FBC CEO demands apology from Fiji TV over ‘idiots’ quote

FIJI – Fiji TV has been asked by Fiji Broadcasting Corporation (FBC) chief executive Riyaz Sayed-Khaiyum to retract a story which he says wrongly portrays him by saying he called all social media commentators in Fiji “idiots.”

In an email to Fiji TV management, Sayed-Khaiyum accuses a Fiji TV reporter of misrepresenting his comment which said, “I would rather not comment about idiots,” during a news conference on Friday.

He said the comment was a specific response to a specific question about two individuals and a Facebook group and not about all social media commentators.

Three police complaints have been filed against Sayed-Khaiyum as a result of the report.

The FBC chief executive said portraying his answer as a reference to the wider Fijian public showed a blatant disregard for media ethics.

Sayed-Khaiyum said if Fiji TV fails to retract the story and apologise for the harm it has caused him and the FBC, he would take up the matter with the Media Industry Development Authority and consider even further action.

Fiji TV is yet to respond.

Sayed-Khaiyum also took offense with the angle of the report in question which he said began: “Fiji broadcasting CEO Riyaz Sayed-Khaiyum has bluntly shifted the blame to Nemani Bainivalu the host and producer of the controversial TV show Wasea Bhasha. The state broadcaster has removed the host in an attempt to put the contentious debacle to rest”.

Sayed-Khaiyum said this was again misreported as he said he had explained in the news c
onference that Nemani Bainivalu was sacked after a full investigation into the allegations of racist and stereotypical content which acknowledged writing and presenting on the FBC TV language programme Wasea Bhasha.

A separate police investigation into an official complaint about the content aired on Wasea Bhasha has been completed and is now with the prosecution.

The Media Industry Development Authority said it will complete its own investigation into the incident this week.

- RNZI