The changing media landscape has prompted the Fijian Media Association (FMA) and the United States Embassy to provide training for local journalists and enhance their digital skills.
The two-day training in progress at Nadi’s Novotel Hotel brings together editors and journalists from various mainstream media organisations.
Will Romine, the US Embassy’s deputy public affairs officer, said this workshop by Professor Suzanne McBride aimed to enhance Fiji’s journalists’ media skills so that they could report on events and engage their audiences better.
He said this was the first time that the US Embassy had partnered with the FMA in an event like this and they were looking at future engagements with the FMA and wanted to be responsive to the needs of journalists in Fiji to do their jobs to the best of their abilities.
FMA general secretary Stanley Simpson said it was important that journalists started to take advantage and understand the dynamics of technology.
“This is a new way to tell the story in a new platform that we can really be pioneers at,” Simpson said.
The MaiTV director said there’s various creative ways of getting stories told and there were a lot of people following the media on social media.
“Traditional media will always be there because of credibility and that’s where the difference is.
“But at the same time, having journalists with digital skills will allow them to write creative and strong content and reach people we have never reached before.”