Bougainville community leader and MP Theonila Roka Matbob has received the Gwynne Skinner Human Rights Award in recognition of her outstanding work to hold mining giant Rio Tinto to account for the legacy of environmental devastation caused by its former Panguna mine.

Matbob, 31, is a traditional landowner from Makosi, just downstream from the mine.

She was one of 156 Bougainville residents, represented by the Human Rights Law Centre, who last year filed a human rights complaint against the company with the Australian government.

The complaint received global media attention and led to Rio Tinto publicly committing in July to fund an independent human rights and environmental impact assessment of the mine.

“I’m deeply honoured to receive this award on behalf of myself and my people,” Matbob said.

“We have been living with the disastrous impacts of Panguna for many years and the situation is getting worse. Our communities live surrounded by the vast mounds of waste left over from the mine, which continue to poison our rivers with copper.

“Kids get sick from the pollution. The farms and villages of communities downstream are being flooded with mine waste.

“Many people lack basic access to clean water.

Years of struggle
“Now, after many years of struggle, at last we have an agreement with Rio Tinto to fund a proper investigation of these urgent problems to develop solutions.

“I would like to express my thanks to all those who have supported us to reach this point. But now is not the time to rest. Our work will continue until Rio Tinto has fully dealt with the disaster it left behind.”

Human Rights Law Centre legal director Keren Adams said that Matbob had worked tirelessly over the past few years to brings these issues to world attention and compel Rio Tinto to take responsibility for the devastating consequences.

“It is in large part thanks to her leadership and advocacy that the company has now taken the first important step towards addressing this legacy,” she said.

“At the same time as doing all this, Theonila ran for Parliament and was elected one of Bougainville’s youngest and only female MPs and subsequently made the Minister for Education. She is an inspirational human rights defender and a thoroughly deserving winner of the award.”

Matbob previously worked with the Human Rights Law Centre to document the stories of the communities affected by the mine, including from many inaccessible villages whose stories had rarely been heard.

This work led to the publication of the report After The Mine.

Featured in PJR
She also featured in the documentary Ophir about Bougainville and also in the Pacific Journalism Review Frontline investigation by Wendy Bacon and Nicole Gooch published in the research journal last week.

Matbob will be presented with the award at a virtual ceremony on October 22.

Professor Gwynne Skinner was a professor of law at Willamette University in the United States who spent her career working at the forefront of efforts to develop greater accountability by companies for their human rights impacts.

The award was created by the International Corporate Accountability Roundtable to honour her legacy and recognise the work of individuals and organisations that have made significant contribution to corporate accountability.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

Playwrights, teachers, reverends, advocates, athletes and a former boxer are among the 13 Pacific people who have received New Year’s Honours, a group the Pacific peoples’ minister has described as inspiring.

Auckland early childhood educator, Afamasaga Vaafusuaga Telesia McDonald-Alipia is now an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit.

Afamasaga has had a long-involvement with Pacific early childhood education, dating back to 1991. She was New Zealand’s national coordinator for the Home Interaction Programme for Parents and Youngsters, which now has 40 centres across the country.

Award-winning playwright Victor Rodger has been made an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for his services to theatre and Pacific arts.

His works deal with race, racism and identity including issues confronting Pacific peoples and the rainbow community.

Rodger said the recognition was a tribute to his palagi mother, even though his work has largely dealt with Pasifika themes and characters.

“It’s kind of ironic in some ways because my Samoan father was not part of my life growing up, and mum raised me from a very young age by herself, so that’s what I have been reflecting on since I learnt I got the honour. I see it as a real tribute to her.

“She’s always had my back, and just wanted me to figure out what made me happy both personally and professionally, and I do look at it as a tribute to her more than a tribute to me on a personal level,” he said.

His first play Sons premiered in 1995, a reworked version of which won four Chapman Tripp Theatre Awards.

‘Battling La’avasa’
A high-ranking middleweight boxer in the 1970s, Lega Tagoa’i Muipu La’avasa Sagaga, has been made a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit.

Lega, known as ‘Battling La’avasa’, won the Samoan and South Pacific Games amateur titles before embarking on a professional career.

After retiring from boxing, he went on to spend 20 years mentoring and training youth in Otara, some of whom went on to international acclaim, like David Tua.

