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Archives: Autumn 2005Griffith University Report: Australian Ethnic Audience Talk Back Culture, Commitment, Community We Only Have Diversity in the Cleaning Department President's Pen The training of ethnic community broadcasters, requiring additional and specific skills, has been widely recognised as an imperative in the delivery of media services to the ethnic communities, as indeed broadcasters training is for the ethnic community sector. Although our claim for the continuation of the Ethnic Radio Training Program (AERTP) has not been accepted by the government, the NEMBC acknowledges that the governments commitment of $2 million over the next four years for community broadcaster training can provide the ability for maintaining ethnic training in a substantial manner. Certainly an advisory committee, constituting of all sections of the community broadcasting sector is looking at how next training can be delivered under the new funding and priority government targets. The NEMBC, whilst appreciating that all broadcasters may wish to aim for the fullest accredited courses, it is also recognized that probably most broadcasters and their station can do with less. In any case the availability of money will have a limiting affect (in previous years the AERTP alone had a budget of over $200,000 annually. To minimize administrative costs, that can be as high as 60% of total funds, it will be precedent to directly fund stations for the delivery of suitable and recognized training. Station ownership of training will clearly be more effective and efficient. If training is to be in the community’s interest, then the involvement of stations is so obviously necessary. As our conference declared last year, a top priority is to (a) multiply our efforts in winning greater support and appreciation for the role of ethnic community broadcasting in the protection and promotion of Australia’s multiculturalism. We are unquestionably the major language and culture maintenance workshop, with thousands of volunteer broadcasters producing 2000 hours of weekly radio programs in over 100 languages, all over Australia, often in places where no other government or commercial ethnic broadcasting happens (b) the funding guidelines, be strictly and consistently adhered to that is broadcasters must be community responsive and accountable and stations meet twice a year with their ethnic broadcasters to discuss their rights to funding. This year marked the 30th Anniversary of 5EBI radio. On behalf of the Executive and Secretariat of the NEMBC, I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate 5EBi of 30 years of outstanding ethnic community broadcasting. May I take this opportunity to welcome Suzana Mihajlovic as our
new Executive Officer and Zulejha Kliko, as the new Youth Coordinator/
Administration Officer and wish Andrew Apostola who recently left
the NEMBC all the best in the future. I am also very pleased to
inform members that Darce Cassidy will continue to work in the secretariat.
Griffith University
Report: Australian Ethnic Audiences Talk Back Ethnic broadcasters will be aware of the recent quantitative survey compiled by McNair Ingenuity (2004). Funded by the CBAA, the report found that just under one quarter of the population aged 15 or more listened to community radio in a typical week and that 685,000 people (aged 15 and over) listened exclusively in a typical week. While the McNair report (2004) is useful for an overall picture of Australian community broadcasting audiences, the local and often specific nature of these audiences remains largely unknown. This is especially the case where audiences may be comparatively small, such as some ethnic audiences, but nevertheless provide some critical service and/or cultural resource to their specific ‘community of interest’. The NEMBC, in particular, had specific objections to the quantitative study, arguing that an exercise in ‘counting’ would fail effectively to capture its role in ethnic communities. Current research undertaken by Griffith University researchers, Assoc. Prof Michael Meadows, Dr Susan Jacqui Ewart, Ms. Christine Morris and Ms. Kerrie Foxwell will address the concerns raised by the NEMBC with regard to quantitative research. The project entitled: Remote, Regional and Radical: Australia’s community broadcasting audiences talk back is a qualitative research project designed to capture the role of ethnic broadcasters (and other specialist broadcasters) perform in their local communities. This two-year Australian Research Council project has received additional funding and in-kind support from DCITA, CBAA, CBF and the NEMBC and involves other industry representatives through the project advisory committee. The research project involves 25 audience focus groups with metropolitan and regional radio stations, 10 ethnic language focus groups, 10 indigenous focus groups and 5 community television focus groups. Interviews will also be conducted with key station personnel and community groups who use the stations. In ethnic focus groups, a primary consideration is to promote an environment where often marginalized communities feel comfortable about sharing their experience of community radio. Translators will be employed to give audience members an opportunity to relay their experience of community broadcasting. The project offers Australian audiences of ethnic programs the opportunity to be heard in a research environment that acknowledges the critical service provided by local radio for their specialist audiences. Chief Investigator, Associate Professor Michael Meadows is eager to begin talking with Australian ethnic audiences: The ethnic broadcasting sector has really taken on the task of bringing to life the idea of multicultural Australia. Our previous station-based research presented in the