as an advertising feature, or “advertorial” in the lingo, which it clearly was. Had it not been, I would have agreed with you. Instead it resides in the ethical gray area in which most newspapers currently operate regarding the separation of advertising from editorial content. Advertorials are standard practice at most newspapers these days. I also pointed out the problem with your own ethics in that you seem prepared to criticise one Fiji newspaper but not the other for a practice they both engage in.
The problem is not just that you are biased. You also don’t know what you’re talking about half the time. Maybe three quarters.
Marc Edge
So again, Marc, after repeatedly asking you the most simple question, you refuse point blank to give me an answer. Did you or did you not derive any benefit from your participation in the article by Verenaisi Raicola on the Suva Point Apartment Complex?
All the obfuscation in the world is not going to make this go away. I know, why don’t I ask the Media Authority to investigate? Why don’t I ask the USP Vice Chancellor to give me an answer? Because I’m sure they will do a much better job of clearing this up than you have.
I am not going to be fobbed off with your attacks and insults, of being labelled an “idiot”, of having “no credibility”, of “not being able to read”, of suffering from “collective perception”, of being “biased” of “not knowing what I’m taking about”. This is static created by you to deflect attention away from yourself.
I tell you what, Marc. After practicing what you teach for almost 40 years, I don’t need lectures from you about ethical grey areas. In your case, there is prima facie evidence that you directly participated – as the principal subject – in a paid advertisement or advertorial in the Fiji Times.
And that you did so wearing your hat as head of journalism at USP. This is a matter of legitimate public interest so….
I am asking you again. DID YOU DERIVE ANY BENEFIT FROM THE OWNERS OF THE APARTMENT COMPLEX OR THE FIJI TIMES FOR APPEARING IN THE ARTICLE IN QUESTION? Can I be any more direct? Which of us cannot read? Answer the question, Doctor Edge.
Marc
As the head of journalism at the USP I am appalled to read your comments. They are badly argued and full of personal attacks. You have been in Fiji a short time, Mr Davis has had ties to this country going back many, many years. The argument is less about the advertorial v editorial but more about your complete lack of action in identifying the root cause, sloppy, lazy publishers and journalists. You should be advocating higher standard rather than saying ‘oh well it happens all over the world, lets turn a blind eye to it’.
However that said and done you have also failed to answer the question, did you or did you not benefit from the fluff piece on the apartments?
You really belittle yourself by calling Mr Davis and ‘Idiot who can not read’. I suggest you have a long hard look at yourself and your recent public actions. You my friend are paid to teach and on that extremely high salary of yours we would expect better for our up and coming journalist.
Graham,
I do not have to answer any of your “charges.” I have chosen until now not to dignify with a response your allegations that I accepted payment or other benefit for being interviewed by the Fiji Times about the Suva Point Apartments. But if it will save the Media Authority or my V-C any effort in investigation, I am happy to do so now. I certainly did not receive any payment or benefit of any kind for agreeing to be interviewed on this subject. To suggest so is ludicrous, frankly. Do you really think the Fiji Times pays the subjects of its interviews? Give your head a shake, man.
I was a bit surprised that I was the only one interviewed for the story, and that it was spread across a full page, with no fewer than four photographs. But I gave the interview and posed for the pictures freely, without accepting any inducement of any kind because I felt, and I still feel, that the Suva Point Apartments are ideal, modern accommodations conveniently located adjacent to USP at a reasonable price. I wasted a lot of time looking at overpriced, sub-standard housing in that neighborhood. If I could save even one new colleague from similar travails, I was happy to do so. After my interview appeared, along with 7-8 additional pages of advertorial, the units filled up quickly, largely with new USP staff. I guess it just goes to show the power of the press.
