Six Pacific journalists receive Australian Leadership Awards



The 2011 ALA Fellows and APJC Staff.

APIA 09 Nov 2011 – Six Pacific Island journalists from Tonga, Kiribati, Samoa, Solomon Islands and Fiji are this month taking part in the ‘Reporting Climate Change and the Environment’ training as part of the Australian Leadership Award scheme by the Australian Government. The journalists were nominated by the Pacific Alliance of Development Journalists (PADJ), based in Samoa, as part of its goal to increase the coverage of climate change and environment in the Pacific media.

The fellowship which began on the 24^th of October is hosted and implemented by the Asia Pacific Journalism Centre (APJC). It aims to help journalists better understand and report on climate change and other environment-related issues affecting countries in the Pacific region.

APJC Director, Mr. John Wallace reporting on progress of the training to Radio Australia said: “People are writing stories already but we'd argue that the topic needs to be given a higher priority and news media can play a role there. I think by coming here and seeing professionals who've been doing that in their workplace, I think they can pick up new ideas and use those techniques to make them write stories that are engaging and really useful for their communities.”

The program includes modules on communication and leadership, seminars and practical classes on reporting climate change and environment; it also encompasses a news media internship and professional visits in Melbourne and other centers in Australia.

Talking to Pacific Beat, one of the participants, Mr. Rikamati Naare, a journalist for the Kiribati Broadcasting and Publications Authority says the training will be useful on reporting in his home country. “The wider community in Kiribati are fully aware right now about the impacts of climate change and they are urging for action.”

PADJ nominated the journalists based on their interest in development issues, particularly in climate change and environment.

This is the first year PADJ has nominated fellows for the APJC ALA Fellowships, since the establishment of the Alliance in 2010, by five regional journalists from Samoa, Vanuatu, Niue, Palau and Fiji.

This years PADJ Nominated Fellows for the AusAID ALA Fellowships organised by APJC are Ms Verenaisi Tuvuki Raicola senior reporter for The Fiji Times, Ms. Rozalee Nongebatu, senior reporter and producer for Solomon Islands Broadcasting Corporation, Mr Alain Simeon, news reporter for Vanuatu Broadcasting and Television Corporation, Ms Unumoe Esera, journalist for Le Weekender Newspaper, Mr Rikamati Naare, journalist for Kiribati Broadcasting and Publications Authority  and Ms Monalisa Palu, journalist Tongan correspondent, ABC Radio Australia.

The training ends on the 25^th of November.

For More Information: Contact: padjournalists@gmail.comWebsite: http://padjournalists.blogspot.com/