AUCKLAND (Pacific Media Watch) Pacific Media Watch contributing editor TJ Aumua won the SPASIFIK Magazine Prize and Storyboard Award for diversity reporting at AUT's School of Communication Studies awards this week.
Aumua also spoke about the issues of negative Pacific stereotypes represented in the media.
“I know when I say the word ‘Pacific’ a lot of us think of the white sand beaches, clear waters, tropical heat and dream holiday destinations," she said.
"But when I say Pacific people or Pacific Islanders, the atmosphere changes. People roll their eyes.”
Aumua said indigenous and minority communities in the world need opportunities and platforms to bring their truthful stories and human rights issues to the forefront.
The Sepik traditional storyboard was donated by Pacific Media Centre director Professor David Robie a decade ago to encourage better diversity journalism.
Fellow AUT Communications Studies graduate Joshua Iosefo was awarded the MediaWorks Award for television and screen production graduate of the year.
Film award
The trailer of his short film Forgotten Dawn Children, which pays tribute to people who suffered in the raids on the homes of alleged Pacific Island overstayers in the 1970s was screened.
He thanked his grandparents, and honoured the conflict they endured during the time of the raids.
Iosefo, also a passionate advocate for the Pacific community, and well known for his speeches on youth empowerment, is furthering his study in a Postgraduate Diploma in Communication Studies at AUT.
Niklas Pedersen of the Danish School of Media and Journalism, on an exchange programme with AUT last year, was also awarded the annual Radio New Zealand International Prize for the top student in the postgraduate Asia-Pacific Journalism Studies course.
He reported from Fiji on climate change and other issues on a two-week assignment last September.
Pedersen was not able to attend from Denmark and TJ Aumua accepted the award on his behalf.
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