WOMEN IN SPORTS MEDIA

BY PETER ZOLEVEKE II

For the first time local female journalists are introduced to the basic model of sports media reporting  in a two-days Women in News & Sports (WINS) training.

The workshop started yesterday and gathered aspiring students from the Solomon Islands National University (SINU), freelance female journalists, broadcasters and the main stream media journalists.

Media Association of Solomon Islands (MASI) Training Chairlady Gina Maka’a in her opening remarks highlighted the importance of the workshop to encourage more females in the male dominated sport media industry.

Facilitators for the two days’ workshop are freelance journalist Elizabeth Osifelo together with the technical experience of Diane Justus a former SIFF Women Development Officer.

 “MASI is excited that such initiative is organized for the first time ever sports workshop for only females,” she says.

“You are the lucky bunch of females to participate in the country. This workshop will also aid to prepare you for the upcoming 2023 Pacific Games.

“Not only that but it will give you the opportunity and avenue for you to travel overseas to do sporting coverage on events,” Maka’a told the participants.

She also encouraged the participants to learn as much as possible from the workshop.  “We want you to get as much as you can during these sessions,” Maka’a said.

The WINS initiative is a training and mentoring program aimed at providing for female journalists in the Pacific and Asia.

It provides to enrich personal and professional capacities including interviewing, digital storytelling, building confidence and live coverage (commentary).

The program is initiated by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s International Development Unit (ABCID) and is supported by the Australian Government through the Team Up program until 2022.

This project builds on two previous phases since WINS began in 2016 and Solomon Islands is the tenth country to be part of the program behind fellow Melanesian countries Papua New Guinea (PNG), Fiji and Vanuatu.

Final day of the workshop today will involve a practical session where a scheduled field trip to Lawson Tama stadium for the mid-week Telekom S League (TSL) fixtures will be arranged for the female journalists.

The two days’ workshop will then wrap up with the handing of certificates by the Australian High Commission and MASI.

Discover more from Theislandsun

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue reading