BY MYRNE LIVETT
I want to give credit to my late father for being supportive in my choice to pick Journalism as a career, says Solomon Star Sub Editor, Ronald Flier Toito’ona, who was awarded the Excellence in Feature Writing Award, at the MASI Media Awards 2022 last Saturday night.
Solomon Star senior journalist and Sub-Editor, Ronald has won the award for reporting on domestic, regional and global issues affected by the fisheries and tuna industry.
His stories has been told on the mainstream news website, newspapers and social media networks in the country.
Ronald said winning the award is a proud moment for him and he would like to thank God for everything.
“This is a proud moment for me and it is good to get this kind of recognition after spending seven (7) years in the mainstream media in Solomon Islands.
“I remembered well when I was around 6-7 in the mid-90s, my father used to come home from work with a copy of the Solomon Star newspaper.”
“Back then, he would sit down with a cup of tea and then asked me to read the articles in the paper while he listens.
“So yeah, I started interested in taking up Journalism as a career in the mid-90s and my late father is very supportive of that. I am sure if he’s still alive, he would be proud. I guess he is proud watching me from Heaven when I was announced as the recipient of the Feature Writing Award,” Ronald told Sunday Isles Newspaper.
The soft spoken father of four, said he wasn’t expecting the award, as there are a lot of good feature writers or journalists in the media industry here.
“I was also not part of the awards night, as I was heading straight home from work after finishing our Sunday Star issue for the next day.”
“I only knew I scooped the Excellence in Feature Writing Award from other colleagues on Sunday. So, the feeling was surreal.
“I was super proud as this is my first award of recognition from MASI, since I started working as a Journalist in 2015.”
Ronald was nominated for the Media Association of Solomon Islands (MASI) Feature Writing Award, notably for his experience in reporting on the Fisheries Industry – a topic that is normally under-reported in the local mainstream media.
Most of his feature articles on the topic of fisheries was mainly on the significance of the industry to the lives of the people of the pacific, especially Solomon Islanders. His most recent published work was on the impacts of Covid-19 on the tuna or fisheries industry on the lives of local Solomon Islanders.
With his interest in fisheries reporting, he ensures that this area of focus finds its way in local as well as international news platforms with his feature style of writing.
His style of writing shows significant depth, insight and understanding of the fisheries industry as a local Journalists that tells local stories with an aim to influence regional and global fisheries players.
Given the complexity in understanding the technical aspects of the fisheries industry, he always strives to ensure that the stories covered, written, and published can easily be understood by his audience, especially the people on the streets and non-fisheries experts.
Some of the areas that were usually covered in his fisheries reporting include Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) fishing, fisheries observer safety, sustainable fisheries management, and events unfolding at the annual WCPFC conferences.
In winning the award, Ronald wished to thank his former editor and colleagues at Solomon Star newspaper.
“I wish to give credit to my former editor, Ofani Eremae and colleague Moffat Mamu, as well as former colleague Ednal Palmer.
“Since joining Solomon Star newspaper in April 2015, I have been learning a lot from these trio. They have been very supportive towards my career.
“I owe them a lot. For this award, I would like to give a massive thanks to my colleague Moffat Mamu for nominating me,” said Ronald.
He also went on to thank the management of Solomon Star Group of Companies Limited for their support and his newsroom team for the continuous support, displayed through team work.”
The Solomon Star Sub Editor said, to become a good Journalist comes with a lot of responsibility.
And being a father himself, the journey he’s been traveling on, ‘juggling between work and family responsibility is tough.’
“Being a journalist and a father at the same time is not easy,” he testified.
But one thing he loves about his career is even when he is at home, the Journalism responsibilities are still applied, that is, he writes articles, he interviews subjects, as well as doing private researches, etc.
Besides, he loved reading and writing and those are his hobbies.
Ronald’s advice to current and upcoming journalists is to continue and strive for the best.
“Be brave and firm with your career goal (if it’s Journalism) despite how many obstacles you might face along the way.
“The secret to become a good journalist and writer is simply reading plenty of books and keep on writing about the happenings around you.
“You must also learn to become a great thinker and problem solver by continuing to ask questions on issues around you, and identify the possible solutions. That is the daily duty of a Journalist.”
Ronald unlike some of his colleague journalists is yet to graduate with his Degree in Journalism & Politics at the University of South Pacific (USP).
He also decided to share his educational journey to motivate other young scholars that are finding it difficult to secure a job despite not completing their tertiary studies.
“Frankly, I am still a continuing student at the University of the South Pacific (USP). I was unable to complete my Bachelor of Arts in Journalism & Politics, as a result of a failure by the Government’s scholarship office to settle my tuition fees for my final year.
“This sad experience costs my dream of furthering my studies. But I did not see that as my failure, because someone is not doing his/her job and that’s his/her failure.”
“So I opted to go for a job hunt around mid-2014 after I could not continue on with my studies. After so many unsuccessful attempts, the Solomon Star management finally gave me the opportunity to commence work as a Sports Reporter in 2015.
“After securing my first job, the rest was history,” the Malaita and Makira/Ulawa lad said.
Meanwhile, the 32 year old wishes to dedicate the award to his late father and mother who have passed on within the past ten-year span.