His daughter, Tina Henry, said her father was really pleased with the recognition.

“It obviously meant a lot to him because everyday he asks when is he getting his pin, when is he going to get his haircut and new clothes for the ceremony.”

Community and netball
Nive Venning Ahelemo was a founding member and cultural advisor of the Tokelau Nurses and Health Workers Association of New Zealand, and she has been awarded the Queen’s Service Medal.

Ahelemo has also been involved with the Tokelau Hutt Valley Sports and Culture Association for more than 40 years.

She said sports had always been a part of her life, but particularly netball, which she started playing in Samoa and continued with when her family migrated to New Zealand.

“When we developed our Tokelau Hutt Valley Sports and Culture Association, I stood up to make sure our women are included in their development.”

Ahelemo said she still participated from the sidelines.

The other recipients:
Inspector Sam Aberahama, whose parents left the Cook Islands in the 1960s, is to be a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for his services to the police and the community.

Author of My New Zealand Story: Dawn Raid and founding member of Southland’s Murihiku Polyfest, Pauline Smith, has been made a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to Pacific arts and the community.

Dr Tasileta Teevale is to be a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to Pacific education and public health research. Dr Teevale has contributed to the public service and academia for more than 20 years through research in Pacific youth health and education, sports, physical activity and public health.

Reverend Elder Tumama Vili, who with his wife runs the largest EFKS church in Christchurch and oversees 11 other parishes in the South Island, is to be a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit.

The chief executive of Pacific Trust Otago, Lester Dean, will receive a Queen’s Service Medal.

The chair of Wellington Cook Islands Society, Grace Hutton, will also receive the medal. Hutton has played a leading role in the annual Cook Islands Language Week, and the Wellington Cook Island Soldiers of World War I committee.

Reverend Falkland Liuvaie from Wellington’s Kilbirnie Presbyterian Church and Pacific Islands Presbyterian Church (PIPC) of Christ the King in Porirua is also a QSM.

Netball organiser Martha Taru has been recognised with a QSM for her years of volunteer work for both the Pacific community and netball in Wellington.

Therese Weir has been recognised for services to people with disabilities. In a 25-year career in the public sector, Weir’s leadership saw groups who were often overlooked, especially disabled Māori and Pacific women, received help to lead and to build organisations such as PIASS Trust, Vaka Tautua, Te Roopu Waiora Trust, Taikura Trust, and Ripple Trust.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

The Pacific Climate Warriors are the winners of the Pax Christi International Peace Prize 2020.

On making the judgment, the members of the Pax Christi International board acknowledged the “admirable leadership shown by young people” on this critical issue.

The award tribute said: “[The board members] also want to draw attention to the region of Oceania, a beautiful part of the world which is too often overlooked.

“The brave, nonviolent and tenacious actions of the Pacific Climate Warriors are to be applauded and encouraged.”

The Pacific Media Centre’s Del Abcede was on hand to capture the international presentation this week at St Columba Centre, Ponsonby, Auckland, in Aotearoa New Zealand.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

An Indonesian lawyer being pursued by the state has won a human rights award for shining “a light on violations of the rights” of West Papuans.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

By Pacific Media Centre Newsdesk

The Oxford City Council is to award West Papuan activist Benny Wenda the Honorary Freedom of the City accolade for his tireless fight for West Papuan self-determination.

Wenda, whom the United Kingdom granted political asylum in 2002, lives in Oxford with his family and it serves as the headquarters of his campaign to liberate the people of West Papua.

According to the Oxford City Council, the Freedom award is the highest honour the City of Oxford can bestow and is one of the oldest surviving traditional ceremonies still in existence.

READ MORE: Benny Wenda: Please hear my Papuan people’s cry for freedom

It is an honorary status only, with no other rights than to attend formal council meetings, such as Annual Council, and ceremonial occasions such as civic church services.

In a Council press release, Leader of Oxford City Council, Councillor Susan Brown said “ever since Benny Wenda made Oxford his home and base for campaigning for the people of West Papua, Oxford residents and the City Council have taken his cause for their own.”

“We are delighted to give this honour to an Oxford resident who has campaigned so tirelessly on behalf of his people.”

