The Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) congratulates the winners of the 2022 Vision Pasifika Media Award.
Launched with financial support from Aotearoa New Zealand, and facilitated by a partnership between SPREP, Pacific Islands News Association (PINA), Internews Earth Journalism Network and the Pacific Environment Journalists Network - the 2022 Vision Pasifika Media Award commemorates the role of Pacific media in amplifying the Pacific voice on climate change.
The Award received entries from Pacific media workers on published, or broadcast stories which highlighted the region’s climate change challenges and, or the ways Pacific people have addressed these, for survival.
There were five categories namely Television News, Radio production, Online content, Print media and Tertiary-level journalism students. The competition was judged by an independent panel of judges, including media specialists and environmental experts. Points were scored on journalism skill, ability to engage audience, relevance, accuracy, factualness and proficiency in the medium.
The winners are:
TELEVISION: Fabian Randerath, of the Fiji Broadcasting Corporation, in Fiji.
ONLINE: Jeremy Gwao, a Freelance Journalist in the Solomon Islands.
PRINT: Moffat Mamu, of the Solomon Star Newspaper in the Solomon Islands.
TERTIARY LEVEL JOURNALISM: Sera Tikotikoivatu-Seleti, a student journalist at the University of the South Pacific (USP) writing for the Wansolwara.
There was no entry received for the Radio Production category.
Mr Fabian Randerath, of Fiji, for his story "Rising Tides- Precious Lives" on Fiji Broadcasting Corporation, was also named as the Overall Winner.
During the closing dinner of the PINA Summit in the Solomon Islands, Deputy Secretary- Corporate for the Solomon Islands Ministry of Environment, Climate Change, Disaster Management and Meteorology, Mr. Karl Kuper, congratulated the winners.
“The Award commemorates the role of Pacific Media in amplifying our Pacific voice on this fight for our lives,” he said. “I want to emphasise that the Pacific media is crucial in sharing our climate change experiences and how we address these challenges as we strive for resilience. We are grateful for the work that you do. The stories we are celebrating tonight have highlighted our Pacific people’s fighting spirit and our resilience. They deserve recognition. Congratulations.”
SPREP’s Acting Communications and Outreach Adviser, Ms Nanette Woonton, reiterated that SPREP recognises the critical role of all media in disseminating public information, education and influencing behaviour for the better.
“At the Secretariat, we are excited to be able to offer the opportunity through these awards to honour and recognise the hard work by our media colleagues in protecting our people and the environment,” she said.
“We want to thank all media workers who submitted entries. We especially want to congratulate the winners and encourage our Pacific media colleagues to keep up the great work they are doing."
She added: “This competition will not be possible without our partnership with Aotearoa New Zealand and our key regional media partners, the Pacific Islands News Association (PINA), Internews Earth Journalism Network, and the Pacific Environment Journalists Network (PEJN). We thank them for this opportunity to highlight and honour the work being done by our media friends to tell the stories of Pacific resilience in the face of the escalating climate crisis.”
The Vision Pasifika Media Awards were announced during the closing dinner of the Sixth Pacific Media Summit in Solomon Islands on 28 September 2022. The dinner was made through a partnership with the Media Association Solomon Islands, the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP), the PACRES Project.
The Intra-ACP GCCA+ Pacific Adaptation to Climate Change and Resilience Building (PACRES) aims to deliver better regional and national adaptation and mitigation responses to climate change challenges faced by the 15 Pacific ACP countries. The €12.18 million PACRES is funded primarily by the European Union (EU) with targeted support from Monaco and the Swiss Confederation.
PACRES is being delivered jointly by the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP), the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat (PIFS), the Pacific Community (SPC) and the University of the South Pacific (USP).
