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Duran Puia Angiki is a professional journalist who worked as reporter in Solomon Islands and also wrote for international newspapers. In 2000, a coup broke out in Solomon Islands the government collapsed. He was perhaps the only journalist who reported genuinely about the events of that time, but with the absence of law and order, and after receiving a barrage of death threats, he escaped Solomon Islands and now residing in New South Wales (NSW), Australia.

Education
Mr. Angiki was born on Bellona Island, a tiny Island in the Southern Solomon Islands - the smallest of the two Islands which make up Rennell Bellona province. He grew up on the Island before moving to Honiara for further studies. He was fortunate to have a very an uncle an uncle, Dykes Angiki, as a mentor and a tremendous influence on his outlook in life. His uncle is a renown and respected Journalist in Solomon Islands and the Pacific region. Mr. Angiki went to completed his primary school on Bellona Island and the continued his high school at Siota provincial secondary school. He completed his Grade 7 to 9 in 1986. He returned Honiara where he worked few jobs before introduced to journalism. A friend introduced Mr. Angiki to a smaller newspaper, Solomon Toktok, an newly established newspaper. After a while he became a field reporter in training for that newspaper. He later became a full-time reporter for the newspaper.

A year or so, Mr. Angiki traveled to New Zealand where he studied Journalism at the Waikato University of Technology, Hamilton. There he earned a Certificate in advanced Journalism; a qualification most local reporters in Solomon Islands didn't have at the time. He returned to Solomon Islands where he worked as a journalist for the nation's leading Newspaper, Solomon Star. He then went to the University of the South Pacific where he earned his Bachelor's Degree in Journalism. At the USP, he became the editor of the University press; a position he held till he graduated. He then went to do his Masters (MA) at the Sydney University of Technology.

Career
Mr. Angiki worked for the Solomon Toktok - an obscure newspaper popular in the 1980s. He then worked as a reporter and writer for the Solomon Islands' most popular newspaper, the  Solomon Star Newspaper . He also did some freelance work for a French newspaper, and for Sydney Morning Herald. In 2012 and 2013, he was invited by the Kettering Foundation, a research institution based in Dayton, Ohio. He spent half a year as a fellow researcher at Kettering Foundation. In 2014, he was hired on a part time basis to train and editor for the Islandsun Newspaper - a new newspaper.

Challenges
During his media career, Mr. Angiki reported on issues as they were and wasn't intimidated. He was not afraid of challenging the government and their corrupt cronies and cohorts. In his work to uncover corruption in the former Solomon Mamaloni's government, Mr. Angiki was targeted. He was sued and harassed by a government so keen on keeping its secret in the dark. He exposed the lies of government - including tax exemptions for the private logging company of the prime minister himself. As a result of this aggressive targeting, he was forced to leave his position by an unfriendly news organization which cared so much about protecting its own reputation than standing up for the ethics of journalism. Though he was exonerated later, he refused to return to the same organization. He a free-lancer for foreign news outlets.

In 2000, during the Ethnic Crisis, many Solomon Islanders returned to their respective Islands except for the Australian diplomat and those who were comfortable under the wing of the MEF. Mr. Angiki chose to remain in Honiara to cover the crisis. Fearing for his life, he retreated to his wife's homestead, Gizo, in the West Province where he continued to write for the French newspaper and Sydney Morning Herald. He never held back in his reporting and was eventually threatened with death. MEF which was at the time manning and controlling Solomon Islands government and the entire security of the country, warned him and sympathizers to the MEF cause threatened to kill him and his family. At this point, Duran Angiki reached out to the international community. Amnesty International wrote and pleaded for his safety. SO did other organizations in pressing MEF to give DA safe space. .

The threat on Aniki's life wasn't just verbal, he barely missed an assassination attempt by one of the MEF's hitmen who had just arrived in Gizo a couple of days later; armed to the teeth. By pure luck, Angiki visited a friend just minutes before the assassin arrived at his residence looking for him. In a twist of fate, a Bougainville gang hired by the provincial government to protect Gizo town, heard of the assassin, plucked him out of his hotel and tortured him only to be saved by friends and relatives. He was sent back to Honiara with a clear warning to the MEF that Gizo town would not be a playground for outside thugs. For a while, Angiki contemplated his fate and sought much needed advice from friends overseas and his own uncle. In 2001, Mr. Angiki boarded a plane using an alias and headed for Australia.

Pacific Media Analysis
Mr. Angiki argued that the media in the Pacific, particularly Solomon Islands is rigged by political interference, corruption, bribery, and ethnic loyalty. Reporting during the Ethnic crisis in Solomon Islands, he argued, was seriously and grossly crafted to support the effort of the MEF as opposed to challenging the legitimacy of the government elected in 2001 under pressure from militants.

Refugee Status
The only way out of Honiara to on an international flight was through Honiara, which was at the time manned by MEF. By 2001, Mr. Angiki could not live another day without risking his life and that of his uncle and children. As the threats peaked and international outcry against his treatment, he Mr. Angiki boarded a plane to Brisbane, Australia, using an alias. He somehow left Solomon Islands without being detected, a trip that would take him out of the country for good. As a refugee of war, and with the assistance of the Australian government, he became an Australian citizen.

Researches
Angiki traveled to the USA twice as a researcher at Kettering Foundation in 2013. . He also attended Media conference in Bali, Indonesia, and also attended media workshops in Colombo, Sri Lanka.

External Link

 * Duran's Personal Blog
 * Youtube video featuring investigative journalist Duran Angiki