Archives: Spring 1998

3ZZZ Youth Program
NEMBC Women's Committee Report
AERTP
Racial Vilification...Please Don't Consider...
5UV and Real Audio
Internet: Bringing the World Together
Net Result...Empowerment
TRANSLATORS WANTED

3ZZZ Youth Program

'Monday night has always been a bit different,' says Rudi Richter, Convenor of the German group. People know that that's the night where they will not be able to listen to their favourite Schlagers and Oompahpah music. And many do not like it. A few have threatened to discontinue their membership because of this manic Monday. Not particularly because of our show, but because of the fact that Mondays seem to be lost to 'fringe groups' like the monthly religious broadcast or the program of German teachers.

The German group has 230 members. Most of them are twice our age. Certainly not our target audience. However, it seems that the the older audience - with a few exceptions - are the ones who listen to 3ZZZ.

Everyone is aware that the station needs younger listeners. The German population in Australia is ageing and membership of the German group is slowly declining. It is time for new people behind the microphone and in front of the radio. This is not an easy process as understandably some of those who have been sitting there for years are reluctant to share their seats.

Feedback from younger listeners is rare: sometimes we wonder how many of them are out there listening. 'Ich finde dich Scheisse' ('I think you are ?$%&.'), a song we played on a recent program was certainly not a crowd pleaser. Rudi Richter received a couple of phone calls from upset listeners complaining about this song that manages to use the word '?$%&' about 50 times in 3 minutes. In Germany the song has been played at many public radio stations without anyone batting an eyelid.

Nowadays, four letter words in German songs are not unusual and people overseas are used to it. (Songs like 'Damn, I love you', 'Arsehole' and '?$%&' even topped the charts). In contrast, in the German community in Australia (possibly like other ethnic groups) the gap between the generations' tastes and sense of what is appropriate on air seems to be much bigger than it is in Germany. However, there is support by liberal minded broadcasters in the German group. Last week we got five people to join our program. It's a starting point and we hope our advertisements in universities and the Goethe Institute will attract many more young German speakers. After three months our enthusiasm is still huge. We enjoy our programs and therefore we will continue to ban the Oompahpah and hope to successfully ease our older listeners into a younger groove!

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NEMBC Women's Committee Report

Oral Histories

We are looking at ways to encourage the development and expansion of oral history broadcasting and production. For many women, oral histories are a comfortable and accessible radio format. Also, it is vital that we record the diversity of lives that have and continue to create Australia's heritage.

Appropriate training and funding are two important ways to encourage and support oral history production. The AERTP has included oral history in the Advanced Documentary Making training module. Contact Michelle at the AERTP for more details. The Women's Committee is keen to see a specific oral history module developed in the future. What do you think?

CBAA Women's Guide

The Community Broadcasting Association of Australia (CBAA) has received funding to produce a Guide for Women Community Broadcasters. The purpose of the Guide is to encourage stations to support women's participation in the community broadcasting sector.

The NEMBC Women's Committee has been actively contributing to the Guide. Our initial comments included the need for the Guide to be relevant to ethnic broadcasters and for it to be written in plain English. Since then we have provided feedback and comments on a number of drafts. Stations should receive the Guide in the near future. Look out for it.

Women's Webpage

Have you looked up the Women's page on the NEMBC Website. Have a look. We would like your suggestions and contributions. See: www.nembc.org.au/

Comings and Goings...

The Women's Committee has regretfully accepted the resignation of NSW Representative, Nicola Joseph. Nicola, from Radio Skid Row in Sydney, has been with the Committee since its very beginning. Work, community and family responsibilities have meant that Nicola has had to cut down on some of her activities. While we will miss Nicola's valuable contributions to the Women's Committee she is still contributing as the Ethnic News Digest journalist.

The new NSW Representative on the Committee is Nellie Riki. Nellie is a broadcaster with Te Whanau Puoro o Poikeo, a Radio Skid Row Maori language programme. We warmly welcome Nellie to the Committee and look forward to working with her.

1998 NEMBC Conference

This year the Conference is to be held in Canberra from the 20 - 22nd November. Make sure your station has women delegates attending. We are planning some interesting speakers and workshops. Of the two Conference travel subsidies available to all stations, one is specifically for a woman or young person.

Racism

We are witnessing an extremely challenging period in Australia's history. Much that we have and continue to work towards is under threat. Ethnic community broadcasting has an important role to play in promoting and maintaining our multicultural society. The Women's Committee made recommendations to the Executive about initiatives to fight racism and bigotry. The NEMBC will apply to produce an anti-racism resource kit for use by all stations and programs.

