Sunday Sāmoan Newspaper

In 2016, the Sunday Sāmoan featured an image of Jeanine Tuivaiki’s death on the front page of its newspaper.

This sensational and invasive unblurred photo relates to the death of Jeanine, a young Fa‘afafine student who allegedly died by suicide inside a church. The article also referred to her as a ‘he’.

As a result of this controversy, the Journalists Association of Sāmoa established a media council to investigate complaints from the public about media coverage and to ensure that media ethics and standards are observed. Kihara has included this in her Vārchive to demonstrate the repercussions of legal discrimination in the way that local media has reported on Fa‘afafine issues.

May Jeanine Tuivaiki rest in love.