Fiji Times

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The December 7, 2006 front page of the Fiji Times
Type	Daily newspaper
Format	Broadsheet

Owner	Fiji Times Limited
Publisher	Anthony Yianni
Founded	September 4, 1869
Headquarters	Suva, Fiji

Website: www.fijitimes.com

The Fiji Times is a daily newspaper published in Fiji. Established in Levuka on 4 September 1869, it is Fiji's oldest newspaper still operating.

The Fiji Times is owned by the Fiji Times Limited. Its board is chaired by Ross McDonald (as of 1996), and includes Mahendra Motibhai Patel (appointed 1974). A third position on the board is held by Adi Davila Toganivalu, a businesswoman named on 7 January 2006 to replace Ratu Joni Madraiwiwi, a former judge who resigned from the board upon becoming (in 2005) the Vice-President of Fiji. The Managing Director is Anthony Yianni (since 2001); the Company Secretary is Umesh Prasad (since 2004).

An online edition is published, featuring local news, sport and weather, but without any of the international features from the print version.

[edit] Coups and censorship

The Rabuka administration censored the Fiji Times for a while following the first military coup of 14 May 1987. In protest, the newspaper published an edition with large blank spaces, where articles censored by the military would have been placed.

The Fiji Times announced on 5 December 2006, in the wake of the overthrow of the civilian government by the military, that it was suspending publication rather than bow to government censorship.[1] Military officers had visited the premises that evening to prohibit the publication of any "propaganda" in support of the deposed government of Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase. Their online edition is continuing publication as normal, however. Just before midday on 6 December, the military granted permission for the Times to resume publication without censorship. [2]

The Times reported on 9 December that two members of the public had been detained and questioned by the Military over letters they had written to the Times editor during the week, and were given a "verbal warning." [3]