First Nations Media News August/September 2022

CONVERGE MPARNTWE
(Alice Springs) 2022

23-25 November

DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel, 82 Barrett Dr, Alice Springs

Representatives from across the First Nations media industry will gather on Mparntwe country (Alice Springs) for two-day conference which will include plenary sessions, keynotes and panel forums on the main stage, plus facilitated discussion groups and breakout sessions throughout the venue .

First Nations Media Australia with our co-host Indigenous Community Television (ICTV) brings the First Nations media industry together on Arrernte country to learn, share and network.

Registrations are now open. Hurry before the early bird closes on 7th October COB.

indigiTUBE for the first time, participated at the annual BIGSOUND conference and music festival. Held on Meeanjin Country (Brisbane Qld) from the 5th–9th of September.

BIGSOUNDS is the southern hemisphere’s largest music industry gathering and is based around music artists from around Australia gathering to discuss different aspects of music.

“By day, the industry’s leading players gather at BIGSOUND conference to grapple with the big issues of the day, and by night, the future of music is discovered at BIGSOUND Festival.”

indigiTUBE held a stall at the First Nations Hub with FNMA’s Membership Officer Stephanie Stone and Project Support Officer Mikayla Friday Shaw taking part in the event on behalf of IndigiTUBE. Stephanie and Mikayla showcased all things indigiTUBE and helped create a greater awareness and recognition of the platform. They also attended several conference events and checked out the music festival. The indigiTUBE representatives were fortunate enough to meet many First Nations musicians, artists, keynote speakers and some FNMA familiar faces as well. In addition to this, they had the opportunity to be a part of a podcast series, with an FNMA Project Manager, Kirstyn Lindsay in relation to what music does for the people of Australia.

BIGSOUND is a great and beneficial event to be at if you are an upcoming artist or wanting to upskill, through experienced keynote speakers, workshops, also panels and presentations with vast supporting and helpful information for all kinds of artists who are in the industry.

indigiTUBE would like to send out a huge thank you to all the crew at BIGSOUND especially Tanya Malouf, who looked after all our travel and accommodation needs and of course the one and only Uncle Kev Starkey.

The 2022 Indigenous Digital Leadership Forum is being held in Alice Springs on Tuesday Nov 22. The Indigenous Digital Leadership Forum is a dedicated event hosted by First Nations Media Australia (FNMA).

It brings Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people together to share experiences and ideas about internet connectivity, digital tools, digital content and digital rights. It provides a forum to elevate the role of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander voices and leaders in shaping the digital transformation plans and investments of government and business and the digital aspirations and needs of communities.

Registration details and programme coming soon!

In the first week of September, the FNMA Archiving team; including Penny, Steve, Dennis and Ben visited AIATSIS (the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies) for four days and also visited the NFSA (National Film and Sound Archive) in Canberra, to learn about best practices in digitising and archiving processes.

Both national institutions were generous and shared decades of knowledge and experience in all facets of managing collections and taking care of vulnerable media.

Dennis Jupurrurla Charles, First Nations Media Digital Archivist said:

“Canberra was the best trip! I went to AIATSIS, and they showed us around the different parts and we met all the teams. It was great to see the digitising teams digitising all the video and audio tapes. I liked to learn about things like baking tapes to save them and cleaning tapes and seeing how to clean the heads on the decks. Everything was neat and well set up, with all the different equipment for every type of tape or film. It is good to save what is on the Aboriginal tapes for the future. There is heaps of stuff stored there. I would love to learn what Yapa stuff they have there [on archive] I saw early day pictures of Yuendumu. I was so happy to see new Warlpiri Dictionary there too. It was a great trip with the FNMA Archiving crew, I am proud to be on the archiving team!”

The professional development tour is part of an ongoing collaboration which includes AIATSIS establishing a digitisation and exhibition facility in the Todd Mall in Mparntwe/Alice Springs.

First Nations Media Association has a new Senior Policy Officer, Eleanor Hogan. Eleanor is following in the role from Claire Stuchbery, who made a huge contribution to developing FNMA as the peak body for the First Nations media and broadcasting sector. Eleanor has lived and worked in central Australia for 20 years and has a background in policy research, project management, Indigenous tertiary education and creative writing. Eleanor is looking forward to updating FNMA members with policy developments affecting the sector, and to supporting the sector’s growth and sustainability.

Interested in working with First Nations Media Australia, well FNMA has three job opportunities available right now!

Chief Executive Officer (CEO) – Click link to apply.
Administration Officer – Contact Jenni for more information.
The inDigiMOB team is looking for two more Project Officers to join their team – If you have experience in Community Engagement and can use smart phones and computers for a variety of tasks (and show others how to do this) please get in touch!

Contact or send your resume to Jennifer Nixon for all jobs or call Ben Smede at inDigiMOB on 0448 721 635 for more details on the Project Officer position.

Recently, the ex-mining town of Jabiru was handed back to traditional owners of the land, this is when TEABBA was exclusively invited to assist the township, and surrounding area’s inclusive of the town camps and homelands, to provide them for the first time with an Indigenous radio service, and one that relates and reflects the people with the inclusion of “Closing the Gap”, participation and ownership.

TEABBA has been working Collaboratory behind the scenes, for almost two years with various Aboriginal Corporation representatives, Federal Agencies, and the West Arnhem Regional Council, to bring a quality Indigenous radio broadcast service to this special township in the heart of Kakadu “Jabiru”.

The TEABBA Board and Membership have been extremely excited about this new chapter, acknowledging it as an historic event as Jabiru was the TEABBA’s official inaugural inception location of signing, 33 years ago and within the same week, which the service will be launched and go to air.

TEABBA Radio “Your Voice in the Bush”