Two Fiji Sun Journalists Win Places in Asian Leadership Series
The selection of Ms Nataro and Ms Sovasiga in a competitive process follows the success of Fiji digital journalist Jennis Naidu in the 2020-2021 programme.
TSun
wo Fiji Sun journalists have won places in the prestigious Asian Young Media Leaders Fellowship. Shine A Light editor Ivamere Nataro and Climate Watch journalist Kelera Sovasiga will join 26 outstanding young Asian editors and reporters. They take part in a development programme that begins next week and ends in January.
The World Editors Forum (WEF) Asia Chapter runs this supported by Singapore’s Temasek Foundation. The WEF Asia chapter is the regional network in Asia for editors within the World Association of News Publishers (WAN-IFRA).
The selection of Ms Nataro and Ms Sovasiga in a competitive process follows the success of Fiji Sun digital journalist Jennis Naidu in the 2020-2021 programme.
Fiji Sun Publisher/CEO Peter Lomas said: “This is an outstanding achievement for our small newsroom out here in the Pacific, competing for places with the incredible drive and competitiveness of Asia. Jennis, Iva and Kelera are all in a hub personally mentored by one of our core group of outstanding editors, Rosi Doviverata. Special credit to Rosi for this success.”
Due to the spread of COVID-19, country lockdowns and travel restrictions globally, part of this year’s fellowship will be held virtually via Zoom platform.
The organisers hope that once travel restrictions have been lifted, all the fellows can meet in Singapore to attend the programme finale 18-21 January 2022.
The programme
The programme begins on Monday with a five-day workshop led by Caroline Levine and Virgil Smith. They have taught executive leadership for the next generation to journalists and editors in the USA for the past seven years. They crafted a virtual learning programme for the Asian Young Media Leadership fellows.
Caroline Levine is a career and business expert and writer. She is a career columnist for Forbes.com, Money.com and Time.com and formerly wrote for CNBC, and Portfolio. She is the author of three leadership books.
Virgil Smith has a long career as a media executive at two of America’s biggest newspaper groups.
He spent 20 years with McClatchy Newspapers and the past two decades with Gannett, where he served numerous roles, including president and publisher.
Ms Nataro and Ms Sovasiga were told in a message from Singapore: “We are delighted to bring you this exclusive Leadership workshop which is designed to equip future news industry leaders like yourself with the skills which usually take years to acquire, sometimes through the hard way.”
Mr Lomas said: “It underlines the value and power of the programmes WAN-IFRA and the World Editors Forum run.”