A case for Fiji’s grassroots citizenry and media to be better informed, engaged for democracy

Democracy in Fiji has been top-down where primarily the middle class and the wealthy elite have understood its true merits and values. Politicians, professionals, academics and civil society organisations, rather than the grassroots population, have been at the forefront of advocating against coups...

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Autor principal:	Mosmi Bhim
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Asia Pacific Network 2010
Materias:	civil society communications technology democracy development grassroots political activism Communication. Mass media P87-96 Journalism. The periodical press, etc. PN4699-5650
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/2b9287a959044ea5b66c194cb3e1eaa1
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:2b9287a959044ea5b66c194cb3e1eaa12021-12-02T03:41:02ZA case for Fiji’s grassroots citizenry and media to be better informed, engaged for democracy10.24135/pjr.v16i2.10381023-94992324-2035https://doaj.org/article/2b9287a959044ea5b66c194cb3e1eaa12010-10-01T00:00:00Zhttps://ojs.aut.ac.nz/pacific-journalism-review/article/view/1038https://doaj.org/toc/1023-9499https://doaj.org/toc/2324-2035 Democracy in Fiji has been top-down where primarily the middle class and the wealthy elite have understood its true merits and values. Politicians, professionals, academics and civil society organisations, rather than the grassroots population, have been at the forefront of advocating against coups. Democracy was described as a ‘foreign flower’ by ethno-nationalists for two decades. Some critics see it as having failed to work properly in Fiji because a lack of infrastructure and development means grassroots people are not sufficiently informed to make critical decisions and hold leaders accountable. This, and a lack of unity, led to a failure of widespread protests against coups. Civil society, political activists and individuals were isolated in their struggle against coups. The media has been a key player in anti-coup protests as it relayed information that enabled networking and partnership. Media censorship since April 2009 has restricted their role and violated citizens’ Right to Information. This article argues that for democracy to work, the infrastructure and communications technology needs to reach the masses so people are adequately informed through an uncensored media. Mosmi BhimAsia Pacific Networkarticlecivil societycommunications technologydemocracydevelopmentgrassrootspolitical activismCommunication. Mass mediaP87-96Journalism. The periodical press, etc.PN4699-5650ENPacific Journalism Review, Vol 16, Iss 2 (2010)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	civil society communications technology democracy development grassroots political activism Communication. Mass media P87-96 Journalism. The periodical press, etc. PN4699-5650
spellingShingle	civil society communications technology democracy development grassroots political activism Communication. Mass media P87-96 Journalism. The periodical press, etc. PN4699-5650 Mosmi Bhim A case for Fiji’s grassroots citizenry and media to be better informed, engaged for democracy
description	Democracy in Fiji has been top-down where primarily the middle class and the wealthy elite have understood its true merits and values. Politicians, professionals, academics and civil society organisations, rather than the grassroots population, have been at the forefront of advocating against coups. Democracy was described as a ‘foreign flower’ by ethno-nationalists for two decades. Some critics see it as having failed to work properly in Fiji because a lack of infrastructure and development means grassroots people are not sufficiently informed to make critical decisions and hold leaders accountable. This, and a lack of unity, led to a failure of widespread protests against coups. Civil society, political activists and individuals were isolated in their struggle against coups. The media has been a key player in anti-coup protests as it relayed information that enabled networking and partnership. Media censorship since April 2009 has restricted their role and violated citizens’ Right to Information. This article argues that for democracy to work, the infrastructure and communications technology needs to reach the masses so people are adequately informed through an uncensored media.
format	article
author	Mosmi Bhim
author_facet	Mosmi Bhim
author_sort	Mosmi Bhim
title	A case for Fiji’s grassroots citizenry and media to be better informed, engaged for democracy
title_short	A case for Fiji’s grassroots citizenry and media to be better informed, engaged for democracy
title_full	A case for Fiji’s grassroots citizenry and media to be better informed, engaged for democracy
title_fullStr	A case for Fiji’s grassroots citizenry and media to be better informed, engaged for democracy
title_full_unstemmed	A case for Fiji’s grassroots citizenry and media to be better informed, engaged for democracy
title_sort	case for fiji’s grassroots citizenry and media to be better informed, engaged for democracy
publisher	Asia Pacific Network
publishDate	2010
url	https://doaj.org/article/2b9287a959044ea5b66c194cb3e1eaa1
work_keys_str_mv	AT mosmibhim acaseforfijisgrassrootscitizenryandmediatobebetterinformedengagedfordemocracy AT mosmibhim caseforfijisgrassrootscitizenryandmediatobebetterinformedengagedfordemocracy
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A case for Fiji’s grassroots citizenry and media to be better informed, engaged for democracy

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