Wenda thanked the Oxford City Council and people of Oxford for their generosity and support in conveying the award.

“When I escaped from an Indonesian prison in West Papua in 2002, Oxford was one of the first places in the world that welcomed me and my family,” he said.

“I was given asylum in the UK and have made Oxford my home. Oxford was one of the first to hear the cry of the West Papuan people for justice, human rights and self-determination and this award shows that the people of Oxford are listening and responding.

“The West Papuan people know that our struggle is not just an issue for West Papuans now, but has become an issue that has touched the hearts of thousands around the world. My journey has taken me here from the jungles of West Papua and the inside of an Indonesian prison cell.

“But until we are able to return to an independent West Papua, my family and I are not truly free. I thank the people of Oxford for all their assistance as we work to finish our long journey home.”

According to the press release, Wenda settled in the city after reading Oxford-resident George Monbiot’s book ‘Poisoned Arrows’, which first brought to light the story of the tribal people of western New Guinea and described the Indonesian government’s transmigration campaign to drive them off ancestral lands into poverty and starvation.

He has acted as special representative of the Papuan people in the UK Parliament, United Nations and European Parliament. In 2017 he was appointed Chairman for the United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP), a new organisation uniting the three main political organisations struggling for the independence of West Papua.

The Freedom will be awarded at a special meeting of the Full Council to be held in Oxford Town Hall, at 5pm on July 17.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

Pacific Media Centre Newsdesk

A New Plymouth Boys’ High School student has won a national race relations competition with a speech citing examples of past and present New Zealand leaders who have helped forge unity in Aotearoa.

The year 11 student, Robbie White, used the metaphor of a tui building a nest to explain how to unify people of different backgrounds.

“What is a tui? A leader, a march, a call, a movement, a word, an action, a stand, a physical structure, an event, the voice of unity, bringing people together with common purpose, understanding and connection,” he asked during his speech in the Race Unity Speech Awards at Auckland’s Te Mahurehure Marae last night.

“…I think of Te Whiti O Rongomai and Dame Whina Cooper.”

READ MORE: The national Race Unity Speech Awards

White also recognised former New Plymouth mayor Andrew Judd as a leader who has built racial unity.

“On my doorstep, in my forest, Andrew Judd is also a tui. Once a self-proclaimed racist himself, …his ‘peace march’ stamped a monumental mark on race unity in the Taranaki region,” White said.

The student wove te reo Māori strongly into his speech.

At the prizegiving last night, chief judge Wallace Haumaha, Deputy Commissioner of Police, joked that Robbie White was from the Taranaki iwi Te Āti Awa because of his excellent use of te reo Māori.

Struggle over hair
Zimbabwean New Zealander Takunda Muzondiwa of Mt Albert Grammar School talked about internalised racism and her struggle to accept her natural hair due to society’s narrow concept of beauty.

Muzondiwa recited a poem she wrote about a recent incident where a man had touched her hair on a train in Auckland without asking.

“But luckily my hair, my hair speaks volumes. Tangled and twisted there are stories in these in curls. Stories of a mother, father stamped with a number marked as objects sold for property,” she said.

“Stories of my ancestors shackled in cages displayed in zoos the same way you stroke me like an exhibit in a petting zoo.

“It’s twisted and tangled there are stories in these curls. A beautiful possession of my history’s oppression.”

The national final of the Race Unity Speech Awards at Te Mahurehure Marae featured the top six speakers from 180 students who had entered this year’s awards.

The speech awards provide a national platform for senior high school students to express their ideas on how New Zealanders can improve race relations.

Increasing diversity
Organisers said participants this year again reflected New Zealand’s increasing diversity of more than 200 ethnicities and 100 plus languages.

Speech finalists represented immigrant communities from Egypt, Philippines, Russia and Samoa who now call Aotearoa home.

In a letter, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern acknowledged the students who participated in the speech awards.

“Following the tragic events in Christchurch, this year’s Race Unity Speech Awards and hui hold even greater significance,” she said in the message.

“We need to think deeply and carefully about our country’s rich and precious diversity, and what we need to do to remain an inclusive, multicultural country.”

Many of the speeches touched on New Zealanders’ response to the terrorist attack on two Christchurch mosques that killed 50 people with another dying later.

