A group of about 30 children including adults from the Seventh Day Adventist Emmanuel Church Pathfinder Club at Lalovaea visited the Samoa Observer Office at Vaitele yesterday.

The visit was part of a yearly plan of the church group where they go out on a field trip to learn more about various work industry and even historical places.     

During their stopover at Vaitele, Samoa Observer Editor Mata’afa Keni Lesa gave the guests a rundown of the newspaper's history and its daily operation. 

Mata’afa compared the Samoa Observer's Vaitele headquarters to New York.

“New York is the city that never sleeps, they say. Well at Vaitele, while everyone has gone to sleep, they are still working,” he said. 

“In the morning the reporters come in and go out to cover stories then the layout designers put the paper together. 

“As they finish off, the printing team come on board to start their work at night, which goes up until the morning which is when the drivers and deliveries come in to distribute the paper to the stores." 

He added by the time the drivers finish delivering the newspapers, the reporters are back in the office. 

"And the cycle continues. It is non-stop, every day.” 

The Editor also spoke about the paper's growing online presence and how there are many different careers for people who are interested in working for a newspaper. 

"It takes more than just reporters to put out a newspaper," he said, adding that there are many different divisions within the operation which include Accounts, Advertising, Online, Printing all the way to the people who sell the newspapers on the streets. 

Pathfinder Club Director, Diana Davetanivalu said the newspaper visit had given them an insight into how a daily newspaper operates.     

What she found interesting is when reporters are confronted by Government officials when they ask questions. 

“We learned a lot from what we heard from the Editor and how each individual contributes to the newspaper operation,” she said. 

“I found it interesting how reporters face difficulties in getting information from the government. We don’t see the trouble and threats they had to encounter to get that information for readers.

“I think its risk and I applaud those that have the guts to do such work.” 

The group was also given the opportunity to see the newsroom area, darkroom and the printing press.