Solomon Islands Journalists Undergo Digital Media Training in Australia

By Lachlan Eddie

Two local journalists from Solomon Islands and three journalists from Vanuatu are currently in Australia undergoing intensive Digital Boot-camp training hosted by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) in partnership with the Pacific Media Assistance Scheme (PACMAS).

The Solomon Islands journalists participating are Ronald Toito’ona of In-Depth Solomons and Loretta Brigidia Manele of Island Sun Newspaper.

In an interview with SIBC News today, Manele described the training as both interesting and insightful.

“At the moment, I am in Brisbane with my colleague Mr. Ronald Toito’ona from In-Depth Solomons, along with three other colleagues from Vanuatu, particularly from Daily Post and the organization called Sista,” she said.

“So far the training has been very interesting and insightful. On Monday we went through different types of headline writing, where I learned about search engine optimization and writing for mobile phones. On Tuesday, we learned about how to write hook stories, feature stories, and intro writing for news articles,” she said.

The training, which runs from Monday through Friday, also covers photography and how to use Mobile Journalism (MoJo) equipment.

“I have learned many interesting things, and I hope that when I return to the newsroom I can share my experience from this training.

I am sure this training has helped me improve my ability to disseminate information through the online digital platforms of my media organization,” Manele added.

She acknowledged and expressed appreciation to ABC and PACMAS for organizing the training, saying she hopes to learn more in the remaining days.

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