Runner-up Nina Gelashvili of Kuranui College in Wairarapa said: “It shouldn’t take 50 lives for us to finally realise that racism still lives in New Zealand and it shouldn’t take 50 lives for us to come together as one.”

‘Oneness of humanity’
The Race Unity Speech Awards are organised by the New Zealand Baha’i Community, a religious community concerned with promoting the oneness of humanity at the local, national and international levels.

The awards are also sponsored by NZ Police, the Human Rights Commission and the Hedi Moani Charitable Trust, and supported by Multicultural NZ, the Office of Ethnic Communities and Speech NZ.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

The 2018 School of Communication Studies Awards presented at last night’s 2019 annual ceremony.

School of Communication Studies Award for Top Student in the Certificate in Communication Studies: Madie Freeland

School of Communication Studies Award for Top Year One Bachelor of Communication Studies: Samuel Wat

Professor Wayne Hope presenting the top Year 2 Bachelor of Communication Studies award to Irra Lee. Image: Del Abcede/PMC

School of Communication Studies Award for Top Year Two Bachelor of Communication Studies: Irra Lee

School of Communication Studies Award for Excellence in Communication Theory: Amy Willemse

Communication Studies Postgraduate Scholarships: Lenny Hyde, Mark Rasquinha, Leilani Sitagata, Catherine Theunissen

Dean’s Award for Best Postgraduate Diploma in Communication Studies:Nicky Jonas

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Dean’s Award for Excellence in Master of Communication Studies – Thesis: Carmel Rowden

Geraldine Lopdell Award for Diversity in Communication: Malia Latu

Radio NZ Pacific Award for Asia-Pacific Journalism: Sri Krishnamurthi

Oceania Media’s SPASIFIK Magazine Prize and the Pacific Media Centre’s Storyboard Award for Diversity Reporting: Blessen Tom

The Radio Bureau Award for Top in Applied Radio Techniques: Matilda Phillips

The Radio Bureau Award for Top Radio Student: Brad Hemingway

NZ Herald Award for Top Post Graduate Diploma in Journalism: Nicky Jonas

NZ Herald Award for Award for the Outstanding Graduate in the BCS Journalism Major: Jamie Ensor

Public Relations Institute of New Zealand Award for the Top Year 2 Public Relations Student:
Amy Wang

The winners of the Public Relations Institute of New Zealand Paul Dryden Tertiary Award 2018: Michael Bain, Amelia Cheng, Elizabeth Osborne, Cathrine Pierce

Public Relations Institute of New Zealand President’s Award AUT Top Public Relations Undergraduate Project Award 2018: Kelsey Schutte, Rita Lennon, Gabrielle Lum, Margot Rudolphe, Brittany Dustin

Public Relations Institute of New Zealand President’s Award AUT Top Public Relations Postgraduate Project Award 2018: Isabel Gailer, Belinda Morris, Sophie Sager

Public Relations Institute of New Zealand President’s Award for the Top Academic Student in the Public Relations Major: Hayley Smith

Fonterra Annual Public Relations Internship Award: Isabel Gailer, Kasper Humphrey, Katie Pettigrew

The Postgraduate Public Relations Global Virtual Team Winner (2018): Ayesha Asif

FCB Change Agency Award for Digital Media Excellence: Olivier Longley

School of Communication Studies Award for All-round Excellence in the Creative Industries Major: Ella Leilua

School of Communication Studies Award for Academic Excellence in the Creative Industries Major: Hannah Dowsett

QMS Awards for Advertising Creativity:
QMS Art Director of the Year: Gina Morgan
QMS Creative Strategist of the Year: Kezia Lynch
QMS Copywriter of the Year: Ambrose O’Meagher
QMS Creative Team of the Year: Gina Morgan & Eliza Romanos

Francis Porterfield Memorial Award for Excellence in Multi-Camera Production:
Niamh Swannack

School of Communication Studies Award for Achievement in Screen Production:
Emma Orchard

School of Communication Studies Award for Top Student in Screen Production:
Catherine Theunissen

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

During life, Geraldine had been an excellent teacher and artist, a supportive and generous friend and a captivating storyteller with an adventurous spirit.

Her early years were spent in Tonga and Samoa where her family travelled for her father’s work, and she had a firm belief that more women’s stories and views – particularly those of Pasifika women – needed to be told and heard.