report Culture Commitment Community – the Australian Community Radio Sector, found ethnic broadcasters servicing diverse cultures in numerous ways. Most memorable from this initial project were the many stations which, in contrast to government policy, actively promoted participation from new and emerging refugee communities. Regional, Remote and Radical is an excellent opportunity to gather more in-depth information from actual audience members on the role ethnic broadcasters perform in their everyday lives. We are looking forward to speaking to ethnic audience members and hearing their stories and opinions. We are excited about providing valuable research to the ethnic broadcasting sector and in particular, paying due attention to the subtleties and significance of the its services. The qualitative research project captures the ‘audience first’ philosophy of community broadcasting and, in line with the industry’s legislative requirements, looks beyond markets and statistics to obtain a clearer picture of community broadcasting services in local communities. This data will be useful for both supplementing broad quantitative research results and also in terms of showcasing the diversity of community radio audiences – and thus is particularly appropriate for ethnic audiences. Furthermore, the research method has potential to empower community broadcasters through providing them with a cheap and effective method for investigating their audiences. This is a significant goal of the research team: to ensure that the participatory and active role of participants in this project is transferred into a tangible and useful method for future application. The NEMBC partnership with the Griffith University Research team is collating a list of potential ‘ethnic language groups’. Over the next few months, they will select 10 ethnic language programs which adequately represent the diversity of ethnic programming in Australia. The list will include more established language and ethnic groups, new and emerging ethnicities, youth programming, metropolitan and regional services, etc. The NEMBC will be central to the selection of ethnic languages, providing advice on stations, communities and any other potential issues relevant to the ethnic component of the research. Any further enquiries about the project can be directed to Senior research Officer, Kerrie Foxwell at K.Foxwell@griffith.edu.au or by phone on (07) 3875 7229. Dr Peter Ho is the NEMBC representative on the research committee. Dr Ho can be contacted on peter_ho@iprimus.com.au Culture, Commitment,
Community ‘From its beginnings in the mid-1970s, community radio in Australia has championed its role in giving voice to the voiceless. This is nowhere more apparent than in Indigenous and ethnic community broadcasting.’ The above statement reflects the power of ethnic community broadcasting. For over thirty years ethnic community radio in Australia has done just that “provide a voice to the voiceless”. Ethnic community radio programs are essential in delivering information and resources about various issues, services, and community announcements to their specific communities. The great advantage of radio is that people don’t have to be literate and don’t have to pick up written material as a means of receiving information about their needs. Thus, community radio is an ideal mechanism for information distribution to ethnic communities. Further, community radio is an interactive means of sharing information and bringing communities together as it has options for talkback radio. It also plays an important role in cultural maintenance and decreases “home sickness” as listeners can enjoy music and culturally specific information and news. Ethnic community radio plays a vital role in maintaining multiculturalism particularly during recent periods and events that have threatened the concept of multiculturalism in Australia. The white Australia policy, the rise and fall of One Nation and recent international events such as September 11 and the Bali bombing have resulted in further marginalisation of many ethnic communities. As Forde, Medows, and Foxwell (2002) have stated in their study ‘Culture Commitment and Community’ community ethnic radio is a persistent and concrete means of representing cultural diversity. As outlined in the study, ‘the National Multicultural Advisory Council (1999) defines Australian multiculturalism as a process which ‘recognises and celebrates Australia’s cultural diversity’: It accepts and respects the right of all Australians to express and share their individual cultural heritage within an overriding commitment to Australia and the basic structures and values of Australian democracy. It refers to the strategies, policies and programs that are designed to: - make our administrative structure, social and economic infrastructure
more responsive to the rights, obligations and needs of our culturally
diverse population; Australian ethnic broadcasters have created an environment with true exchange and discussion through dialogue in specific languages linking people to their ideas of identity Australian ethnic broadcasting has a pivotal role in raising listener’s awareness about sustaining linguistic diversity and egalitarian multiculturalism without having to listen to English only broadcasting. Ethnic broadcasting protects Australian multiculturalism in a number of ways. It gives people the power to influence changes in language use and also forming identities in Australia. It further, assists in sustaining linguistic diversity in Australia and it also encourages creation of the Australian identity. According to the Culture, Commitment, Community study, there are countless ways that ethnic community broadcasters have taken an inclusive approach to multiculturalism in an environment that often excludes the needs and issues of ethnic