HEALTH Minister Dr Ifereimi Waqainabete has accused this newspaper of publishing an article earlier this month under a “recklessly dangerous headline”.
Addressing Parliament in a ministerial statement on the COVID-19 virus preparations undertaken by the Health Ministry, Dr Waqainabete said a story published by The Fiji Times “blew up on social media and was the top viewed story on their website”.
“Recently, The Fiji Times ran an online article under the recklessly dangerous headline “2019-nCoV: No screenings conducted at wharf” regarding passengers disembarking from a cruise ship in Suva Harbour,” he said.
“In the online version of that story, there was no mention that those cruise ship passengers were actually screened at their port of entry in Lautoka.
“For some reason, that vital information was completely missing. Luckily, we got on to them and they removed that story online.
“But the damage was already done, panic ensued, and it was The Fiji Times who was to blame.
“This is not the first time The Fiji Times has gone on the front foot with half the story, but on this matter, they went way too far.”
He said to throw an inflammatory headline like that on Facebook, with zero facts to back it up, was a serious threat to public health and wellbeing.
“We cannot afford to see anything like that again. So, Mr Fred Wesley, know that we’ll be watching your reporting –– on your newspaper, online and on Facebook –– to ensure you’re sticking with nothing but the facts. I urge your readership to do the same.”
The Fiji Times editor-in-chief Fred Wesley said the Health Minister had overreacted. “We correctly reported the facts,” Wesley said.
“An initial, shortened version of the story omitted the fact that the cruise ship’s passengers had been screened in Lautoka. A later version of the story had this information.
“The Health Minister, of all people, must know that (based on information from the World Health Organization) the COVID-19 virus has an incubation period of up to 14 days. An overseas visitor could be screened negative one day, but be found to be positive the following day. As well as this, there may be passengers and crew who did not disembark at Lautoka, but may have only disembarked in Suva. The minister may disagree with our news coverage, but it is an overreaction to call factual reporting ‘recklessly dangerous’.”