The Geraldine Lopdell Award for Diversity in Communication will encourage Pasifika women to tell their stories. The first prize will be given in April 2019, nearly one year after Geraldine’s passing. It will be set at $1,200, and is anticipated to be offered annually for an initial term of ten years.

Deciding a memorial award to support something she cared about would be a fitting way to celebrate her life, Geraldine’s partner Colin and her two daughters Alex and Anne had approached their family friend, AUT’s Professor David Robie and have since been working with the AUT Foundation to establish the award.

Professor Robie, who heads up AUT’s Pacific Media Centre – Te Amokura, suggested a prize be established alongside the existing Storyboard Award for Diversity Reporting. It was decided the Pacific Media Centre, with its focus on telling ignored and ‘untold’ stories, and amplifying Pasifika women’s voices, was a natural fit for an award to celebrate this special woman’s legacy.

The family believe that Geraldine would have been honoured to have this award established in her name as she would have wanted to value the contributions and perspectives of Pasifika women.

Future generations
As Colin says: “The award is about recognising the life of an extraordinary and wonderful woman by encouraging an extraordinary and wonderful woman at the start of her career. She would have liked her legacy to support the next generation.

“It’s not just about making a financial difference to the recipient, although clearly we hope that it will help. It is about saying to them that we acknowledge your hard work, we recognise your achievements, you are doing brilliantly, keep going!”

Setting an award up is fairly straightforward, Alex says: “and you can direct it in a way to match up with the social changes that you want to encourage and see. It’s something that can benefit future generations and depending how you set it up, it can go on in perpetuity.’

Alex and Colin say they would love to see more awards of this type, “because you don’t have to have a huge amount of money to do something small and positive. We’d love to see other people think in this space and unleash that potential.”

Stand by for news of the first recipient of the Geraldine Lopdell Memorial Award for Excellence in Communication – and undoubtedly, a few great stories from the recipient.
 
The Geraldine Lopdell Award for Diversity in Communication – criteria and background

AUT Foundation

More information

Report by Pacific Media Centre ]]> https://eveningreport.nz/2018/10/22/gallery-pacific-student-journalists-show-their-stuff-on-usp-awards-night/ Mon, 22 Oct 2018 08:01:25 +0000 https://eveningreport.nz/2018/10/22/gallery-pacific-student-journalists-show-their-stuff-on-usp-awards-night/ ]]> Pacific Media Watch Newsdesk

Student journalists have celebrated the end of the academic year with their 18th annual awards at the University if the South Pacific.

They were in jovial spirits as 14 awards and cash prizes to the tune of $6000 were awarded to many of the students in a ceremony on Friday evening.

Solomon Islands students did especially well, taking away many of the prizes.

Keynote speaker was a former coordinator of the USP journalism programme, Professor David Robie, director of the Pacific Media Centre.

Media Association of the Solomon Islands (MASI) president Charles Kadamana, a senior Solomon Star journalist who graduated from the USP programme last year, also spoke.

Full awards list | Professor David Robie’s speech

• Photographers: Harry Selmen, Jovesa Naisua and David Robie

USP journalism awards night

USP1: Graduating final year students and their awards with USP journalism coordinator Dr Shailendra Singh (left) and PMC director Professor David Robie. Image: Harry Selmen/Wansolwara

ISP2: Part of the crowd at the USP journalism awards night. Image: Harry Selmen/Wansolwara

USP3: Invited speakers … USP journalism programme coordinator Dr Shailendra Singh (from left) with Pacific Media Centre’s professor David Robie, head of the School of Literature and Media (SLAM), and MASI president Charles Kadamana. Image: Harry Selmen/Wansolwara

USP4: MASI president Charles Kadamana and PMC director professor David Robie with graduating student journalists. Image: Harry Selmen/Wansolwara

USP5: PMC’s Dr David Robie speaking at the USP journalism awards. Image: Harry Selmen/Wansolwara

USP6: Keynote speaker Professor David Robie (left) presents a koha from New Zealand to USP journalism programme coordinator Dr Shailendra Singh during the awards ceremony. Image: Jovesa Naisua/Fiji Times

