Typical bias on New Caledonia

New Caledonia

The biased article “Dien Bien Thio” by Helen Fraser in October PIM cannot go unanswered.

When Fraser left New Caledonia claim ing to be the victim of “white bully boys” we all thought that we would now be in for an era of unbiased reporting in the English language press.

But this latest article was vintage biased and information-selective Fraser.

What she failed to mention about the “siege of Thio” by Eloi Machoro was that the militaire and the white inhabitants were prevented from taking decisive action on the express orders of the High Commis sioner E Pisani. There were numerous instances when the people of Thio appealed to the militaire to take action instead of standing and observing the FLNKS ransack the houses, but were told that nothing could be done as they were under orders not to interfere and cause a confrontation.

At the same time the militaire prevented equally militant whites from attacking Machoro, again on orders from the High Commissioner.

Had the militaire been allowed to func tion as they were trained to, without the biased restraint of Pisani and the socialist administration, the “siege of Thio” need never have occurred.

From what we can recall, Fraser has never mentioned Pisani’s restraint in any of her reports, but rather has stressed the attitude of the Kanaks, and has always shown the anti-independentists to be wrong and somehow evil.

Perhaps we could have received some more even reporting if Fraser had had more

than a rudimentary knowledge of French, and could have understood all that was said to her. Perhaps PIM could take a hint from this last point and position a reporter here who really understands French.

When you do, we may then get a true and unbiased picture in your journal.

Andree Baumier,

Vice President, Comite d’Actions Patriotiques, Noumea.

Helen Fraser’s command of French is thought good enough for her to be appointed official interpreter in several conferences. As for the events in Thio, Mr Pisani arrived when the “siege” was almost over, which makes Ms Baumier’s claims less than credible. She appears to be of the view that anything less than solid support for the more right wing caldoches is biased. We do not agree.

Editor.