Cherelle Jackson

Cherelle is proud to be the first Samoan to take part in the Reuters programme. Originally from the island of Savaii, she started her career in Journalism at the age of 18 working for the daily newspaper Samoa Observer. She became the first female Editor of a Newspaper in Samoa, the Newsline Samoa Newspaper in 2006.Cherelle received numerous regional and international awards for her work in the Samoan media. They include the Pacific Cooperation Foundation Pacific Secondment, the Australian Leadership Award in Journalism, the Asia Pacific Journalism Fellowship and in 2009 she was the recipient of the prestigious Douglas Gabb Award. She established Environment Weekly, a print and online publication in Samoa in response the growing need for more environment reporting in the Pacific. She is currently a stringer for Agence France Presse news service. In the past she has contributed to the Al Jazeera English Service, Forbes Magazine and has been a local interpreter for the Wall Street Journal. She remains a Foreign Correspondent for the New Zealand Herald. Cherelle started specialising in reporting on climate change in 2006. She is in the process of publishing a book titled: 'Lamenting Kyoto' which examines the role of small island states in climate change mitigation and adaptation as reported in the media.