19 November 2008
Media researcher claims Fiji coup link with Stockholm syndrome
6 December 2006
Te Waha Nui Online
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Photo: Charu Uppal
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A media researcher and journalist has found that some Fiji journalists admitted being affected by the Stockholm syndrome when reporting the George Speight coup in May 2000, according to a paper presented at the Journalism Education Association conference in Auckland today.
The paper, by Auckland journalist Christine Gounder now covering the latest coup in Fiji for Radio Niu FM, was one of two papers presented about coverage of the Fiji coups.
The other paper was by doctoral candidate Anthony Mason, of the University of Canberra, who drew comparisons between coverage of the 1987 and 2000 coups.
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“Many of the Fijian journalists admitted they suffered from the Stockholm syndrome and it was hard to remain professional in their jobs,” Gounder said in her paper.
The Stockholm syndrome describes the behaviour of kidnap victims or people who associate closely with the captors, and who over time become sympathetic to their captors. The syndrome is named after the Norrmalmstorg hostage siege at a bank in Stockholm, Sweden, on 23-28 August 1973.
Speight’s gunmen held the government of Fiji’s first Indo-Fijian prime minister, Mahendra Chaudhry, hostage in Parliament for 56 days. Speight is now serving a life sentence for treason on Nukulau island, off Suva.
Gounder interviewed 13 Fiji journalists and five foreign journalists who covered the Speight coup for the research paper.
“Mistakes made by the overseas media in 1987 were repeated in 2000. Many overseas journalists did not seem to understand the complexities of Fiji’s political situation.
“The local media, on the other hand, were free to publish during the 2000 coup and with so much information available, did not know how to handle this information and made blunders in the process.”
Gounder advocated a Pacific culturally specific crisis manual for journalists to assist reporters covering coups.
She suggested the Fiji Media Council could take up the challenge and publish case studies of coup coverage.
Mason’s paper said Australian coverage of the coups in Fiji in 1987 and 2000 provided a clear example of how the quality print media dealt with a crisis in the Pacific region.
He compared uses of sources and technology by the journalists between the coups.
The three-day conference, hosted by AUT University’s School of Communication Studies, ended today.
Links:
- Background on Wansolwara Online
- Radio Niu FM
- JEA/JEANZ conference 2006
