W orld News Day
PRESENTED BY THE WORLD EDITORS FORUM AND CANADIAN JOURNALISM FOUNDATION
In the lead up to World News Day on the 28th of September, we are featuring some of our own and the work that they do. Sacrifice and determination basically sums up those who work for us. It’s not for the fainthearted. Today, we feature our Siga Rarama Editor, Lusiana Tuimaisala.
ABOUT LUSIANA TUIMAISALA
Lusiana Tuimaisala, from the hills of Namosi, is passionate about iTaukei language and culture. So who better than this University of Fiji iTaukei studies graduate to pioneer the launch of Siga Rarama in Fiji Sun Weekend.
Lusiana is our Siga Rarama editor reporting and editing for our new and growing iTaukei section published every Saturday.
Lusiana is one of the many pioneering women holding leadership roles in our newsrooms.
She has worked on a variety of rounds as she built experience - and got continuing training - since joining us from university in 2015. These have included stints in business and news journalism.
Now she is developing Siga Rarama.
But this is not the only area she has been a notable leader.
Lusiana was the first Pacific Islander to win admission to a major training and development programme run by China’s Asia Pacific Press Centre in Beijing.
This intensive one-year programme in China included Lusiana:
taking and completing classes at a top university in Beijing;
studying Chinese and travelling extensively across China;
doing an internship on a leading Englishlanguage business magazine;
reporting on major trade conferences, including China’s big Belt and Road Initiative; reporting from Beijing and Shanghai on events involving Fiji.
Lusiana was such a successful pioneer that Fiji Sun journalists have continued to gain admission to this programme every year since.
Why are you passionate about Journalism?
The transformative moment in my career as a journalist came in China, in 2018 when I was the first Pacific Islander to win a yearlong
Asia-Pacific programme of studies coordinated by the China Asia Pacific Press Centre.
I learnt a lot in China. It is a great country with wonderful people and a lot of kindness. It has accomplished a lot and is continuing to grow. It is a lot different to what people who have never been there sometimes say.
Journalism for me is all about getting the facts, the story and publishing it for the world to see. Sometimes, great articles change people’s opinions, provoke them to do something different or enlighten them about extraordinary things they didn’t know.
What story/photograph are you proudest of and why?
On my annual leave in March 2017, I used my 20 days leave travelling around the marine islands getting stories for our newspaper.
I went to Lau, Gau, Batiki, Nairai, Koro, and Kadavu.
That was my first ever experience going out into the rough seas by boat, talking to different people, talking to seafarers on the challenges they face on a day-to-day basis.
I had the opportunity to sit with villagers and hear their stories. I received feedback from them after they saw their stories in the Fiji Sun, which I was happy about. Some said it was the first time they were given an opportunity to speak to the world.
Why is journalism important?
The purpose of journalism is to inform society with the information they need to live their lives. Information that they need to make decisions about different things.
Today, there are many places where people can find information and news.
Journalism is important because it gives accurate and relevant information and news to the public.
For me as a journalist, the key objective is to gather information, write news pieces, and present the news in an honest and balanced manner.
My job is to educate the public about events and issues and how they affect their lives.
Being a journalist has helped me provide accurate, balanced information and is never biased.
A big part of being a journalist is getting to know people.