Kiribati Newstar: 3 October 2000
POLITICS: MICHAEL FIELD AND THE CLEANLINESS OF OUR COUNTRY
'If someone has written something that is not correct about me or my country, that error cannot be corrected by banning that writer from the country. We have the freedom and the means to challenge what that person has written on a level playing field without resorting to bullying tactics.'
By TEWEIARIKI TAERO
Journalist calls ban disturbing and other links
Michael Field visits the USP Journalism
newsroom.
FIELD AND THE CLEANLINESS OF OUR COUNTRY
(The following letter is translated into English by the author).
I AM one of those people who believe in and strongly support freedom of expression and media freedom. Like other I-Kiribati, I feel hurt when nasty things are said or written about my country. It has been alleged that Michael Field has been writing untruths about Kiribati and has therefore been barred from entering the country. Before we rush ahead to defend our feelings, let us ponder these points critically. This time we will focus on what Field has written about the cleanliness of our country.
If someone has written something that is not correct about me or my country, that error cannot be corrected by banning that writer from the country. We have the freedom and the means to challenge what that person has written on a level playing field without resorting to bullying tactics.
If my home is dirty, it cannot be cleaned by banning the person who pointed that out to me in the first place. It can only be clean if I heed his message and go about cleaning my place up.
If we do the cleaning up now, it does mean that what Field saw and wrote about back then was wrong. No one can plan to correct a past mistake, but people can prevent a similar mistake from happening again in the future.
If I genuinely love my child or my friend, it does not mean that I am belittling them by telling them that their clothes are dirty. It is a way of showing our love and concern.
We are not being belittled if other people point out our weaknesses to us. We ought to use these reminders to spur us on to strive for higher levels of excellence.
If we succeed in getting our islands sparkling clean today (and we are still striving for that achievement), it does not mean that what Field saw and wrote about then was wrong, but we can be proud if we succeed.
In this world, no journalist has forcefully taken over Governments but some Governments have been known to suppress or even eliminate the freedom and rights of journalists, and to interfere directly with their work.
A free and responsible media plays a crucial role in any democracy. It is not only their job to point out the good things only. They must also be free to point out negative things. The usefulness of a free media has been demonstrated in democratic countries like the USA, Britain, Australia and New Zealand.
If we allow journalists to visit our shores and do their job, the world will believe that we have nothing to hide. If, on the other hand, we ban even one journalist, people will be more likely to question our transparency and integrity.
It is more important to focus on the message being written rather than gagging the messenger.
We cannot really determine what the I-Kiribati think about this issue if their access to news is limited and if they have not read what Field has written.
There is something we can do to make our country proud again. Let us clean and maintain the cleanliness of our country. Later, we can invite Field to see things for himself and perhaps eat his own words - but we must not prevent him from visiting our country and doing his job.
Thank you.
Teweiariki Teaero
Teai, Temwaiku
25 September 2000