The Leader of Opposition, Tuilaepa Sa'ilele Malielegaoi has commended Samoa Observer on its 45th anniversary and being of service to Samoa and its people. 

Tuilaepa, who served as prime minister of Samoa for 23 years, paid tribute to the service and legacy of the founder and Editor-in-Chief of the Samoa Observer newspaper, Gatoaitele Savea Sano Malifa. 

He took a trip down memory lane remembering his first encounter with "Sano" back when he was writing for the Samoa Times newspaper and how he got to be interviewed by the founder of the newspaper.  

"He was young and very skinny back then. I read the article he wrote based on our interview and I was very impressed with how he wrote the story, Tuilaepa recalled. "So the second time he came to interview me, I asked him to go and start his own newspaper and told him that my door would be always open to him if he ever wanted interviews. 

"I think he remembers my suggestion and he did not hesitate to come up to me for interviews so we had our own relationship right from the beginning."

The former prime minister then praised the work that the paper has done over the years, saying: "This is the only paper that is independent and is well recognised internationally. The credibility of the paper is highly recognised by countries around the world. 

"One of the challenges the paper faced was getting information and I know it made the job hard for reporters because I know it was one of the strategies C.E.O.s did back when I was in government. 

"They were not open to the media and would avoid talking to the media. But I encouraged government officials to be open to the media to make sure that the reports are accurate. 

"I understand the newspaper needs to verify their information by asking the top officials, but if they shut their doors on them, then the report would be incorrect, unbalanced and based on hearsay. That was one of the reasons why I was asked to be the spokesperson to announce decisions or issues discussed in Cabinet every week in 1984."

The veteran Lepa M.P. then spoke about how this newspaper published a lot of "opinionated articles" for which he became critical, though he was of the view that the Samoa Observer started on a good note from the beginning.

"But the Samoa Observer appreciated my openness to the media and despite the negative articles they published about me and my administration, I kept my door open so the media could ask questions about the decisions and developments within the government so the public could have a fair understanding of what was happening from time to time. 

"This was done to also prevent them from publishing articles based on hearsay. Some Cabinet Ministers were not happy with how information was leaked out to the paper but I knew it was from inside the Cabinet or the office that emanated from the different reports. 

"The reason was that some of the reports that were leaked to the paper were not official or finalised but the paper had already been published. There was a time when Cabinet Ministers were not happy with that, but I knew exactly who leaked information to the paper.

"That's why increasingly, I called the press to come to my office straight after Cabinet so that the information is fresh in my mind and to keep the country informed. 

"My openness to the media was honoured by Sano the other time by giving me an award for being transparent. Nevertheless, the openness I had to the media and the work of the paper helped push Samoa up in terms of freedom of the press."

With the country continuing to benefit from its high ranking on the global Press Freedom Index, Tuilaepa spoke of the benefits of that global ranking but admitted that his administration also had to legislate in order to address the increase in defamatory articles. 

"We have ranked very high ahead of other countries including the United States on the Press Freedom index where we are in the top 20," he said. "I know we did come up with legislation to avoid defamation and the paper had published a lot of defamatory articles in the past.

"There were articles with serious allegations published by the paper in the past so we had to make legislation to avoid that. But overall, I believe the work and service of the newspaper to the country is commendable."

Tuilaepa then added that he had a very "close relationship" with Gatoaitele, and while giggling, added, "A lot of people didn't know that".

"When I was prime minister, Sano used to invite me to deliver the keynote address to his many book launches or events hosted by the newspaper. 

"We would meet at different events and always made time to go and speak at his events. We would shake hands and talk about all sorts of issues as if we didn't criticise one another. 

"If he attacked me ten times through his writing, I would hit back at him eleven times. And people would see it as if we were enemies but that was never the case. It was nothing personal; I was doing my job and he was doing his. 

"I used to criticise his writings back in the days because he was always attacking me and questioning my leadership, and I remember laughing at some of the things he used to write and then firing back at him."

Lastly, Tuilaepa then offered his suggestions of what he believed could improve the work of the newspaper going forward. 

"Over the years, the views of the paper have changed. But one of the things I observed in the previous years was that Sano was never afraid to face people and always made the effort to go out and get the right information. 

"Something the other editors that came after him did not do. I believe there are qualified people there and the local employees have the ability and competence to write articles to keep the paper going. We need people like Sano who understand the in-depth of our cultural values and traditions as well as the nature of politics in Samoa. 

"It would be nice to see less of opinionated articles in the paper because most of the time the people writing editorials don't really do their research on issues or make the effort to go out and interview people about certain issues, especially when it comes to our customs, values, traditions, religion, and politics. 

"You got to have people who value what the paper truly stands for and are not scared to ask the right questions. People who are not afraid to write about the truth. 

"I had a good relationship with Sano and the paper has come a long way. Congratulations on your 45th anniversary Samoa Observer".