You have spent an inordinate amount of time prattling on about this red herring. To my mind, there are many much more important issues surrounding journalism in Fiji at the moment. You certainly don’t want to touch any of them. I am not going to worry about a minor breach of the church-state wall separating advertising and editorial when there is a lack of basic press freedom in the country. The fact that you are focusing on these types of insignificant issues and ignoring the over-riding problems facing the press in Fiji suggests that you are trying to obscure the real issues by focusing on the trivial. At whose behest? I think we all know the answer to that one by now.
For the record, I wish to state that any views expressed above or in any other comments made by me on this blog are my own and are not necessarily shared by the University of the South Pacific.
Marc Edge
Marc, your denial is noted. Let’s see what the other parties have to say. If you had nothing to hide, why didn’t you say so earlier? This has dragged on for weeks and you could have defused it long ago. But unfortunately for you, it’s not the end of the matter. Your denial appears to be confined to a denial that you received payment from the Fiji Times. On a careful reading of your response, you do NOT categorically deny receiving a benefit from the building’s owners. Clarity is one of the guiding principles of journalistic practice. Can we finally get some?
There is also an admission here that your feature was separate to the advertorial pages that accompanied it. In other words, an article passed off as journalism and not labelled as advertising. This is surely a matter for the Media Authority, especially with your disclosure that the apartment block soon filled up on the basis of your glowing endorsement. This is “news” as marketing yet you make light of it, an extraordinary stance given your position at USP.
Why was it “ludicrous” for me to question whether you received a payment or benefit for your glowing endorsement of this business? It was more than conceivable under the circumstances for the owners of the Suva Point Apartment Building to offer some consideration to a celebrity tenant willing to extol the virtues of living in their building. It happens in places like Canada and Australia all the time.
So they had motive to offer inducement; a personal endorsement from someone of your stature – backed by the USP – to attract other potential tenants and especially university staffers. You must be the only journalist educator in the world to tell a seasoned scribe that it’s “ludicrous” to question what might have happened under the circumstances. Is this what you tell your students? That it’s ludicrous to investigate potential conflicts of interest of public officials on the public payroll?
Which leads us to your own motive. You say that you were prepared to lend your name and that of your university to this promotional exercise for altruistic reasons – because you genuinely believed in the quality of the accommodation and felt it deserved to be more widely publicised. Gimme a break. Has the girl on the front desk got a nice smile? Do they tell you your sulu looks fetching on you? Gee, aren’t they nice people? Isn’t this place just great? I must tell the world what a swell place this is!
Well perhaps you could now tell us – in the interests of public disclosure – precisely how you came to be peering at the Fiji Times photographer from your swell new quarters. Who called who? How exactly was it set up? What discussions did you have with the building’s owners about what you were doing? You say that I “have spent an inordinate amount of time prattling on about this red herring”. Well I’m going to spend a little more time. Because it’s not a red herring at all. It goes to the heart of your integrity and that of your university. Did you get paid by the owners of the building or receive any benefit from them? You haven’t answered that question fully at all.
Marc, it’s extraordinary that someone of your status – a journalistic educator from Canada – would regard my enquiries about any of this as exceptional. Whatever your motives, you chose to lend your name and the name of your august employer to promoting a block of flats. Not a respected charity or an academic program but the place where at the end of your day teaching the journalists of tomorrow, you plant your tired ass. It was a cheap, grubby exercise which – even with the explanation you’ve given – reeks of an astonishing naivete and credulity on your part. You are truly casting yourself as the Forrest Gump of Suva Point.
You should have known instinctively that participating in this exercise would give rise to an inevitable question: Why is the head of the school of journalism using his position and that of his university to lend credibility to a Fiji Times advertorial for rental accommodation – mere bricks and mortar? Is the USP and its staff for sale for such promotional exercises? Can I buy the USP and Dr Marc Edge to help sell seats in my restaurant, fill beds in my hotel or get more clients for my massage parlour? Because It sure looks that way.