communities. Some ways that ethnic radio programs have done this previously, as pointed out in the study, are through telling stories. Many ethnic community radio programs have included women and refugees to participate and share their stories with the wider community. This is quite powerful as it is often the women and refugees or new and emerging communities that are excluded in the Australian society. We see this exclusion through the Federal governments policy to remove or detain many refugees. ‘While the federal government sought solutions that focused on removing many of them from the community, radio station representatives in our national focus group discussions spoke passionately about the strategies they introduced to include these ‘new Australians’’. Even though ethnic community broadcasting is a very powerful tool in providing information, resources and promoting multiculturalism, many ethnic communities have encountered a number of difficulties in accessing space for a program. As identified in a survey by the NEMBC, getting access to airwaves for new ethnic community programs has been quite difficult, particularly for the new and emerging communities. Although information via ethnic radio programs is vital, particularly during the initial period of settlement, often members of new and emerging communities lack awareness about the ethnic community radio sector; lack confidence and mobility; lack awareness of funding and training available, lack resources and airtime, and often stations lack resources for new programs. In addition, there are other concerns that ethnic broadcasters have as evident from the focus groups of the Culture, Commitment, and Community study. Many of these concerns are related to funding and how funding is structured. Some broadcasters, in this study were concerned about funding being directed to the production of programs in languages that have a small audience in the areas that they are being broadcasted. As a result, many stations apply for funding for the money, as a sole purpose, instead of for the need. A further concern about funding structures was the guidelines and the restrictions of programs that truly meet the community’s need. EDGE Radio Leading the Way In March 2005, I interviewed two remarkable young men doing some remarkable work in community radio, and particularly at Edge Radio, Launceston, Tasmania. Chris Johnson, the Station Manager of Edge Radio has been with the station since it began in February, 2003 and has experienced the station’s growth during the past two years. Oisin Collins has been working at Edge radio for just over six months and has primarily been involved with the ‘Multiedge Project’ at the station... Edge radio has some special projects that they are currently working on. These include an Indigenous program, a “schoolies” program for grade 11 and 12 students and multi edge – a multicultural music based program. The Multiedge is a multicultural music based program that also aims to build a network of contents to provide some multicultural news for Hobart. The multiedge project is about including different cultures in radio by playing a variety of music. The project has had presenters from Ethiopia and Sudan so far. “We see radio as representing communication so it is a way for young people to develop their communication skills.” Oisin and the team are focusing on getting funding for a project officer in order to develop the Multi-edge program further. The project officer will work on building networks, identifying people within communities to help sustain the project into the future. One of the difficulties that they have come across in getting young people of all ethnic backgrounds involved in broadcasting is shyness. Members of edge radio assist young people to overcome their shyness with broadcasting by trying to build a community in which presenters could meet other presenters and people who want to get on air can have access to talking with people that are already on air. Edge radio has a club that meets every month at a bar where anyone can attend either listeners or presenters and it becomes “Club Edge” for the night. Chris pointed out that they are planning to have more programming meetings regularly where people can come along and have open discussions and forums. Another challenge that they have, particularly in multicultural programming, is “dispelling the myths”. As Oisin stated “People might feel they have language barriers or accent barriers so they’re not comfortable with English yet, however we try to work through this because we would rather have the listeners exposed to different cultures and different ideas”. The team at Edge radio encourage young people to get involved in broadcasting by making it relevant to the young people themselves. They believe it is important to find what the individual wants to get out of it and the reasons why they want to broadcast. For some people it might be music, for others it might be that they feel their community is under represented. This year’s key priorities are to develop programs such as the Schoolies project; a community based project where community organisations can submit material and have interviews with a focus on health and not for profit organisations, and multicultural programs. Chris Johnson, being a pioneer at Edge radio said that Edge radio had a trial period of four weeks on air when they applied for a permanent broadcasting license with the Australian Broadcasting Association. During this period Edge radio received overall support from the community however, there were some “conservatives”, as Chris put it, that did not want the station to happen possibly because there would be more competition in the sector. Advice that Chris would give to young people who are interested in running similar projects is to do their homework. “One of the reasons Edge radio has been so successful is that there was a lot of energy invested in how other stations have done it. We looked at things that have worked and things that haven’t worked and have been very measured in our approach to make sure that we are not out there as radical young people stiring the pot without knowing what is in it”. Edge radio has received a number of awards from the CBAA and according to a recent radio survey, Edge radio has 37% of the listenership in Hobart, just after two years of broadcasting. If you would like to get more information about Edge Radio, please refer to CB Online website www.cbonline.org.au or contact the station on 03 6226 7273. We Only Have Diversity
