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Sometimes in a long career in journalism - and Grubsheet has been a scribe for nigh on 40 years – one reads or hears an account of an event at which one was present that bears so little resemblance to reality that one’s jaw drops in utter astonishment. So it was with the account given to Radio Australia on Thursday by Dr Marc Edge –the … [Read more...] about #71 EDGE OF REALITY

A sixteen-year-old girl is at the centre of an ugly row in Fiji over her suitability to represent the country in the Miss World competition. Torika Watters is a mixed race European/ indigenous Fijian - known locally as a Kailoma – who beat a field of full-blooded indigenous and Indo-Fijian contestants to win the Miss World Fiji crown.  There’s … [Read more...] about #70 MISS WORLD OF PREJUDICE

The South Pacific media has been wracked by deep division over how journalists should respond to the 2006 Fiji coup and Frank Bainimarama’s continuing hold on power. The last gathering in Vanuatu three years ago of members of PINA – the Pacific Islands News Association – was marred by bitter infighting, so much so that a group of mainly Polynesian … [Read more...] about # 69 PACIFIC MEDIA AT PEACE

More than ten tonnes of relief supplies are being airlifted from Australia to flood affected areas of Fiji after a remarkable grass roots campaign by Fijians of all races living in Sydney. An outpouring of generosity from ordinary Australians responding to media reports of the floods saw complete strangers leaving packages at the homes of their … [Read more...] about # 68 AUSSIE FIJIANS TO THE RESCUE

A titanic struggle looms between the old and new orders in Fiji for the hearts and minds of the indigenous majority – the i’taukei. It’s a struggle that will determine the future for all Fiji citizens and on present indications, the portents don’t look good. Because the old order – the i’taukei chiefs – seem determined to make race the centerpiece … [Read more...] about # PARAMOUNT CHIEF DEALS THE RACE CARD

The heartbreaking devastation of the latest floods in Fiji masks a deeper concern - that human activity may be making the situation a lot worse. As the western town of Nadi was submerged for the second time this year, some difficult questions are being asked about whether developments both upstream and downstream have made Nadi more flood prone. … [Read more...] about #66 MAN-MADE ELEMENT IN FIJI FLOODS?