You say you didn’t get paid for the endorsement by the Fiji Times but don’t say that you gained any benefit like reduced rent or a bottle of champagne. Yet even if you didn’t, doesn’t this raise an equally disturbing prospect? That Fiji’s most prominent journalist educator – whose salary comes from regional governments – is so gullible and wet behind the ears that he wasn’t aware of the potential pitfalls of this blatant exercise in commercial promotion? That he’s not aware that merely the perception of personal gain under the circumstances is capable of bringing the institution into disrepute?
Marc, don’t keep attacking me and trying to damage my own reputation and integrity. You need to face up to the fact that by playing the eager poodle for a Fiji Times reporter and her paymaster – your landlord – you’ve made yourself look – at the very least – like a right royal twat. And certainly someone distressingly devoid of judgement.
It doesn’t help that your best form of defence against a fellow journalist who questions you is attack. Because perhaps the worst part about all of this is that you don’t seem to realise you’ve done anything out of the ordinary at all. God help your students and the poor media consumers they’ll eventually serve. God help the rest of us. Oh, except for the owners of the Suva Point Apartments. We know by your own admission that this promotion worked. The USP has helped hang a “no vacancy” sign out the front of the building. Vinaka vakalevu, Doctor Edge. Great sulu! Have a nice day!
Well I have always wondered what a ‘right royal twat’ looked like.
Can someone please post a photo of this ‘twat’ so that my curiosity can be resolved.
Thanking you all in (high )anticpaion!
I should explain, “Anonoymous”, that I was using this term strictly for its secondary meaning:
“Although sometimes used as a reference to the female genitalia, the word twat is more often used in various other ways:
As a derogatory insult, a pejorative meaning a fool, a stronger alternative to the word twit – ‘He can be a complete twat’ (often used in the UK)”
Oh, I am so dissappointed
🙂
PS, Mark, It’s also highly offensive – when you have been such a poodle for minor commercial interests in the country – for you to infer that I’m the poodle of the Fiji Government and doing their bidding in this matter. I take no commercial consideration from them at all and whatever support I express for their policies I do because it pleases me, not them. I have actually criticised them over aspects of their media policy and the physical treatment of dissidents up at the camp. So quit trying to malign me.
Graham,
I will go you one better and venture that you are the very definition of a pissant. Again, you just can’t read. “If you had nothing to hide, why didn’t you say so earlier? This has dragged on for weeks and you could have defused it long ago.” Please re-read the second and third sentences of my previous reply. “There is also an admission here that your feature was separate to [sic.] the advertorial pages that accompanied it.” No, Graham, it was part of the advertorial. There were numerous other similar “stories.” Maybe you need testing. Perhaps you have a reading disability, like dyslexia. Maybe it’s not your fault. . . .
Again your Fiji media criticism is hindered by the fact that you are not in Fiji. Not only was there the eight-page advertorial for the Suva Point Apartments in the Times, but there was a weeks-long advertising blitz on Fiji TV early this year, with tantalising shots of its luxurious appointments, it modern design, and its beautiful landscaping. No wonder the units filled up so quickly. And no, there is no front desk, only a guard at the gate who greets me by name. You’re thinking of a high-rise apartment building. This is a low-rise complex. You can’t even visualise properly.
There was nothing inappropriate about me giving an interview to the Fiji Times about my new apartment. There would be something inappropriate about you launching an official complaint about it. That would be irresponsible. You would be wasting people’s valuable time. But don’t let me stop you. I would get a kick out of you making a bigger monkey out of yourself than you already have. I can hear the laughter now.
Marc Edge
Marc, for somebody who presumably extols the virtues of precision in teaching the practice of journalism, you really are a master of the art of dissembling. You don’t need to be in Mensa to answer the question I have posed to you:
DID YOU GET ANY BENEFIT OR CONSIDERATION FROM THE OWNERS OR OPERATORS OF THE SUVA APARTMENT COMPLEX FOR APPEARING IN THE ARTICLE IN QUESTION? Yes or no. And if so, what did you get?
