First Nations Media News : indigiTUBE developments : Upcoming events : Stakeholder meetings : Rate us

Dot West, Daniel Featherstone and Claire Stuchbery traveled to Canberra to meet with the Department of Prime Minister & Cabinet and to remind government representatives of our Calls for Action. Over three days we spoke with 20 representatives from all sides of politics, including both long-term supporters of our industry and new representatives attending some of their first sitting weeks in Parliament House. It was great to re-confirm support to progress the Calls for Action from Senators and MPs and to introduce new members to why our media matters.

You may remember from our last newsletter that Roy Monaghan has joined the First Nations Media Australia team as our Industry Development Officer. Roy is advancing the Workforce Development Action Plan to increase the number of people employed in the First Nations Media sector, as well as building organisational capacity. Roy has been speaking with members and stakeholders, gathering information to build an accurate picture of the current position of organisational structures, staff numbers, training needs, position descriptions and future personnel requirements. All information collected will be treated confidentially and will be used solely for the purpose of benefitting the sector as a whole. If you haven't spoken with Roy already, he'll be in touch with you soon, or you can contact him on 08 8952 6465.

Nominations for the First Nations Media Awards and Remote Indigenous Media Awards are open now and due to close on Friday. There are 27 award categories including major awards, content awards across all platforms and development awards acknowledging support within media organisations. We want to recognise people right across the industry who are doing great work. Nominate someone from your team by 5pm on Friday August 23. Remote Indigenous Media Awards will be presented at the 20th Remote Indigenous Media Festival in September and First Nations Media Awards will be presented on the final night of CONVERGE Alice Springs on 29th November.

We have already received over 90 registrations for the 20th Remote Indigenous Media Festival on Waiben/Thursday Island. The festival is only four weeks away and seats on the plane from Cairns to Horn Island are booking up quick. Make sure you confirm your travel arrangements when you register on our website. There will be many opportunities to experience local culture with a fantastic opening ceremony at the Gab Titui Culture Centre, cultural excursions fitting in around the workshops, industry forums and stakeholder meetings, and a closing night concert 'Torres Strait History through Song' organised by co-host TSIMA. TSIMA has been busy organising a really special event for us on Kaurareg country.

Haven't registered yet? Get going! Registrations are closing on Monday 9 September.

Registrations are now open for our national conference and First Nations Media Awards. This year we will be converging on Arrerente country with a welcome event from our co-hosts, CAAMA. The event officially begins on Wednesday 27th November and runs over two days until the 29th November.

There was too much to fit into the program so we’ve added a couple of learning opportunities for people able to get to Alice Springs a couple of days earlier. There will be pre-workshops from Tuesday 26 November on Tech for the non-technical with the CMTO/Technorama, archive management and storage with FNMA/AIATSIS and governance and financial management training with ORIC.

Then we’ll be running into the conference program with keynote presentations, workshop opportunities and forums to learn, share and plan together at the DoubleTree by Hilton.

On Friday 29 November we will celebrate excellence across the sector at the First Nations Media Awards. Our inaugural year was a huge success and we’ve got a really incredible venue lined up for delegates in Mparntwe this year.

To help us keep in touch in between industry events, we have been running regular online catch-up meetings for senior staff in remote, regional and urban groups. We have also established an industry Facebook group. Both the meetings and the Facebook group are opportunities to share or seek advice from peers at other media organisations, or to ask questions of your peak body. We invite you to get involved by joining the Facebook group here and/or emailing our Member Services & Events Coordinator, Jacinta Barbour for the next meeting date.

FNMA's very own Ngarinyman woman Mikayla Friday-Shaw joined Chief Investigators from the ARC Centre of Excellence for the Dynamics of Language, Caroline Jones and Felicity Meakins to explain the research process and the wider impacts at the Parliamentary Library in Canberra.The team answered questions from the gathered editors, researchers and advisers who support federal politicians. They presented the newly launched Ngarinyman Dictionary, as well as other useful resources authored by Centre researchers, to Parliamentary Librarian Dr Dianne Heriot.

Over the past 6 months inDigiMOB has had a number of requests for online safety and scam-awareness workshops. We believe this is vital information for everyone, but particularly for remote communities. In response to these recent requests we have developed a stand-alone Cyber Safety and Scam Awareness workshop and will roll it out to existing and new inDigiMOB communities over the coming months.

If you'd like more information about online safety and scams contact inDigiMOB or check out the ACCC's Scamwatch website.

LET'S GET REAL
NEW PODCAST SERIES ON INDIGITUBE

Listen up to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspectives shared with heart and honesty.The Real Podcast series delivers stories and experiences from First Nations musicians, actors, designers, activists and social changes makers.

Shannan Dodson talks about what it was like growing up with esteemed Aboriginal leader, Mick Dodson, as a father, and being a change maker and social advocate in her own right. ARIA Award winning muso, Dan Sultan, yarns candidly about fatherhood, the trappings of fame, why he stopped drinking, and how he focuses on the positive to move forward. 2019 NAIDOC Youth of the Year, Mi-kaisha Masella, is a talented singer-songwriter, social entrepreneur, and political activist who talks about contemporary issues impacting our young Aboriginal people. Plus much more, check all nine episodes on indigiTUBE.

One of Noongar Radio’s most beloved programs, the iconic Inside Out makes its return with a new host.

Keeping loved ones connected on the inside to country, family, language and culture, Inside Out features a weekly four-hour dose of shout-outs, music, poetry, positive messages and stories from the inside serving crucial community concerns not addressed by commercial broadcasting.

Inside Out quickly became Noongar Radio’s most popular show amassing more than 270 requests per week. Send your request through to 0448 821 186 or via the Noongar Radio Facebook page.

R U OK? Day is coming up as a national reminder to reach out to your mob. Let's talk - we're stronger together.
33 Creative has developed a bunch of resources to help guide these important conversations and information to share online. The campaign has been developed by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

First Nations media can help people join the conversation and find out how to ask people R U OK? through shared personal stories.

You can download the supporter kit from the R U OK? website here.

Daniel Featherstone and Claire Stuchbery attended the Sector Roundtable meeting in Sydney last week. This was an opportunity to catch up with representatives from the National Ethnic & Multicultural Broadcasters Council (NEMBC), RPH Australia, the Community Broadcasting Foundation (CBF), Christian Media & Arts Association (CMAA), Australian Community Television Association (ACTA) and the Community Broadcasting Association Australia (CBAA). Discussions focused on the forward agenda for community media sector leadership and regulatory reform requirements.

A new podcast from remote Australia reveals how the world’s oldest living culture is embracing mobile technology. Each episode of Disconnect, written by RMIT University’s Ellie Rennie and co-hosted with Deakin University’s Tyson Yunkaporta, explores a unique aspect of internet use in Aboriginal communities and towns. The topics covered in the series were all raised by the communities themselves. Interviews were collected with InDigiMOB (a Telstra-funded digital mentors program run by First Nations Media Australia), PY Media in the APY Lands and ARDS in Arnhem Land.
Read more here.

MICHAEL GORDON JOURNALISM FELLOWSHIPS

The Melbourne Press Club is offering grants up to $30,000 in honour of Michael Gordon, a respected former political editor at The Age who died suddenly in February 2018. The Michael Gordon Fellowships is a national program to enable social justice journalism. Funding is available for reporting projects in areas such as Indigenous affairs, migration policy, human rights and international development. Applications are open now and close on 5 September. Read more.