19 Mar 2007

Fiji freelance journalist says he is being discredited

3:17 pm on 19 March 2007

A Fiji journalist says he believes some elements in Fiji's media are trying to discredit him by suggesting he's gone into hiding over an internet blogspot critical of the military.

Some media sources in Fiji have claimed that Ricardo Morris's whereabouts are unknown after an email was circulated suggesting he's behind the controversial Intelligensiya website.

But Mr Morris says he's at home in Suva and while he owns the Intelligentsiya.com domain name, he's got nothing to do with the blogsite.

Mr Morris believes there could be a disinformation campaign against him.

"It appears that some journalists are out to get me. I'd imagined that at this time you'd have journalists banding together, even if allegations came out against one of your colleagues. But in this case it seems the opposite's happening, they're only too willing to give you up."

He says he suspects the email sent out under the name of Loyal Fijian could have come from someone within the military.