Your response thus far – on any fair appraisal – merely relates to the question of you receiving something from the Fiji Times. The aforementioned question is yet to be answered with any clarity at all. Do so and you will have dealt with the matter. Ignore it and I will keep asking it.
The rest of this is static – an increasingly tortured attempt not to address the main issues here and turn public attention on me. I’m ” a pissant”, “dyslectic”, “have a “reading disability” don’t live in Fiji, don’t know this isn’t a high rise building etc. Marc, none of this matters.
What matters is that the head of journalism at the University of the South Pacific – the region’s pre-eminent seat of learning – used that position to promote a Suva apartment block in which he is a tenant. Now you either did it for no return – but still brought the USP into disrepute by using it for a commercial promotion – or you gained some personal advantage.
Instead of being straight about this right from the start, you finally give a qualified response but you don’t issue a categorical statement on the only issue that really matters. By any rational appraisal of what you’ve written in response, you definitely rule out receiving anything from the Fiji Times. OK, we all understand that you didn’t get anything from the Fiji Times because they were being paid by the Suva Point Apartments.
What I want to know – and is undoubtedly in the public interest – is whether you gained any benefit or consideration from the Suva Point Apartments for spruiking the benefits of living there. In other words, a celebrity tenant – you – performing a valuable service for his landlords – them – using his title and the prestige of USP and getting something in return – it, whatever that may be.
Give me a response that is not open to ambiguity like your last explanation and I won’t be quite so irritating, dyslectic, a pissant and all these other failings of mine you’ve described. Because right now, you are exhibiting all the signs of someone who is trying to avoid a straight answer. Instead of responding with clarity, you accuse me of being stupid.
Well, I’m not that stupid and neither is anyone else. I’m not the one having trouble here. The doctor doth protest too much, methinks.
@ Mark Edge: Response to Thakur Ranjit Singh: Fiji Sun May 2012
“I have come to USP from Canada to help raise the standards of journalism across the South Pacific, not just in Fiji.”
UMM…OK, THANK YOU… BUT YOU SEE WE IN THE PACIFIC PROBABLY DON’T NEED YOUR BREED OF SO CALLED STANDARD JOURNALISM AND WHAT’S WITH THAT SULU…A BIT PATRONIZING ISN’T IT….YEAH OK AND THEN…
“I would prefer to see a free press here to shine a light on powerful groups and people in society and thus help guard against corruption.”
OK HOLD IT THERE…THAT SOUNDS VERY NICE. SAY THAT AGAIN PLEASE.
“I would prefer to see a free press here to shine a light on powerful groups and people in society and thus help guard against corruption.”
UMM…NOW WHAT WOULD YOU CALL A MONGRELL THAT CHASES ITS OWN TAIL AND FINALLY GRABS AND BITES IT….WELL I DON’T KNOW IN CANADA BUT WE IN THE PACIFIC CALL IT BITING YOUR OWN ARSE….
(EDS. THE FOLLOWING PASSAGE HAS BEEN DELETED FOR LEGAL REASONS. IT IS DEFAMATORY )
AND FINALLY WHAT MESSAGE YOU HAVE GOT FOR THE PEOPLE AND YOUR STUDENTS
“I have come to USP from Canada to help raise the standards of journalism across the South Pacific, not just in Fiji. I don’t have a dog in this fight.”
OK YOU DON’T HAVE A DOG BUT REMEMBER ABOUT THE MONGRELL??
For the record, I wish to state that any views expressed above or in any other comments made by me on this blog have been endorsed by the mongrels around Vatuawaqa and Grantham Rd.
ATTENTION: “Chand” and others.
Please do not leave comments that are defamatory or I am bound the erase them. I am having to consider emulating other websites and screening everything before publication. I don’t want to do it but I cannot be exposed to the possibility of legal action. Here’s an outline of what defamation means in the Australian context, which is where Grubsheet is based. The law applies to internet websites as much as it does to other media. It must be respected.
