Paula Tagivetaua
SUVA: Vasiti Ritova, a former Fiji journalist is making it big in the land of plenty.
It is a long haul for the mother-of-two from Nananu in Ra but as her province motto says - ma'e na ma'e - she can hack it out anywhere with anybody. Badidi, as her old girl friends from Adi Cakobau School call her, is managing editor of a newspaper with a difference - for the Fijian community in Sacramento, California.
This is what Vasiti has to say:
"There are many wonderful stories in this land of second chances and The Bula Tribune will share those stories with a world audience.
"Thousands of our people have come to live here and participate in its economy, pay their tax, make use of its resources and the wonderful things America shares with everyone and also dream their dreams with other immigrant communities.
"We feel passionately about its mission and the void it will fill.
"We saw how our people who have made the US their second home wish they would have a forum to share their feelings, stories, challenges, successes and their passion.
"It will be a platform on which many stories will be shared and revisited.
"The Bula Tribune is a resource centre that will tell the stories of how this group of hardworking Fijians stood up and made their journey across the seas to work hard for their family, children, their tokatoka, mataqali, yavusa and their village, province, church, school, island, tikina, businesses and many other ventures.
"Their stories are special and the newspaper will share them.
"I admire their resilience, their attitude toward work, their effort to raise kids, to help them get an education and carry on with life. Do you know that they contribute millions of dollars every year in remittances?
"For weeks now, a group of young Fijian professionals in California have meticulously planned something they believe in.
"Our passion to share our people's stories enabled us to establish The Bula Tribune.
"The group has a lot to give thanks for. Many are passionate about The Bula Tribune and have travelled this journey with the management.
"We are equally blessed to be in this country and participate in the process of educating our people here on the importance of doing what is right and what America wants for those who share its ideals with.
"The Fijian community, save for those who break the law, has worked hard to be recognised at high levels of community giving."
The Bula Tribune will showcase the critical importance of sharing what we are with those we love and care about, with those whose companionship and friendship we enjoy.
Fiji is not just any country in the world today.
"It is an important place for its people, for those who work hard to carry its torch forward, whether as leaders, men, women, youth and children, sportsmen and women, or those who simply share with others the importance of the country in the world today."
We are all Fijians and we care about others.
The Bula Tribune will partner with everyone who has a story to tell. It will make summaries of life.
"The Bula Tribune is dedicated to every Fijian in the world today, to our resolve in the face of challenges, to those who stand up and do things for themselves, to those who love the great outdoors, travelling, nice wine and nice friendship.
"For me, personally, yes, it has been 20 long years in all facets of media in Fiji and the Pacific Islands and beyond - long time indeed but workable most of the time, achievable, blessed, and all attempted with hard work.
"I can safely say I tried to be good at my work and through all of it I earned what educated human beings fondly refer to as reputation.
"I walked into a formal newsroom (FM96) , with all its vibrancy, hustle and bustle, in early October 1990 and started on a journey - into homes, lives and minds, into personalities, attitude and differences.
"I celebrated my 20th year in journalism in California and the journey has been a wonderful one.
"Journalism became an art, a vocation and not a 9-to-5 job because the profession taught me to belong, to share my thoughts, feelings and my aims.
"I have asked hundreds of thousands of questions in this line of work, simply because they tied with justice. My stories did justice to many things and many people."
The Bula Tribune will be launched at the Delta King Hotel in Sacramento, California by former Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka and his wife, Sulueti on January 29, and will be attended by 150 guests including representatives from the Embassy of Fiji in Washington DC, the Consul-General in San Francisco, Fijian businessmen in California and a host of caregivers who provide the fuel for the Fijian community's engine room in the United States.
The Bula Tribune is part of Nest Media LLC in Sacramento County, California State. It is the second media part of the group's business entity. The group also owns Bula Television Ltd. Inoke and Ateca Qarau are also part of Vasiti's team.
It will publish every fortnight - 3000 copies, 24 pages in color and distributed all over the United States. - The Fiji Times/Pacific Media Watch
Pacific Media Watch