USP7: PMC’s Professor David Robie, Fiji Times editor-in-chief Fred Wesley and USP journalism coordionator Dr Shailendra Singh at the awards. Image: Harry Selmen/Wansolwara

USP8: Fiji Times editor-in-chief Fred Wesley presenting an award with the Storyboard in the background. Image: David Robie/PMC

USP9: PMC’s David Robie making a prsentation at the awards. Image: Harry Selmen/Wansolwara

USP10: Second year student journalists – smartest dress award? Image: David Robie/PMC

USP11: Kava not Fiji Gold. Image: David Robie/PMC

USP12: USP Journalism’s Geraldine Panapasa amd PMC’s Professor David Robie share a joke. Image: Harry Selmen/Wansolwara

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

By Jean Bell in Auckland

Bearing Witness climate change project students won big last night at the annual awards ceremony for AUT’s School of Communication Studies last night.

Julie Cleaver and Kendal Hutt took out the Spasifik Magazine Prize and Pacific Media Centre Storyboard Award for Diversity Reporting for their work on the Bearing Witness climate change project last year.

Hele Ikimotu was awarded the John Foy Memorial Award for broadcast journalism and will be flying to Fiji tomorrow to continue the Bearing Witness climate change project this year.

READ MORE: Bearing Witness climate project stories

‘Great honour’
Cleaver and Hutt both travelled to Fiji last year where they created a multimedia feature on the Fijian village of Tukuraki, which was hit by a deadly landslide and two cyclones in the space of five years.

The project also won the Dart Asia-Pacific Prize for Journalism and Trauma at the annual Ossie Awards for Student Journalism at Newcastle, NSW, last December.

-Partners-

Cleaver is now editor of Debate Magazine and Hutt is a reporter with the North Shore Times.

Hutt said it was a great honour to receive this award.

“This award is not just our award, it is also Tukuraki’s award for letting us come up to the community and let us tell their story. I think it had only been told in Fijian media and ABC Australia,” said Hutt.

‘Journalism highlight’
Cleaver said her time in Fiji was a moving experience. “It was a privilege to be a journalist and hear these people’s stories. When else would you get to hear these people’s personal testimonies from someone who has been through so much as well.”

“The Pacific Media Centre has been so supportive to both of us throughout this process. Thanks so much to Professor David Robie and everyone else involved,” said Cleaver.

“The trip was a journalism highlight. This is why I wanted to get into journalism.”

“It’s so awesome that Dr Robie is driving this PMC project. It needs someone passionate to keep it going and it’s such a privilege to be a part of that.”

John Foy Memorial Award for broadcast journalism Hele Ikimotu with his parents Grace and Jone at last night’s AUT communication studies awards. Image: Del Abcede/PMC

Ikimotu ‘excited’
Bearing Witness climate change project participant Hele Ikimotu received the John Foy Memorial Award.

Louise Matthews, curriculum leader of AUT’s journalism programme, presented the award to Ikimotu and said he “aced” his undergraduate courses and stayed on to do postgraduate study this year.

Ikimotu thanked God, the John Foy Memorial Trust sponsors and his “supportive and inspiring” journalism tutors in his acceptance speech.

“I’m so excited and nervous to go over there. I come from an ancestry of storytellers. There are times I doubted I had the ability to be a good storyteller but this award has affirmed I have what it takes, and I’m so excited to see where journalism takes me.

“I’m so excited to use it as a platform for my people and continue being a voice for the Pacific. I was born in the Islands and I know my family back home are proud that I’m doing it and representing them.”

Ikimotu leaves for Fiji tomorrow with fellow participant Blessen Tom to carry on this year’s version of the Bearing Witness project.

Ikimotu and Tom will be heading on a two-week climate change mission to the main island of Viti Levu where they will be interviewing local people who are directly affected by the devastating effects of climate change in the Pacific.

Ikimotu and Tom will be searching for stories, interviewing people directly affected by climate change and reporting directly for Asia Pacific Report, Wansolwara and other media.

Tagata Pasifika’s master of ceremonies John Pulu, an AUT graduate and past winner of the Storyboard for diversity journalism, entertained the audience with his witty remarks. Image: Del Abcede/PMC.

