Who let the blogs out? Media and free speech in post-coup Fiji

Fiji’s fourth armed seizure of government on 5 December 2006 delivered more than a new administration - it heralded the onslaught of a new media environment. With a heavy military crackdown on dissenting opinion and subsequent self-censorship of mainstream media, anonymous weblogs became a safe option for expressing anti-coup views. But because some anonymous blogs allowed racist, defamatory and provocative views to flourish, the role of the press and journalistic ethics was also seen as important. This article examines how a new—and uneasy—media combination kept freedom of expression alive in the months following the coup d’état. Cartoon: © Malcolm Evan