First Nations Media News: Emma Donovan at CONVERGE Lismore | Sports Broadcasting Mentor Program

Plans are moving ahead for our national conference, CONVERGE Lismore coming up in just 4 weeks time! We are excited to announce the deadly Emma Donovan will be performing for delegates at the Welcome Dinner on Tuesday 4 May - what a way to start the event!

CONVERGE Lismore will take place from 4-7 May, coinciding with the 30th anniversary celebrations of our co-hosts, Koori Mail. Registrations are open now and close on Monday 19th April. If you're planning on bringing your team - make sure you let us know through the registration form linked below. Travel subsidies are available to FNMA members, just contact jenni@firstnationsmedia.org.au Information about discounted accommodation rates and travel arrangements is available on our website.

A note on COVID: we are keeping an eye on any developments in the northern rivers region relating to COVID-19 cases. At this stage, all is looking ok to go ahead with an in-person gathering. If that changes at all in the coming weeks, we will switch plans accordingly. CONVERGE Lismore will take place under the COVID Safety plan in place at the NORPA venue, ensuring space for social distancing and contact tracing for all delegates on site. We will be doing everything we can to ensure this is a safe event for delegates and communities.

In partnership with the CMTO and the ABC, FNMA is pleased to launch a sports broadcasting mentor program. This opportunity is for FNMA member organisations to put forward sports broadcasters from your team for a program to support people who are currently doing sports broadcasts to level-up their broadcast sound, or to support broadcasters interested in moving into the sports arena. Launching at CONVERGE Lismore, the program will run for 12 weeks covering topics like live commentating, sports bulletins, sports programming promotion, programming sports at your station, sports interviewing, OB mixing and scripting news re-caps. The program includes a mix of online webinars and discussion time with mentors to support participants through fortnightly tasks. Overall, it will take around 1 hour per week to make your sports broadcasts sound even better!

Mentors include Ned Hall, Patrick Stack and Brett Sprigg from the ABC Sport team, Tracey Holmes, Brittany Kleyn and Tanisha Stanton from the News ABC Sport team as well as Chris Kimball and other experienced broadcasters. Webinar sessions will include sports broadcasting expertise from Tim Verrall (Executive Producer, Live Sport ABC), Dave Stein (Promo Producer specialist) and Denis Carnahan.

Expressions of interest are now open to media workers from radio or television stations. The CMTO will be matching up mentees and mentors based on region and areas of interest. You can submit multiple expressions of interest from one organisation if you have a number of people wanting to get involved, but places are limited. So get in quick before Sunday 18 April.

With Mark Denbow from AIATSIS visiting Alice Springs last week, we thought it was a good chance to invite people working in archiving and digitisation in Central Australia to meet together and discuss their projects. Although it was short notice, 17 people attended from Alice Springs Library, Ara Irititja (NPY Women's Council), Batchelor Institute, Central Australian Aboriginal Congress, Central Land Council, inDigiMOB, Institute for Aboriginal Development, Libraries and Archives NT, and PAW Media. Special thanks to Kumanjayi Hodder Watt and Simon Fisher who drove in from Yuendumu to attend!

Mark is the Director of Collection Preservation and Digitisation at AIATSIS and is assisting us with technical advice and equipment to establish an archiving and digitisation facility in Alice Springs. The facility will be a hub for archiving and digitisation for First Nations Media organisations. However, as we heard about in the meeting, there are a number of other great archiving projects underway in Central Australia and we hope to facilitate future meet ups to support each other and develop what Mark calls a 'community of practice'.

First Nations Media Australia is happy to welcome a new member to our team – Reece Lamshed – who takes up the position of FNMA News Sharing Project Manager.
Replacing Nancia Guivara as Project Manager, Reece joins Project Editor David Liddle and our team of Community Reporters around the country.

“I've been involved in some way in community broadcasting most of my working life, as a broadcaster, producer, manager and consultant,” Reece says. “I managed 3RRR and 3ZZZ (ethnic radio) in Melbourne. I created training resources for the CBAA / CMTO and the ABC in management, journalism and podcasting. I conducted a number of research papers for the CBF, including one on national training.”

Reece says most of his work over the years has been in advice and content provision of online learning, working with Associations, TAFE colleges, schools, universities and education departments.

"A few years ago I managed a project not dissimilar to this one, which was training Sudanese people in Media Journalism through a project conducted at the Melbourne University Centre for Advancing Journalism. I'm very excited by this project, and look forward to meeting and working with you.”

Reece can be contacted via reece@firstnationsmedia.org.au

The Community Broadcasting Association of Australia is calling for applications from Australian community radio producers in the eighth annual instalment of the National Features and Documentary Series.

Applications will be assessed by an esteemed selection panel of representatives from across the sector, including representatives from First Nations Media Australia, RPH Australia, National Ethnic and Multicultural Broadcaster’s Council, and Christian Media & Arts Australia.

Applications opened, Thursday, 1 April and close Friday, 30 April. Apply here.