Mailing List

We are setting up a mailing list of ethnic women broadcasters. Contact the Secretariat if you would like your name added. Contact details can be found on the back cover of The Ethnic Broadcaster.

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AERTP

Firstly, for those of you who don't know about the AERTP. The AERTP provides accredited, competency based training for ethnic broadcasters. The training takes place at your radio station and offers radio modules that cover all areas of program production and program presentation. The core curriculum comprises thirteen modules.

You can complete the core curriculum and are eligible for a Level Three Certificate in Community Radio or you can complete one or several modules and be eligible for a statement of attainment. Five new advanced modules have now become available these are: DAT Recording, Digital Editing, Talkback, Promotional Announcements, Documentary Making. Funding to run an AERTP course at your station is available four times each year from the Community Broadcasting Foundation (CBF). Ethnic training grants fund the cost of course co-ordination, administration and trainer wages. Training is provided free to ethnic broadcasters.

This is what some trainees have had to say about AERTP:

'The practical training was really useful. Apart from Content, we had the opportunity to meet with people from other communities to exchange programming ideas and get an insight into other cultures. Earlier, I was very formal in my presentation. The training gave me the confidence to speak more informally and person to person to our listeners. I understand now, how radio with its use of voice works differently to other media such as newspapers that rely on text.'
Vijay Wardhen (3ZZZ's Hindi Programme age 43)

'I'd like to express my gratitude for the opportunity to attend classes to learn all about broadcasting. I was grateful to meet pleasant, friendly, knowledgeable and professional teachers with lots of tolerance for me, as my knowledge of how to present a good radio program was limited. I am looking forward to more lessons in the future as there is always something new to learn.'
Elvira Pawlowski (3YYR's Latvian, Polish and English Programmes Age 75)

'I did the technical side of the course. It was very hands on, we made mistakes and we were taught how to compensate in this situation. Our trainer was fantastic. I enjoyed developing interviewing skills. The most challenging thing was learning to panel and interview simultaneously. Before this training, we had a shortage of skilled people on our programme. Now, it's a relief to have one more skilled person.'
Elizabeth Exposto (3ZZZ's East Timorese Programme Age 23)

'I attended the May-July 1998 AERTP training at Geelong Radio and found it to be absolutely fantastic! The trainers succeeded in making even a subject that could be fairly boring, very interesting and I was always looking forward to the next session. It all seemed over before we knew it and I feel we would all like to do some more advanced modules in the future. I know that I have gained a lot of knowledge and will apply this to my Dutch Programme. I am so grateful to AERTP for making this sort of training accessible to us.'
Josie Wepster (3YYR's Dutch Programme)

For funding information you can contact the CBF on (03) 94198055. If you would like to know more; information on the course and our curriculum is available on our web page at http://www.vicnet.net.au/~nembc/training.htm

Content:

• Is the content relevant and thought provoking?
• Are issues represented fairly?
• Is the talent (interviewees) interesting?
• Does the music compliment the mood of the program and its time-slot.

• Are you umming alot?
• Are you speaking in a relaxed, informal manner to the listener?
• Do your introductions lead into your stories consisely?

• Are the levels right?
• Are you getting the music cues right?
• Can you hear edit points in your pre-recorded material?

• Is anyone speaking too much?
• Is anyone not speaking enough?
• Does it sound like you are having a good time and getting on well?
• Would your listener feel excluded or included by the personal dynamics of your shift?

If you've got views, questions or experience you believe others could learn through; please share them by emailing me at rtraining@access.net.au or writing to AERTP PO Box 1144 Collingwood VIC 3065

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Racial Vilification...Please Don't Consider...

The situation is made more complex by the fact that a range of bodies deal with racial vilification. There's the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (HREOC), the Australian Broadcasting Authority(ABA) and, depending on which state you are in, state based agencies too.

Someone who feels upset by material that goes to air on your station may therefore approach a range of agencies, but there is not necessarily any coordination between the agencies. So for example, a matter that has been investigated by the ABA may still be investigated again by HREOC.

This article focuses on the complaints that are dealt with by the ABA. While many stations may have internal policies that deal with these sorts of areas, the ABA has a particular jurisdiction because of Code 2 (2.3) of the sector's Code of Practice.

The Code states that Community Broadcasters shall not broadcast material which may stereotype, incite, vilify or perpetuate hatred against, or attempt to demean any person or group on the basis of ethnicity, nationality, race, gender, sexual preference, religion, age or physical or mental disability.

