Vanuatu's main daily newspaper, The Daily Post, has celebrated its 5000th edition.
The Daily Post, Vanuatu's main daily newspaper, published its 5000th edition on Monday. Photo: RNZI Jamie Tahana
It was founded in 1993 by Marc Neil-Jones, who turned a classified bulletin into the country's first non-government newspaper.
However, exposing political corruption and other scandals hasn't come easy, and the media in Vanuatu has faced regular intimidation from powerful figures trying to save face.
In 2001, Mr Neil-Jones was deported by the then-Prime Minister, Barak Sope, after the paper exposed a corruption scandal for which he was eventually jailed.
Mr Neil-Jones says both he and his staff have had to fight - sometimes literally - for Vanuatu to have the press freedom it does today.
"I mean I've been jailed, I've been deported, I've been assaulted, I've been defamed, abused - the whole gambit. It wasn't easy because initially politicians - particularly in a Melanesian country - they're not used to losing face, and we were breaking corruption regularly in the paper and politicians did not like it."
Marc Neil-Jones, who is now partially retired, says The Daily Post has changed the mediascape in Vanuatu, and the free media is now more valued than it has been.