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At its simplest, defamation is to spread bad reports about someone which could do them harm.
The verb is to defame. You can defame someone if you say something false about them which spoils their good reputation, which makes people want to avoid them or which hurts them in their work or their profession.
To defame someone, you do not have to make up false things yourself. You might defame a person by repeating or replaying words spoken by someone else, for example an interviewee. It is no defence to claim that you were only quoting someone else. If you print or broadcast something defamatory, you could be taken to court, along with your producer, your editor or station manager and the person who said the words in the first place.
Before January 2006, defamation varied from state to state across Australia, but now there are Uniform Defamation Laws which are similar across all states and territories. The uniform laws adopted and adapted a number of statutory provisions from old laws but still retain the basic principles of common law, which traditionally defines defamation as:
The publication of any false imputation concerning a person, or a member of his family, whether living or dead, by which (a) the reputation of that person is likely to be injured or (b) he is likely to be injured in his profession or trade or (c) other persons are likely to be induced to shun, avoid, ridicule or despise him.
Publication of defamatory matter can be by (a) spoken words or audible sound or (b) words intended to be read by sight or touch or (c) signs, signals, gestures or visible representations, and must be done to a person other than the person defamed.
If a person thinks that you have defamed them and takes you to court, they have to prove that three of these things have happened:
That the words were capable of a defamatory meaning as understood by ordinary members of society. Defamatory meaning could be anything which harms the person, in their reputation, their business or in the way other people treat them. The law does not say that the plaintiff must show actual proof of being harmed; it is enough that the false statement could have led to harm.
That the words identify him as the person defamed. It is not necessary that he should have been specifically named. If he can show the court that a reasonable person would take the words to refer to him, he will probably have a good case. Groups of people (such as small companies or not for profit associations) can sue for defamation if they can demonstrate that the words identified them as a group.
That the words or pictures have been published, that is heard or seen by a third person. The first person is the one talking or writing (you), the second person is the person being talked or written about (the plaintiff), the third person is anyone else who may hear or read the offending matter (such as a reader or listener). There is no civil defamation if the words, however bad or untrue, are spoken or written only to the person about whom they are made.
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I have asked Marc Edge to explain the circumstances of the Fiji Times piece in question. You’ll will note that we have traded what can clearly be termed insults. But it is simply not permissible to go further and allege the commission of any offence under law and none is implied. Please take note, “Chand”, and others.
Interesting debate…the gist of it is, academics should not engage in hawking Dr Marc Edge, full stop. Your long-winded and unconvincing justification of the Verenaisi Raicola article is nothing but a futile and pathetic attempt to disguise your own similar, unethical and naive conduct.
While on this subject, I came across in your response to Thakur Ranjit Singh when you wrote “I don’t have a dog in this fight. You are the dog in the this fight.” You think you are clever with words? The insulting innuendo is very clear. Stop patronising us. Your attitude is nauseating, nasty, petty and bitchy. Do you subject your students to similar treatment?
Yet another reason to question your fitness for the job you are holding.
Thanks Graham and Chand is my real family name. I think I know where I got it wrong…bugger. I am a simple humble person trying to call a spade for what it is and I will be careful next time…I simply did not know……folks read that piece of law
Thank you, Chand. It was valuable for you to highlight Marc Edge’s public comments about the way he sees his role and the need for him to practice what he preaches. But I’m pleased that you realise that you crossed the line.
The difference between Grubsheet and Coup 4.5 is that I have a public face and they are anonymous. I can be sued and they can’t. That is why all manner of actionable material appears on 4.5 that cannot appear here. In any event, we should strive to be fair. The kumala vula in the sulu waving goodbye to the guard as he leaves his single-story apartment complex at Suva Point is also one of God’s creatures and deserves not to have his reputation unfairly impugned.
Sounds like another condescending profesor who arrives today and wakes up the next morning already knowing what is best for the people of the region.