Full 2017 School of Communication Studies awards:
School of Communication Studies Award for Top Student in the Certificate in Communication Studies: Schumacher Liuvaie

School of Communication Studies Award for Top Year One Bachelor of Communication Studies: Amy Wang

School of Communication Studies Award for Top Year Two Bachelor of Communication Studies: Jamie Ensor

School of Communication Studies Award for Excellence in Communication Theory: Adam Szentes

Communication Studies Postgraduate Scholarships: India Fremaux, Yulia Khan, Malini Radkrishna, Jayakrishnan Sreekumar

Dean’s Award for Best Postgraduate Diploma in Communication Studies: Elizabeth Osborne

Dean’s Award for Excellence in Master of Communication Studies – Thesis: Ximena Smith

Oceania Media’s Spasifik Magazine Prize and the Pacific Media Centre’s Storyboard Award for Diversity Reporting: Julie Cleaver and Kendall Hutt

The Radio Bureau Award for Top of Research Project: Radio: Georgina Cain-Treleaven

The Radio Bureau Award for Top Radio Student: Maxene London

John Foy Memorial Award for Excellence in Broadcast Journalism: Hele Ikimotu

Bauer Award for Excellence in Magazine Journalism: Nicole Barratt

New Zealand Herald Award for Top Post Graduate Diploma Student in Creative Practice – Journalism: Arun Jeram

National Business Review Award for the Outstanding Graduate in the BCS Journalism Major: Nicole Barratt

New Zealand Geographic award for Excellence in Photojournalism: Adam Szentes

Public Relations Institute of New Zealand Award for the Top Year 2 Public Relations Student: Jamie Ensor

The winners of the Public Relations Institute of New Zealand Paul Dryden Tertiary Award 2017: Boyan Buha, Jodealyn Cadacio, Simon Cooper, and Georgia Ward

Highly Commended Public Relations Institute of New Zealand Paul Dryden Tertiary Award 2017: Abby Berry, Emma Hilton, Morgan MacFadyen

Public Relations Institute of New Zealand President’s Award for the Top Academic Student in the Public Relations Major: Adam Szentes

The Postgraduate Public Relations Global Virtual Team Winner (2017): Alex Ubels

FCB Change Agency Award for Digital Media Excellence: Stefanee Chua

School of Communication Studies joint Award for Academic Excellence in the Creative Industries Major: Kaylah Burke and Laura Reid

QMS Awards for Advertising Creativity:
QMS Art Director of the Year – Holly Smith
QMS Account Executive of the Year – Ella Bilham
QMS Team of the Year – Will Macdonald and Adam Ramsdale

Francis Porterfield Memorial Award for Excellence in Multicamera Production: Steven Yee

MediaWorks Award for Best Producer: McKay Carroll

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

Pacific Media Watch Newsdesk

Vanuatu Daily Post editor Jane Joshua, a journalist who has set new standards for social justice and human rights reporting in her country, has been awarded the Hanson Mataskelekele Award for leadership among women.

“We are immensely proud to congratulate Jane,” said the Daily Post media group director Dan McGarry.

Joshua became editor of the Daily Post in February after working for the newspaper for many years.

“From the beginning, she demonstrated her top-flight journalistic skills. Her reporting has provided an essential addition to the public dialogue,” said McGarry.

“Her reporting of human rights abuses among the country’s prison population contributed to fundamental changes in how our incarcerated population are treated.”

Joshua broke a story detailing the contents of the Commission of Inquiry into the fatal sinking of the local vessel MGY, in which charges of manslaughter were laid against the owner, captain and a crew member of the ship.

-Partners-

Outcry led to reforms
An outcry following this commission of inquiry report led to the creation of a Maritime Regulator and the current wholesale reform of the maritime sector.

Her work as associate editor had recently contributed significantly to the Daily Post company’s expanded radio news and current affairs programming, and its burgeoning presence on social media.

The Daily Post news group is widely regarded as the most reputable source of information and news about Vanuatu in social media today.

“Our social media news coverage has reached as many as 120,000 people in a single day,” said McGarry.

Jane Joshua has written nearly 270 front page stories in the last four years alone.

Her elevation to the rank of editor made her one of few women in the top rank of the news media establishment in the Pacific islands. She is the first woman to occupy the role of editor at this newspaper.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz