KEY POINTS:
The military crackdown on Fijian media has had little effect on two popular websites based in Suva.
William Parkinson, managing director of fijivillage.com, said the military had turned up at its offices on Tuesday night but in a "very genial manner" to make certain demands.
They were mainly that the website should not publish material which could "incite conflict" and in particular not to report points of view which might emanate from deposed Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase and his camp.
Mr Parkinson said his website would not publish stories that could incite violence anyway and had not been able to reach Mr Qarase. Asked what he would do if Mr Qarase was able to be contacted, he replied: "We will cross that bridge if we come to it."
Mr Parkinson said soldiers were still sitting outside the premises yesterday but were not interfering with their operations.
"They are here but in a very Fijian fashion ... the kava is flowing. We just continue on."
Mr Parkinson said the website had run a range of stories which could be perceived as critical of what was going on. "It's business as usual."
Kavai Damu, editor of fijilive.com, said he had had no problems as his organisation had not even been approached by the military. On Tuesday Fijian television had chosen not to run its bulletins and Fiji's largest daily newspaper, the Fiji Times, had suspended publication rather than accept censorship.
It was understood to be resuming printing yesterday after the military said it would not interfere.
Auckland-based Radio Tarana continues to break Fijian coup news, as military restrictions gag media in Fiji.
Half of the independent operation's 16-strong news team is stationed in Fiji, including three New Zealand-based journalists and five freelancers who live there.
Managing director Robert Khan said the specialist Indian station is gaining exclusive interviews daily despite its limited resources.
He credits longstanding relationships and a contingency plan established after the 2000 coup. The station's interview in which deposed Fijian Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase described Commodore Frank Bainimarama as "unstable" and "deranged" was picked up widely by other media.
Mr Khan, who runs the station out of premises in Kingsland, praised the New Zealand media's coverage of the coup.
"I have always rated the New Zealand media [as] far more active than the Australian media in Fiji."
He said that he did not condone military restrictions on media in Fiji, but believed the suppression orders were aimed at not inciting violence rather than distributing propaganda.
In the last coup in 2000, a Fijian TV station was attacked.
