THE Citizens Constitutional Forum says the media played a significant role in propagating racial stereotypes and inciting racist feelings by publishing inflammatory material.
In its report to the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD), CCF said that the media, by reproducing racist material, had become a party to the perpetuation of racism in Fiji.
CCF chief executive Reverend Akuila Yabaki said the media reported sensitive issues in such a manner that sometimes it appeared like a deliberate attempt to provoke negative feelings for particular racial groups in Fiji.
"In 2000, the series of inflammatory articles published by leading media outlets contributed to increased feelings of antagonism towards the Indo-Fijian community.
"The reporting of the 2000 coup also showed a lack of professionalism by media organisations because they kept portraying the 2000 coup makers and hostage takers as heroes," he said.
"The media needs to be more vigilant in how it handles racial issues.
"Fiji is likely to come under pressure by CERD, to introduce a legislation to prosecute racism."
On the Fiji Human Rights Commission media report, Mr Yabaki said the CCF did not see any problems with establishing a Media Tribunal.
However, given the limited financial income of Fiji's media organisations, he said CCF believed it would not be fair to impose tax on media companies to cover costs for this.
However, he said, CCF fully supported the recommendation that, " government should include scrutiny of interlocking directorates in the private sphere from the perspective of their limitations on democracy".
Mr Yabaki said they supported this recommendation because it could reduce corruption.
But he said they were not comfortable with outright racial comments made in the FHRC Media Report.
"All people are entitled to equal rights under the law and to fair treatment.
"No person should be discriminated on the basis of their race, origin or skin colour. Our Constitution also guarantees Freedom of Movement.
"We do not support the recommendation that work permits for expatriate media workers should not be renewed.
"Expatriates have contributed to training local journalists and as a small country, Fiji will continue to need such expertise to benefit from."
