MEDIA freedom will mean little if news organisations cannot financially survive, Deputy Prime Minister Manoa Kamikamica has warned.
As Fiji’s media industry faces growing pressure from changing technology and shrinking advertising revenue, he told the Pacific Media Summit that a free press should not only be viewed as a pillar of democracy but also as an industry that needed the resources to operate.
“A free press cannot be sustained by freedom alone, but it must also be able to survive,” he said.
Mr Kamikamica said media organisations employed people and needed to invest in technology and maintain adequately resourced newsrooms.
“Just as a democratic institution, we must also talk about it as an industry.”
He said technological changes had also blurred the lines between traditional broadcasting, radio, television and digital media, creating new challenges for news organisations.
“Journalists will eventually produce less journalism or even not survive.”
Mr Kamikamica said one of the biggest challenges facing the industry was the loss of traditional advertising revenue, with advertising dollars increasingly moving to global digital platforms.
He said the Government had responded by reconfiguring the Public Service Broadcasting Grant to support media organisations across the industry.
However, he said the assistance came with responsibilities around producing public-interest content.
“The ability for governments to understand that and try and see how we can work together with the industry is very important.”
He said the sustainability of media was ultimately tied to its ability to continue employing journalists, investing in technology and producing journalism for the public.
