Fidji: Shania Prasad, all-round journalist and educator
Shania Prasad, 25, is a multi-skilled journalist with the FBC in Fiji. She informs and encourages the public to take action to protect their fragile environment every day. In her own way, she is fulfilling her dream of becoming a teacher to “shape minds and influence lives”.
A versatile journalist with the FBC (Fijian Broadcasting Corporation) multimedia group, Shania Prasad produces articles for the website and social media, conducts radio interviews, and presents the news on TV in both English and Hindi. "It’s on the ground, experiencing the realities, emotions and resilience of the public, that I feel most at home!", explains the 25-year-old journalist.
Her boss Felix Chaudhary confirms: “Shania isn’t just some armchair journalist! She has a knack for unearthing compelling stories and prefers to be out and about, telling the story from the perspective of the most vulnerable”.
Although she’s completely in her element on the ground, Shania Prasad almost took the plunge into a different kind of deep end... “As a child, she would gather us together at home for games and lessons, insisting that we were her students! Back then, her biggest dream was to become a teacher", recalls Shaleen, her older sister.
Shania confirms that at the time she wanted to pursue this career in order to “shape minds and influence lives”, but admits that her struggles with maths ultimately led her to take a different path.
Our environment, our daily lives, our identity
Thus, Shania Prasad drew on another of her childhood qualities: "Inquisitive and keen to understand why things happened, I was always asking questions...” So, quite naturally, she chose to study Media and Communications at the Fiji National University. There she discovered her “thirst to learn and grow from my mistakes”.
During her academic career, she also drew great inspiration from her work placement at Fiji Television: “In this newsroom, I learned to cope with pressure, meet deadlines, and handle live broadcasts in real time. This exciting challenge built the resilience and confidence and now have.”
Since graduating with a bachelor’s degree in 2022, Shania has been covering a range of topics at FBC, with a particular interest in the environment: “In Fiji, we are highly vulnerable to climate change (rising sea levels, coastal erosion, cyclones, illegal exploitation of resources, etc.). Our oceans, rivers and farms are not just landscapes; they are also part of our daily lives and our identity! Producing these reports has made me more aware of my responsibility towards the communities most affected”.
I educate the public every day
Thanks to the training courses run by the Terra Asia by CFI, Shania Prasad is now conducting investigations with more data on public policy and scientific research. She is also developing a practical approach through storytelling, with a focus on prevention, initiatives and solutions devised by the communities themselves.
Her manager Felix is very happy with her progress: “Shania is delighted to be taking part in this project and often shares with me some of the new skills she has learnt, which she is already putting to use in her investigations, which are now more thorough and convincing.”
An in-depth exploration and popularisation of topics of general interest that reflect her original vocation as a teacher... “Being a journalist suits her well: she educates people too, just on a larger scale. Her reports inform and raise public awareness”, notes Shaleen.
Sharing her sister’s view, Shania adds: “I’ve become a teacher in my own way! I help to educate the public every day, because journalism also encourages awareness and action! Our environmental reporting is meaningful if it helps our communities feel that their voices are being heard and that they are better protected by our public policies."
Portrait created by Emmanuel de Solère Stintzy (Journalistes Médiateurs)