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Fiji Times According to an article published in the newspaper, editor Vijendra Kumar retired after 22 years with the newspaper, 15 of which he had been the first local editor of the paper. Fiji Times July 31, 1991.
Fiji Times Managing Director Geoffrey Hussey announced on July 30 that Mosese Velia will serve as editor until a new editor is appointed.
Velia is Fiji Times then.
Kumar, 55, was due to leave Fiji on August 1 to join his family in Brisbane, Australia, where he planned to spend his retirement.
Tribute to Kumar’s service Fiji TimesMr Harsey said: “He has made an outstanding contribution to the development and quality of the newspaper over the years.
“He will be missed by management and colleagues across the company. We wish him and his family all the best in Australia.”
Kumar joins Fiji Times In 1969, he joined the newspaper’s Lautoka bureau as a reporter covering the western region, the first Indian to join the paper.
He rose through the ranks to become Western Branch Manager and was later transferred to Suva.
He was appointed Fiji TimesIn 1975, at the age of 39, he became the first local editor.
During his 15 years as editor, Kumar Fiji Times From a rather staid, old-fashioned, overseas-oriented newspaper catering mainly to expatriates with a circulation of about 14,000, it has become today, in 1991, a colourful, vibrant daily newspaper catering mainly to local readers.
As he left that day, he was satisfied to see that the newspaper’s circulation had reached its highest level ever.
Daily sales peaked at around 31,000, while Saturday sales, which included the weekend magazine portion, reached a record 37,300.
Kumar also left behind a highly modern, computerized production system.
“This is one of the biggest strides the company has made, thanks in large part to the efforts of (current) managing director Geoffrey Hussey,” he said.
“Now we can produce entire papers on computers, with the writing and design done on the screen. Gone are the days of typewriters and paper.”
The conversion to modern electronic systems and the modernization of the company’s premises cost a total of $2 million.
Kumar said his biggest challenge as editor was dealing with stiff competition from the newly established daily newspaper, the Fiji Sun, “a young newspaper that was very influential at the time”.
Starting in 1976, publisher Dallas Swinstead and Kumar worked together Fiji Times A more attractive and engaging paper.
“The new look and format produced good results and the circulation of the paper started to climb, exceeding 20,000 within a few years,” he said.
Kumar has steered the newspaper through some difficult times, most recently the period after and between two coups.
“Our main concern is to make people aware of what is happening in the country.
“We were always nervous, not knowing what in the newspapers would upset or anger people in the government, the military or other forces.
“The only way to deal with the situation is to stay calm, and I learned that in very difficult conditions.”
Kumar’s journalism career began in 1954 when he founded Pacific Review, a biweekly newspaper published by a local company in Nadi.
He has run the newspaper almost single-handedly since 1988, responsible for reporting, proofreading, editing and typesetting.
He then worked as a school teacher for 12 years, helping Dr Shaukat Ali Sahib to set up Tilak High School in Lautoka, before joining The Fiji Times.
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