ISSUE
Friday, August 15, 2025
Volume 16 . Issue 72
Fiji’s independent Repúblika magazine editor Ricardo Morris has given a blistering attack on the state of a “free press” in a wide-ranging interview with the regional monitoring Pacific Media Watch project.
He has also criticised the University of the South Pacific over failing to front up for an interview with his magazine after a controversial gag on a former USP professor over a speech planned for the World Press Freedom Day event last month.
According to Repúblika magazine, economics scholar Professor Wadan Narsey was removed from speaking at the World Press Freedom Day event on May 3, 2013 under instructions from USP management.
Professor Narsey had initially been invited by the USP Journalism Students Association to the event. He intended to deliver a scathing speech where he would accuse the owners of mainstream media in Fiji to have a detrimental effect on content, and where he would claim that freedom of expression in Fiji today is severely limited.
Ricardo Morris was present at the World Press Freedom Day event at USP. He explained that he knew something had been “going on”, but said no one would speak to him about it. Later, Morris received an email from Professor Narsey explaining he had been “disinvited”. This prompted the editor to contact USP for an interview, but he was met by an organisation that only seemed to obstruct his requests. The editor does not rule out that the USP’s reaction may be due to Professor Narsey’s opinions.
“Professor Wadan Narsey is an outspoken academic on development in Fiji,” Morris said, and claimed USP has always been wary of him because of his “forthright views”. “I think to some extent journalists themselves, too, know what they’re doing and they will self-censor themselves. It may not be completely true to blame everything on the corporate owners, because I think individual journalists themselves know and take a conscious decision to censor themselves sometimes.”
Narsey is a former professor of economics at USP, and a prolific commentator on social and political issues facing Fiji and the Pacific.
- Pacific Scoop.
(Daniel Drageset is Pacific Media Watch’s contributing editor)
Fiji’s independent Repúblika magazine editor Ricardo Morris has given a blistering attack on the state of a “free press” in a wide-ranging interview with the regional monitoring Pacific Media Watch project.
He has also criticised the University of the South Pacific over failing to front up for...
Fiji’s independent Repúblika magazine editor Ricardo Morris has given a blistering attack on the state of a “free press” in a wide-ranging interview with the regional monitoring Pacific Media Watch project.
He has also criticised the University of the South Pacific over failing to front up for an interview with his magazine after a controversial gag on a former USP professor over a speech planned for the World Press Freedom Day event last month.
According to Repúblika magazine, economics scholar Professor Wadan Narsey was removed from speaking at the World Press Freedom Day event on May 3, 2013 under instructions from USP management.
Professor Narsey had initially been invited by the USP Journalism Students Association to the event. He intended to deliver a scathing speech where he would accuse the owners of mainstream media in Fiji to have a detrimental effect on content, and where he would claim that freedom of expression in Fiji today is severely limited.
Ricardo Morris was present at the World Press Freedom Day event at USP. He explained that he knew something had been “going on”, but said no one would speak to him about it. Later, Morris received an email from Professor Narsey explaining he had been “disinvited”. This prompted the editor to contact USP for an interview, but he was met by an organisation that only seemed to obstruct his requests. The editor does not rule out that the USP’s reaction may be due to Professor Narsey’s opinions.
“Professor Wadan Narsey is an outspoken academic on development in Fiji,” Morris said, and claimed USP has always been wary of him because of his “forthright views”. “I think to some extent journalists themselves, too, know what they’re doing and they will self-censor themselves. It may not be completely true to blame everything on the corporate owners, because I think individual journalists themselves know and take a conscious decision to censor themselves sometimes.”
Narsey is a former professor of economics at USP, and a prolific commentator on social and political issues facing Fiji and the Pacific.
- Pacific Scoop.
(Daniel Drageset is Pacific Media Watch’s contributing editor)
Leave a Comment