PACIFIC VIEWPOINT By Adam Taylor Washington Post

Early on Friday morning, Jeanine Tuivaiki was found dead in a church hall near Apia, the capital and largest city in Samoa. She was 20 years old.

While police are investigating the cause of her death, initial reports suggest that she might have committed suicide. On Sunday, Samoa’s largest newspaper ran an article on Tuivaiki’s death.

The manner in which it did so swiftly sparked an intense and remarkable backlash.

“Suicide in Church Hall” ran the stark headline across the front page of the Sunday Samoan, a sister paper of the daily Samoa Observer.

What most people likely noticed first, however, was a full-page photograph accompanying the text. That graphic image clearly showed not only Tuivaiki’s dead body but also the manner of her death.

Since the weekend, readers have called the Samoa Observer “disgusting” and “shameful” for its decision to publish the photograph. Many noted that the text of the article had serious issues, too.

Throughout the story, Tuivaiki was referred to with male pronouns like “he,” even though her name was female and the photograph quite clearly showed her wearing a dress.

There were also no details on where anyone feeling suicidal themselves could find help.

The anger over the Samoa Observer’s decision to run that photo and write that article touches on more than just journalistic ethics.

Tuivaiki was a member of Samoa’s transgender fa’afafine community, of which there are thought to be around 500 in Samoa itself, 500 more in New Zealand and more elsewhere. Fa’afafine Samaons are those who are biologically born as males but who are identified as women from a young age and generally behave in feminine-gendered ways, including dressing as women and performing traditional dances.

For the most part, fa’afafine are not considered homosexuals in Samoan culture, instead forming a third gender. They have traditionally been valued in communities for their ability to undertake both female and male tasks in the family home.

They have, however, come to be aligned with the gay community in recent years.

Fa’afafine are thought to have existed in Samoa for centuries, but more recently the communities have complained of being marginalised.

Experts point toward the influence of the Catholic Church in Samoa as one catalyst for this shift. According to the Samoa Observer article, an unnamed friend told the newspaper that Tuivaiki was “very committed to the church”.

Shortly after the front page was published, Tuisina Ymania Brown-Gabriel of the Samoa Fa’afafine Association released a statement that accused the Samoa Observer of deliberately misgendering Tuivaiki, an act that she said “ripped any remnants of humanity from her corpse.”

She also pointed to wider problems the fa’afafine community faces that the article brought up.

“Samoa Observer are no better than the homophobic and transphobic citizens who practice vile and hate towards an already marginalised sector of Samoan society,” Brown-Gabriel wrote.

“I am one of the many Jeanines that at our weakest and lowest, have battled with suicide because of this homophobia.”

Many others shared the outrage. Some called for boycotts of the newspaper, while others said that the journalist who wrote the story should be fired.

The Pacific Islands Media Association started a petition to call upon the newspaper to be held accountable.

“Publishing an uncensored photo of the dead woman breaches common decency, not just ethics,” the group’s chair, Titi Gabi, said in a statement.

On Twitter and social media, the hashtag #beautifuljeanine has been used in an attempt to counter the negativity many felt was found in the original article.

Samoan Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi has even commented, saying that he himself had been “appalled” at the front page image and that he wanted a media council to be formed to provide oversight to Samoa’s media industry.

“As a parent, it was devastating to see someone’s child portrayed in such a heartless manner,” Malielegaoi said in a statement, adding that the photograph went against the cultural and religious beliefs of his country.

In response to the outrage, the Samoa Observer has removed the offending article from its website. On Monday, it followed up on the story with a front page note to readers that attempted to explain why the photograph was published.

Editor Gatoaltle Savea Sano Malifa said that the newspaper had not meant to “demean, vilify or denigrate” anyone with the image and that instead it had been chosen to be featured as the front page featured a variety of stories about division in the country’s religious communities.

Speaking to Radio New Zealand, Savea seemed to strike a tone even less contrite, arguing that the response had been fueled by social media and mostly come from outside Samoa.

The editor also said that the newspaper had spoken to Tuivaiki’s family before publishing.

“People die all the time,” he said. “Journalists should go for the truth, and the truth is what we published.”

So far, authorities in Samoa say they have not confirmed that Tuivaiki’s death was a suicide and they will continue to investigate.

A police spokesman told the New Zealand Herald that if the photograph was taken by a member of police staff, it could not have been published without the permission of the police commissioner.

In the meantime, the Samoa Observer has published a full apology and has admitted it suffered en error in judgement.

- Washington Post/PNC