in the Cleaning Department I have been asked to speak on the topic `connecting with communities'. One cannot engage in this topic without considering the forces that may impact on the media generally and the ability to engage with communities. Public opinion and or debate does not exist in a vacuum. It is shaped by the way in which information is accessed or mediated, how it is interpreted and articulated and by whom I hasten to add that this paper is a reflection upon insights and
experiences that have been generated by the media and on the issue
of ethnic diversity' in particular from a concern expressed of the
role and operation of ethnic minority media. This then points to a right to communicate; freedom of communication; and access to the means of communication remains critical. This is where the State positively intervenes enabling ethnic communities to have a media infrastructure, which can adequately give voice to the concerns of particular communities and appropriately represent the diversity within communities. However, this is not without its difficulties. For example, given the exclusion and marginalisation of many minority ethnic groups from some commercial media, it is hardly surprising that ethnic media have a distinct significance for minority communities. Here, communicating through the media on matters of discrimination and exclusion based on ignorance and thoughtlessness may be challenged. This may in itself present problems, and express itself in divisive struggles over who may speak on behalf of whom. The lack of diversity in news rooms can also contribute to the way in which news is interpreted; articulated and reported. A media organisation that makes this a priority is able to provide a broader perspective on often complex issues affecting communities as a whole - and as a result make for more effective connections with communities it is meant to represent. In a recent article journalist Antonio Castillo reports that a journalist colleague of his said with a sense of shame and apology that “the only diversity you will find in our media organisations is in the cleaning department” The cleaning department that Antonio Castillo mentions has often been referred to as 3D work - `dirty, dangerous and deadly'. Perhaps not literally, but it does remind us all to be conscious of the way in which multiculturalism is talked about. While we can see multiculturalism, we often find it hard to really discuss it. It is important that we as a society embrace the many contributions of the migrant Diaspora but to highlight the struggles connected to racism and racial thinking is just as important. Multiculturalism must be embraced on every level and not merely gazed at as something exotic or something to taste that is worth tantalising the tastebuds. My point is this: it is ironic that a century that has seen unparalleled
acts of inhumanity displayed by human beings against each other
has witnessed an extraordinary growth of consensus amongst the nations
of the world about the inherent dignity of the human being. At a
time when we are facing issues of war and heightened fears - no
matter how misguided, and winding back civil liberties in the name
of security, we stand on fragile ground in support of a consensus
that upholds difference, diversity and multiculturalism. In the face of this fragility, the Gallop government has undertaken initiatives, such as the development of the WA Charter of Multiculturalism. This charter is a policy response to indigenous and ethnic diversity and the recognition of difference. The charter moves beyond the notion of equal treatment in which we share common needs: in essence - you respect me, I respect you, and we all treat each other equally. This notion has been central to many policies, in which showing respect for others has essentially meant treating all people the same: in effect, people have been treated, quite literally, equally. This preempts any meaningful acknowledgement of individual, and communities' quite different needs and priorities. The multicultural charter and recognition of difference here means something else and insists, "if you want to treat me equally, you may have to be prepared to treat me differently". The charter articulates rights with the principle of treating people equally by treating them differently. These rights go beyond protecting minorities from discrimination and victimisation; they include a proactive agenda of corrective intervention to address the barriers to access and equity. Special state support for sustaining ethnic languages is a good example of such a policy and state support for ethnic media are rights recognised within media provision. As you would know, there are within the community of nations varying political, legal and social traditions represented and this makes the formulation and agreed standards sometimes a complex process, calling for perseverance and constant goodwill - to engage with as many communities as possible and to build a prosperous state. Western Australia's record in this context has seen growth, recognising the importance and strength of partnerships between agencies and all members of the community. |