# THE DANGER OF BEING OVERLY DEFENSIVE ABOUT THOSE PINA COLADAS

In public relations, honesty is always the best policy, just as it is in every other facet of life. So kudos to the Tourism Minister, Viliame Gavoka, for not falling for the trap, in an ABC interview last night, of giving a blanket all clear for every Fijian resort after the poisoned drinks saga at the Warwick Resort.

Gavoka and the head of Tourism Fiji, Brent Hill, are getting the appropriate messaging right. We don’t know precisely why pina coladas at the Warwick have poisoned seven guests to the extent that one was foaming at the mouth and another bled from her ears. Toxicology tests on drink samples are being conducted and until we have the results, we just don’t know what happened. But in the meantime, we are “shocked” and are doing everything possible to get answers. And we also believe that it was a “one off incident”, just as the methanol poisonings in Laos last month that killed two Australians were a “one off”. Fiji was, and is, relatively safe.

The Australian government’s decision to issue an alert about the potential for spiked drinks in Fiji has caused local upset because it raised the possibility that this is not a “one off” – that guests at other Fijian resorts can’t trust what is in their glass. But the Australian authorities are just being responsible and especially after what happened in Laos. DFAT had no choice but to issue the warning to its citizens, either in Fiji or planning to do so, lest it be accused of negligence.

Grubsheet has seen a great deal of Australian media coverage and on the whole, it has been accurate and responsible. Of course “dream holidays” turn into “nightmares” if people start foaming at the mouth and bleeding from their ears. But generally speaking, Fiji has emerged with credit for the way the authorities are handling the situation and general goodwill towards the country is shining through the various stories.

Of course, there will always be the odd media rogue in any such crisis who tries to take a stick to the story and beat it up – to sensationalise it. But overall, the media has covered this story responsibly and without triggering alarm that could permanently damage Fiji’s reputation. And it is how the Fijian government and Tourism Fiji handle this crisis that will ultimately determine the outcome.

Rule Number 1/ Honesty. Rule Number 2/ Honesty. Rule Number 3/ Keep people informed. Rule Number 4/ Get the messaging right and making sure that anyone who goes on the pubic record is singing from the same song sheet. Rule Number 5/ Don’t get overly defensive. Sh*t happens and it has in this instance. But people are more likely to be suspicious of a cover-up if anyone succumbs to the temptation to cast any unfavourable reporting as an attack on the country and accuse Fijians who are questioning what happened of being unpatriotic.

Unfortunately, today’s media coverage in the two main dailies falls into some of these traps far more than the foreign media has. The Fiji Times front page is simply wrong. There hasn’t been a “global outcry” about what happened at the Warwick. So why say so? There has been legitimate concern about what happened that the Fijian authorities are dealing with responsibly. So start reporting responsibly.

Unfortunately, over at the Fiji Sun, they are really being overly defensive. And especially in an editorial by the normally sensible Naisa Koroi, who needs to take a couple of Asprin and have a good lie down.

Where is the “media hysteria”? Naisa doesn’t tell us. But there is no evidence that Grubsheet has seen that could be described as hysteria. Any hysteria is at Gorrie Street over the potential impact of the pina colada poisonings on Fiji’s image. Which may have been dented if you like cocktails but is hardly on the line in any other sense.

We all know that the biggest potential threat to tourism – aside from cyclones – is political instability, the possibility of civil unrest and crime, and especially in the new era of drug-fuelled random attacks on individuals. And what might be in a glass of pina colada comes way down the list of potential dangers.

So as well as getting to the bottom of what happened at the Warwick, the other most important thing is to defuse the faux “hysteria” and for certain local journalists to get a grip.

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Some of the additional coverage today, including some admirable and non-hysterical reporting in the Fiji Sun news columns.

And in the Fiji Times…

POSTSCRIPT:

When Grubsheet was advising government under the “Old Order”, there was acute sensitivity in some quarters about any damage to Fiji’s image that even extended to foreigners drowning during their holidays.

Big Brother clearly can’t be in the water to stop people getting out of their depth. Is Australia’s image damaged by the 323* people who drowned at the nation’s beaches during the past 12 months? Of course not.

What really matters is the tone of national life when people choose where to holiday. And the Coalition should be more worried about the things they can control, such the widening gulf between rich and poor in Fiji, the crime, the self-entitlement and the racism, Because there’s anecdotal evidence that these are what some visitors are starting to remember more about their holidays than the “bulas” and the smiles.

* Figure from the Royal Life Saving Society.