Pacific Journalism Online Returns

SUVA: Pacific Journalism Online, the website of the journalism programme of the regional University of the South Pacific, rejoined cyberspace today.

University authorities at the Laucala campus in the Fiji Islands decided to reopen the site this week after it had been temporarily closed for security reasons since May 29.

It was shut down the day after a mob supporting rebel leader George Speight attacked and trashed Fiji Television offices in the capital of Suva and hours before the military took over the country, declaring martial law.

Many international media groups, journalism schools, professors and academics had written to the university urging for the website to be reopened.

The president of the USP Staff Association, Dr Biman Prasad, welcomed the reopening of the website.

In an appeal to the administration, he said: "Academic freedom is always fundamental to the survival and operation of an university, even more so when there is a crisis and threats to academic freedom."

* USP journalism students reports on the crisis are still posted at the UTS journalism website: http://www.journalism.uts.edu.au/

Pacific Journalism Online: http://www.usp.ac.fj/journ/

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