It's worth noting that the Code is more restrictive than other racial vilification codes because it makes 'attempt[ing] to demean a person' a breach of the code. This means that as a sector we need to be very conscious of the nature of critical comments that might be put to air.

To get an insider's view, 3ZZZ recently hosted a workshop on racial vilification with two speakers from the Australian Broadcasting Authority.

They noted that it was important that critical comments were made as part of a broader discussion and that the ABA would be looking at the context of the broadcast. That means that broadcasters need to ensure that they don't see their programs as solely a vehicle for their own personal views.

They made the point that generally the ABA does not believe that the sector is riddled with racial vilification and that being able to be critical of people or groups is part of the democratic process and an essential part of what the community radio sector should be doing.

The workshop concluded by examining the results of a number of ABA investigations into material that may have been in breach of the ABA Code. These 'Results Of Investigation' are available from the ABA and form a valuable resource for community broadcasters interested in this subject.

In passing, it's worth noting that in some cases station's internal dispute resolution procedures hadn't worked effectively. This may be because the material was complex and may require translation. However, its also worth remembering the old chestnut that 'a pinch of prevention is worth pounds of cure'.

The ABA's 'Results Of Investigation' can be obtained by phoning the ABA on 1 800 22 6667.

Special thanks to Jonquil Ritter & David Smith from the ABA Policy & Content Regulation Branch who attended the 3ZZZ workshop.

Nick Bastow, Station Manager 3ZZZ Melbourne

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5UV and Real Audio

The idea of 'netcasting' (broadcasting on the net) came to us in the early days of development of 5UV's website. The RealAudio streaming audio technology was just becoming known. The ability to compress audio and then feed it in real time onto the Internet opened up all sorts of possibilities. Soon there were hundreds of radio stations - mostly from the USA initially - netcasting.

5UV, as part of the University of Adelaide, had quality and quantity access to the Internet. It was also fortuitous that the University owned an Internet Service Provider, Camtech, which was experimenting with the new RealAudio streaming technology.

Through the assistance of Camtech and the web work of 5UV volunteer Jessie Reynolds of Virtual Artists, 5UV was soon 'on-air' on line. The fact that you need a licence from RealSystems for the RealAudio Server and continuous and wide band access to the internet makes netcasting potentially an expensive business. Camtech has given 5UV a 'free ride' as part of a marketing exercise to attract commercial users of the technology. We are not sure how long this will continue.

Netcasting is currently a bit of a 'gimmick' in that not a lot of people listen. It's handy though for people at a distance who want to tune in to specific programs. We get an email every couple of days in appreciation of this service.

We have used the availability of Internet access to our programs as a 'value-added' component to some special programs. For instance, we ran a series of four professional development programs for teachers earlier in the year which attracted a number of netcast listeners in country areas.

The next step for 5UV is to allow people to access programs 'on demand'. We will load our special and flagship programs onto the net. They will be playable at anytime on demand. This technology will be trialled later this year when we collaborate with the University in putting a couple of 'staffing futures' seminars on the station's website.

Later on, with the support of the CAN project, we hope to develop this 'audio archive' idea to allow the best of community radio programs to be continuously accessible to people via the net.

Jeff Langdon, Station Manager 5UV Adelaide

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Internet: Bringing the World Together

They watch as Buu Phung types in some letters and clicks 'okay'. Suddenly the screen is filled with Vietnamese characters. Before they know it, they are reading the previous day's edition of a Vietnamese language newspaper from the United States...

A similar scene is unfolding a few kilometres away in Carlton, where several elderly Italian women are gathered around a computer screen.

'What town did you come from?' Paolo Ricci asks one of them

'From Syracusa,' she replies.

Less than a minute later, images of her home town fill the screen. The woman is overcome with emotion. She left Syacusa in 1953 and has not been back since then. She reads the Italian text with tears in her eyes.

Victoria's Minister for Information, Technology and Multimedia says it can be easy to forget that the Internet is, first and foremost, about people.

'Most importantly, it is also about breaking the barriers of isolation.'

Mr Stockdale said to help encourage barriers to be broken down, last August the Victorian Government established Skills.net, a programme designed to ensure that no Victorian was excluded from the Internet because of lack of access to the necessary equipment, lack of training or lack of ongoing support.

Over three years, Skills.net will give approximately 40,000 Victorians the skills and resources they need to understand the Internet and make it work for them. Most of them are people who would not otherwise have had this opportunity.

The Victorian Government wants access to the Information Age to be universal - regardless of English language skills, place of residence, age, income, disability or education.

