Wansolwara ... latest edition of the University of the South Pacific journalism newspaper. Image: PMC

Pacific Scoop:
Report – By Parijata Gurdayal in Suva

The Pacific needs a regional youth fund to provide young people with the needed resources to address their issues.

This was one of the recommendations in the State of Pacific Youth 2011: Opportunities and Obstacles report that has been released by the Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).

The report calls for specific attention to providing youths with the opportunities to propose projects that have a strong community focus. Read more »

Front page of the latest Wansolwara ... the University of the South Pacific student journalists' award-winning newspaper after a facelift. Photo: PMC

Pacific Scoop:
Report – By Koila Valemei in Suva

The news media has an important role to play in uniting a fractured nation such as Fiji, says economist and academic Dr Biman Prasad.

“Media needs to become a force for unity – not disunity as we have sometimes seen in the past,” he said, speaking at a recent Lions Club dinner.

Dr Prasad stressed that a real start to a stronger nation could only be achieved once media censorship and the public emergency regulations were lifted. Read more »

Kava ceremony at the creativity and climate change conference in Suva. Photo: David Robie/PMC

Pacific Scoop
Report – By Vincent Obimae in Suva

Two leading Fiji journalists and a student journalist have called for more critical and creative coverage of Pacific climate change issues.

Mai Life magazine editor Ricardo Morris, environmental journalist Alumeci Nakeke and second year University of the South Pacific journalism student Dawn Gibson were speaking at a panel discussion at this month’s Oceanic Conference on Creativity and Climate Change at the Laucala campus in Suva.

Morris said that because climate change was a serious issue, it was time for journalists to start thinking critically and reporting it from fresh news story angles. Read more »

Victoria Parade in downtown Suva is a magnet for sex workers and their clients. (Photo courtesy of Wansolwara, and the USP.)

Pacific Scoop:
Wansolwara Special Report – By Ellen Stolz, Fenton Lutunatabua and Ravai Vafo‘ou, in Suva.

This feature report was first published in Wansolwara, and was researched, analysed, and written by final year journalism students at the University of South Pacific in Suva. It looks at attempts to control the sex industry in the Pacific. The journalists found the trade has survived harsh economic conditions and continues to prosper despite its illegality in Pacific island countries.

Prostitution is a problem causing major concerns across the Pacific. Various research reports have been published, detailing the seriousness of the issue. Across the region, poverty, unemployment and low wages are driving sex work. Read more »

Wansolwara reporters Fenton Lutunatabua (left) and Arin Kumar won a runner-up award for an investigative story in the Ossies. Photo: USP

Pacific Press Release – University of the South Pacific

INVESTIGATIVE STORY WINS RECOGNITION IN OSSIES

By Dawn Gibson in Suva

Two student journalists at the University of the South Pacific have won a high commendation in the annual Ossie Awards from the Journalism Education Association of Australia.

Second year students Arin Kumar and Fenton Lutunatabua received the runner-up prize for their investigative story published in the USP journalism student training newspaper, Wansolwara, in April 2009. Read more »

Rachna Nath (from left), Stan Simpson and Kelera Serelini during the Fiji media seminar at USP. Photo: Dawn Gibson/USP

Pacific.Scoop
By Dawn Gibson in Suva

Television host and Mai Laif editor Stanley Simpson has warned media can “make or break” a country in a journalism seminar at the University of the South Pacific.
Read more »

A Fiji Times news vendor ... watching and being watched. Photo: Wansolwara

Pacific.Scoop
By Sharishma Kumari and Richard Nath in Suva

When Fiji’s fourth coup in in two decades took place in December 2006, the country’s media again found itself in the frontline as witnesses and reporters of the event, and what followed later.

The coup leader, Commodore Voreqe Bainimarama, dubbed his takeover a “clean-up campaign”. He claimed he ousted the elected Laisenia Qarase government because it was corrupt and racist.
Read more »

USP journalism head Shailendra Singh and students check out the latest Wansolwara. Photo: USP

Pacific.Scoop
By a special correspondent in Suva

Wansolwara, an award-winning Pacific regional journalism training newspaper, came off the presses of a Fiji daily newspaper for the first time in its 13-year history last night.

The 16-page paper was being read today as a liftout in the Fiji Sun, Fiji’s fastest growing daily.
Read more »

Mothers and children are often the vulnerable victims of early marriages. Graphic: Wansolwara/USP

Pacific.Scoop
By Kalpana Prasad, Rachna Lal and Sharishma Kumari in Suva

Natasha (not her real name) was not the typical, happy bride on her wedding day. At 16, she felt she was just not ready.

The man she was marrying wasn’t only twice her age, but she hardly knew him. Read more »

Fiji students ... glued to their gaming screens. Photo: Wansolwara/USP

Pacific.Scoop
By Fenton Lutunatabua and Arin Kumar in Suva

Young Fiji computer game junkies are spending up to two days non-stop glued to their screens at various gaming locations in the capital of Suva, putting at risk their physical and psychological wellbeing.

A survey of gaming centers in Suva by a Wansolwara reporting team found some teens skipping school to play, and the hardcore players even sleeping over at the game centers at weekends.
Read more »