A new generation of Solomon Islanders will be trained and mentored in sports media skills. Thanks to the Australian Government’s Pacific sport for development program, Team Up, they will receive a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to become sports reporters at the 2023 Pacific Games.
In partnership with the Solomon Islands 2023 Pacific Games Organising Committee (GOC), staff from Team Up are facilitating a two-day workshop this week, training around 40 Games volunteer reporters and photographers on basic sports media skills on 13-14 November 2023.
They will form part of the Games News Service (GNS) team, which will produce written and photographic coverage of the Games for both Solomon Islands and international audiences and media organisations.
The workshop will cover topics including how to interview athletes and write sports reports, channelling photography skills into a sports setting, and best practice in covering Para sport.
The Australian Government, through Team Up, has also facilitated the travel of five experienced Pacific Island sports media representatives from Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Tonga and Vanuatu who will share their media and event experience from previous Pacific Games (Port Moresby 2015, Vanuatu 2017 and Samoa 2019) with their Solomon Islands colleagues.
Australian High Commission Minister Counsellor Lindsay Buckingham opened the workshop today. She said: “As a longstanding supporter of the media sector in Solomon Islands, Australia is pleased to be partnering with Solomon Islands Government and the Games Organising Committee to help deliver the Games News Service. We look forward to seeing stories of the Pacific Games shared with the world.”
Solomon Islands 2023 Pacific Games Marketing and Communications Manager Laurel Tasa said: “We appreciate the support we are receiving from the Australian Government, through Team Up, and their representatives from across the Pacific to share their experiences with our volunteers, who are very enthusiastic about covering the Games. We look forward to working together during the Games and the content that this workshop will enable us all to produce.”
Team Up, the Australian Government’s sport for development program across the Asia-Pacific, supports strategic regional partnerships to strengthen the sport sector in areas such as media and communications, leadership and safeguarding. Its predecessor program, Pacific Sports Partnerships, also provided support to the Samoa 2019 Pacific Games to train and mentor Samoan media volunteers.
For more information about Team Up and its initiatives, visit www.teamup.gov.au.
Follow Team Up news on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn (@TeamUpProgram), and on Twitter (@TeamUp_Program).
