THE banner headline of Marianas Varietyâs June 9, 1972 issue was âGOVERNMENT CENSORING RADIO STATION NEWS.â
At the time the NMI was one of the six districts of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands which was administered by the U.S. The other districts were Palau, the Marshall Islands, Ponape (Pohnpei), Truk (Chuuk) and Yap. The TT governmentâs chief executive was the American high commissioner who was an appointee of the U.S. president. The high commissioner, in turn, appointed the administrator of each district. The TTâs legislative branch was the bicameral Congress of Micronesia, but each district also had their own district legislatures. The Marianas District, moreover, had mayors, municipal councils, village or district commissioners on top of the TT governmentâs various departments, offices and other agencies.