Marc Neil-Jones, born 14 October 1957,
Café Pacific, 18 January 2009 is a

Vanuatu Vanuatu ( or ; ), officially the Republic of Vanuatu (french: link=no, République de Vanuatu; bi, Ripablik blong Vanuatu), is an island country located in the South Pacific Ocean. The archipelago, which is of volcanic origin, is east of no ...

an journalist. A campaigner for

freedom of the press Freedom of the press or freedom of the media is the fundamental principle that communication and expression through various media, including printed and electronic media, especially published materials, should be considered a right to be exerci ...

, he has been assaulted several times, as well as briefly deported and imprisoned.

Radio New Zealand Radio New Zealand ( mi, Te Reo Irirangi o Aotearoa), commonly known as Radio NZ or simply RNZ, is a New Zealand public-service radio broadcaster and Crown entity that was established under the Radio New Zealand Act 1995. It operates news and cu ...

has described him as "one of the Pacific's most significant journalistic figures"."Vanuatu Daily Post publisher Marc Neil-Jones heads to semi-retirement"
Radio New Zealand International, 12 February 2015 A

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English ...

national"MEDIA: JOURNO'S JOURNO EDITS NEW PACIFIC ISLANDS REGIONAL NEWSPAPER"
''The Independent'' (New Zealand), 17 July 2002 from

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

, he worked in advertising and marketing manager in

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini; ho, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niu Gini), is a country i ...

from 1982, then moved to Vanuatu in 1989."Vanuatu publisher Neil-Jones tells of his struggle for a free press"
Pacific Media Centre, 9 May 2011"Vanuatu publisher tells of brutal ordeal at hands of ‘political gang’"
Pacific Scoop, 10 March 2011 He became a naturalised Vanuatuan citizen in around 2003. In 1993 he purchased the fledgling newspaper ''Trading Post'', which "was read by a few hundred expatriates and consisted a few general interest news items and classified ads but no local news". Neil-Jones received permission from Prime Minister

Maxime Carlot Korman Maxime Carlot Korman (born 26 April 1941) is a Vanuatuan politician, formerly serving as the speaker of the Parliament and formerly as acting president. He served as the prime minister of Vanuatu for nearly five years, first from 16 December 199 ...

's government to develop it into a newspaper carrying local Vanuatuan news, including political news. With Kalvao Moli (a future MP) as its main journalist, the ''Trading Post'' became a weekly then (in 1994) bi-weekly newspaper, the only private newspaper in the country at the time."Our newspaper milestones"
, ''Vanuatu Daily Post'', 30 October 2013 From the late 1990s, the newspaper printed detailed reports on government corruption, written by ombudsman Marie Noelle Patterson. From 2001 the paper was published three times a week. In 2001, the ''Trading Post'' revealed Prime Minister Barak Sope's involvement in a case of forged bank guarantees. Sope issued a deportation order against Neil-Jones, on the grounds that the latter had published a state secret. Neil-Jones was arrested and put on a plane to Australia, without being allowed to pack even his insulin medication. The deportation order was overturned by Chief Justice

Vincent Lunabek Vincent Lunabek is a Vanuatuan legal and political figure. Lunabek was appointed a Supreme Court of Vanuatu justice Justice, in its broadest sense, is the principle that people receive that which they deserve, with the interpretation of ...

; Sope was later convicted of forgery and sentenced to three years in gaol."Cheering crowd greets return of deported publisher"
''Saipan Tribune'', 23 January 2001 In 2002 Neil-Jones launched the ''

Vanuatu Daily Post The ''Vanuatu Daily Post'' is a newspaper published in Port Vila in Vanuatu. It is the only daily newspaper in Vanuatu. The newspaper's founder, Marc Neil-Jones, had been the victim of physical attacks supported by government ministers during ...

'', the country's first daily newspaper. In 2006, the paper's sports editor Samuel Taffo was assaulted by a police officer. Neil-Jones demanded that the officer be suspended. In response, police officers arrested Neil-Jones at the newspaper office, and confined him to the maximum security gaol. He was released that same day without charge after an intervention by his lawyer, but not without first having talked to fellow inmates about living conditions in the prison. Upon his release, he published a report on human rights abuses against prisoners in gaol. In 2009, the ''Daily Post'' again reported on human rights abuses in prison, which led to the dismissing of a prison director. Subsequently, four men assaulted Neil-Jones at the newspaper offices. He was left with a broken nose and a black eye, as well as multiple bruises from kicks to the body. He reported that his attackers had threatened to shoot him and to slit his throat. In March 2011, Minister for Infrastructure Harry Iauko led a group of men into the newspaper's offices and watched them kick and throttle Neil-Jones. This followed allegations of corruption which the ''Daily Post'' had published against Iauko. Iauko later pleaded guilty to

aiding and abetting Aiding and abetting is a legal doctrine related to the guilt of someone who aids or abets (encourages, incites) another person in the commission of a crime (or in another's suicide). It exists in a number of different countries and generally allo ...

assault, but was sentenced only to a small fine, a sentence criticised by

Reporters Without Borders Reporters Without Borders (RWB; french: Reporters sans frontières; RSF) is an international non-profit and non-governmental organization with the stated aim of safeguarding the right to freedom of information. It describes its advocacy as found ...

."RISIBLE FINE FOR MINISTER WHO ASSAULTED NEWSPAPER PUBLISHER"
Reporters Without Borders, 12 July 2011 In February 2015, Neil-Jones announced he was going into semi-retirement from running the ''Daily Post'', to focus on the development of a resort.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Neil-Jones, Marc Vanuatuan journalists 1957 births People educated at Glyn School Living people