There are now more than 1,100 computers accessible at 187 locations through statewide Skills.net projects.

There are a number of ethnic communities throughout Victoria which have already embraced the opportunities offered by the Internet, including the Acacia Indo-Chinese Children's Center in Richmond, which is one of eight local access points for YarraNet, a community information network serving the residents of the City of Yarra.

Buu Phuug, Director of the Centre, provides training and assistance to members of the Vietnamese community - from school children to elderly people - wishing to access the Internet.

Acacia also publishes its own web site in two versions: English and Vietnamese. Through a joint project with YarraNet and Swinburne University's Department of Family and Community Studies, Acacia use the website to offer a Certificate in Child Care in the Vietnamese language.

While other Australian institutions have tried to deliver their courses on the world wide web by using English, this is the only project using a language other than English.

Another project is based at CoAslt, an organisation dedicated to preserving and fostering Italian culture and education in Melbourne.

It is part of a larger project called Moreland and Communities Online, which aims to increase access to multimedia technologies for members of the Moreland, Italian and other non-English speaking communities through a network of computers in community locations such as social and sporting clubs.

The program, a joint initiative of the Moreland City Council, CoAslt, Wang Global, Moreland Hall, Dante Aligeri Society and Virtual Moreland, is also producing multilingual on-line educational and community-based information.

CoAslt's Paolo Ricci says he wanted to demystify multimedia technology for the Italian community, especially elderly Italians.

He conducts training in Italian. Often he is able to link his students via email with on-line family members or friends in Italy.

'We do a search on their town and usually find that if it's of a reasonable size it's online. Often there is a city council site, local newspaper and so on. Many of them haven't been back for 30 or 40 years and it is very exciting for them.'

Mr Stockdale said details of Skills.net could be found at the Skills.net Web site on www.skills.net.au or by contacting the Skills.net coordinator, Ph 96699710.

Alan Stockdale, Minister for Information Technology, Victorian Parliament

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Net Result...Empowerment

The Internet provides us with a new communication system which merges elements of our mass media with computer mediated communication. It not only provides media broadcasters with access to the latest information in the language required, but it also provides the potential for interaction with the audience.

Business interests are currently shaping the future of the Internet and we are witnessing international alliances between media empires, telecom and software companies. Their view of the Internet is built around the production of entertainment. They would prefer the audience to be passive and receptive to their version of mass culture.

Fortunately the medium of the Internet provides for a more empowering outcome - in which people can interact, build communities of interests and participate.

Studies indicates that there is great interest by users of online technology in information access, community affairs, education, and political involvement rather than pure entertainment.

The current demographic of Internet users demonstrates that people with higher levels of education and income mainly use the Internet. This presents us with the issue of access. People in isolated communities and in many rural areas, immigrants, older workers and the poor all risk becoming the information poor. Their future access to education, work, human communications and leisure pursuits will be effected. Access to the Internet is a form of power, the power to communicate and to get information.

The Internet can be very democratic because as a communication medium it can reverse the traditional power relationship in communication in the same way community radio does. The Internet also provides a cheap and effective form of communication that can link isolated individuals, communities and areas.

Currently the groups that miss out are distinguished by class, ethnicity, region and country. We need to develop and support initiatives which allow greater access to the Internet regardless of a persons background.

In the Moreland area of Melbourne we have set up a local community network (http://www.vmore.org.au) which seeks to increase access to the Internet by disadvantaged groups. We provide Internet access training and web design for our multicultural and multilingual communities mainly for free. We find it difficult to cover our considerable costs and only survive through the work of volunteers, the support of some community groups and a State Government grant.

In Moreland, as in many other Australian suburbs, towns and local communities people are discovering the potential of the Internet. Recently many of these communities have come together to create a lobby group, the Australian Community Networking Association (www.acna.org). They held a Conference earlier this year and people found common cause in wanting to empower and assist communities by going on-line.

Governments have a major role in this process. The issue of access to the Internet is similar to the issue of literacy in the 19th Century, when it began to be realise that social and economic development demanded broad literacy. In Victoria this led to the Victorian Eduction Act of 1872 which sought to bring literacy and education to Victorians by making schooling free, secular and compulsory. It was a powerful, philosophical statement as well as a major service commitment. We are confronting similar issues today and it demands an equally clear statement and commitment by Governments to help provide access to the on-line world.

Carlo Carli can be contacted at Email: ccarli@werple.net.au

Carlo Carli, ALP Spokesperson Multimedia, Victorian Parliament

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