Asia-Pacific Regional Press Freedom Seminar

Country Report - Samoa

Having to make materials (such as correspondence and photos) available to someone suing a newspaper for defamation before the case goes to court, is one of the restrictive elements of the 1995 Defamation Act which is in place in Samoa's media laws. This is also well before a determination if there is a case or no case to answer. We in the media see this as mainly a ploy by the government at the time to discourage members of the public from writing revealing letters to the editor under non-de-plumes, often about mismanagement and corruption in high places.

Samoa also has a Criminal Libel Law still in place, a legislation recently used by the late Prime Minister against the Samoa Observer newspaper. The case was dropped after the passing of the plaintiff.

Such legislation is seen as archaic and must be scrapped.

There are also the Printers and Publishers Act; and the Indecent Publications Act.

Samoa's media today, enjoy unrestricted freedoms within the confines of the principles and ethics of the trade, compared to say seven to ten years ago when three pieces of legislations were rushed through parliament mainly to curb media and information freedom. The laws are still in place although we have been told by our political masters that they serve a purpose synonymous to 'Big Brother' - watching over you.

Samoa's media exploded over that time especially privately ownership media outlets. Today with a population of 171,000, there are seven radio stations - 1 state owned assuming the role of the public broadcaster, three fully commercial stations owned by a single company and two owned (separately) and operated by the Pentecostal churches.

In television, there is the state owned TV claiming to be the National Broadcaster, two Cable TV Stations [one with 3 channels and the other with 4 channels] both privately owned and a religious station carrying again Pentecostal American based religious programmes with minimal local programmes.

Newspapers - Samoa has several privately owned newspapers - one daily except for Monday, a thrice weekly and a weekly. These are published in Samoa. In addition, there are three Samoan language newspapers published out of Auckland, New Zealand and distributed in Samoa. The government also publishes its own weekly newspaper.

So with a population of 171,000, I believe the population is well served even though in terms of the market size, competition is very tough indeed as all media outlets compete for the advertising dollar.

There have been a number of suggestions and public views about regulating the media through the establishment of a Media Council. The issue was again raised by the Prime Minister at the end of August when he spoke at the inaugural graduation of the first Media/Journalism course now offered at the Samoa Polytechnic.

He pointed to the need for the media to be more transparent and the need for a mechanism where the public can air their views about the performance and media coverage and the bearing on the public at large.

The issue was discussed by the Journalists Association of Western Samoa in 1998. Although the members felt that it was important to have such a regulatory body, it was decided that there was a need for more discussion and that's where it stays right now.

When the Management of the national airline complained in a letter to Editor about a story that (was not true according to them) that has affected their business negotiations at the time, they again suggested the need for such a body in Samoa.

However the publisher of the paper argued, that there was a need as well to set up a Business Ethics Body since the airline has allowed business malpractices that had effectively placed a burden on the public who are paying for their mistakes.

At the moment, it will be a matter of time and a commitment by the industry to establish such a body. The industry has been supportive of the idea lately, which is important to its formation. Rather than being perceived as an idea planted from outside, the establishment of a media council should get the support of the local industry first and drawing on the assistance and expertise from outside.

Lance Polu
President of the Journalists Association of (Western) Samoa and
Editor of Le Samoa Weekly newspaper

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