PCBL hosted five staff from Vanuatu Broadcasting and Television Corporation for a customised media exchange programme in April 2023. L to R: Pryce Aptvanu, Timothy Makekon Rani Taviti, Donol Kausime Sale, and Madlen Netvunei being led on a tour through TVNZ by Simon Abplanalp.
Over the course of eight weeks, 60 broadcasters from 13 stations across 10 Pacific nations attended Pacific Cooperation Broadcasting Limited’s (PCBL) 2023 Pacific Regional Journalism Training Programme, with a focus on climate change, regional issues, and sports reporting supplemented with technical training.
This training programme was a continuation of previous capacity development initiatives, with this round also serving as a selection process for regional reporting crews to cover the upcoming 52nd Pacific Islands Forum (PIFS) Leaders Meeting 2023, the SOL23 Pacific Games and COP 28.
“The concept of Story Sovereignty, control and stewardship of the stories about the Pacific authored by the Pacific, has been a key theme of this programme. A planned outcome was to not only enhance the journalistic skills to report on vitally important topics such as climate change, but also provide an opportunity to apply those learnings. Therefore, successful candidates are being sent to report on events of significance to the Pacific, through a Pacific lens,” says Natasha Meleisea, CEO of PCBL.
A mural created at PCBL’s CEO & GM’s conference in May 2023, during a panel on Story Sovereignty. Source: PCBL
Facilitator for the programme’s sports journalism training, Director for Mai TV Stanley Simpson, hopes to see participants’ stories about the SOL23 Pacific Games go “beyond the usual” and tell “epic, emotional, historical stories” to capture national, regional, and international attention.
A team of eleven, split into three groups, will be seconded from their broadcasters and travel to the three events, providing coverage that will be shared on Pasifika TV across the region. The team is comprised of media veterans from across the Pasifika TV broadcasting partner network and includes journalists, producers, and camera operators.
Owner/Director of Manaia Go, Norman Mann, leading a session on audio production. Source: PCBL
“We are excited about this talented cohort as they have demonstrated a high level of commitment and professionalism to the training already. It is fantastic to have a diverse group from different Pacific regions, countries, and size stations that will bring combined and balanced perspectives in their stories,” says Meleisea
Training sessions were facilitated by a range of PCBL’s media partners across the following topics:
Sports journalism
Stanley Simpson, Director of Mai TV
Climate change reporting
Nanette Woonton, Communications and Outreach Adviser for SPREP
Sosikeni Lesa, Media and Public Relations Officer for SPREP
Newsroom training
Barbara Dreaver, Pacific Correspondent for TVNZ
Indra Singh, News Director for the Fijian Broadcasting Corporation
Moera Tuilaepa-Taylor, Manager of RNZ Pacific
LiveU training
Karl Schodt, Broadcast Operations Manager for PCBL
Audio technique training
Norman Mann and Mark Hepi, Owners/Directors of Manaia Go
“It was a big effort from our team to get this across the line, and we also couldn’t have done it without our supporting partners. We are building towards delivering more meaningful training programmes like this as it supports our shared goals of working together as a united Pacific collective to build a sustainable media industry,” says Meleisea. “Fa’afetai tele lava to everyone who helped make this happen.”
