Top journo student dedicates win to family

Recipients of the 2019 USP Journalism Awards. Picture: SUPPLIED/ANA CIVAVONOVONO

By WANSOLWARA STAFF

Solomon Islands student Rosalie Nongebatu scooped the Fiji Sun premier award for the most outstanding journalism student during the 2019 USP Journalism Awards at Laucala campus in Suva last night, dedicating the recognition to her husband and three children.

Nongebatu also won the Islands Business award for best feature reporting, adding on to her awards from last year’s event for best radio student and co-sharing the best regional reporting.

” I dedicate both the awards to my children and husband, who have been my pillar of strength since day one,” she told Wansolwara.

“The past three years with the Journalism Programme has been a wonderful learning journey for me. I have made a lot of friends from around the Pacific, friendships I know that will become networks and will go along way in our future careers.

“The awards received last night gave me a sense of accomplishment. I made a lot of sacrifices to come back to complete my studies. I guess I learnt the hard way but I wouldn’t have it any other way. We are never too old to learn.”

Twelve journalism awards were up for grabs at the awards night. Organised by USP’s Journalism Programme, the event in its 19^th year, is the longest running journalism awards in the region and was held at the Aus-Pacific Performance Space on Laucala campus. It is the only awards for journalism in Fiji at the moment.

The event was co-funded by the Faculty of Arts, Law and Education, and the Journalism Programme under the School of Language, Arts & Media. 

Co-ordinator of the USP Journalism programme, Dr Shailendra Singh, said the prestigious event recognised and rewarded students who excelled in their coursework, and this included producing news for print, online and broadcast media.

Other major sponsors of the event include Fiji Times Limited, Fiji Broadcasting Corporation, Fiji Television Limited, Mai TV, Communications Fiji Limited, Islands Business, Pacific Islands News Association and the Media Watch Group.

This year’s event was livestreamed on the Wansolwara Facebook Page by Ratu Films & Production and included a tribute to the late Rodger Varea by the USP Journalism Students Association. Varea was a journalism student who succumbed to cancer in October last year and would have been a final-year journalism student this year.

Below is the full list of winners for the 12 categories:

1. Media Watch Group Most Promising First Year Student Award – Josefa Babitu (Fiji) & Reileen Joel (Federated States of Micronesia)
2. Communications Fiji Limited Best Radio Student Award – Fredrick Kusu (Solomon Islands) & Bulou Naugavule (Fiji)
3. Fiji Broadcasting Corporation Best Television Student Award – Andrea Ma’ahanua (Solomon Islands)
4. The Fiji Times Best News Reporting Award – Jennis Naidu (Fiji) & Harrison Selmen (Vanuatu)
5. The Fiji Times Best Sports Reporting Award – Sereana Salalo
6. The Fiji Times Award for Best Documentary (Group) – Group 2 members Dhruvkaran Nand, Shweta Vandana, Harshana Singh, Rohit Kumar & Shreya Kumar
7. Islands Business Award for Best Feature Reporting – Rosalie Nongebatu (Solomon Islands)
8. Mai TV Award for Best Environmental Reporting – Jared Koli (Solomon Islands)
9. Fiji Television Limited Best Editor Award – Dipesh Kumar & Romeka Kumari
10. Wansolwara Special Award for In-depth Reporting – Monica Aguilar
11. Pacific Islands News Association Storyboard Award for Best Regional Reporting – Harrison Selmen (Vanuatu)
12. Fiji Sun Tanoa Award for the Most Outstanding Journalism Student – Rosalie Nongebatu (Solomon Islands)