Archives: Spring 2001

The Federal Election
To Timor and Back
Refugee Radio
Migrant Women in the Workforce
Writing Grant Applications
Allocating 'community' licences
Youth Broadcasting...it's over to you

The Federal Election

The NEMBC has been busy putting before politicians the need for increased funding for ethnic community broadcasting. We have been to Canberra seeing politicians from all parties. We have producer an eight page leaflet that explains why this funding is urgently needed and why it makes such good sense. A copy has been sent to every ethnic programming group.

GROWTH

In the last 5 years we have seen

a 45% increase in hours of ethnic programming
a 42% increase in the number of stations broadcasting ethnic programmes.
75% of stations increase their hours of ethnic broadcasting and
65% of stations adding new languages to their programming schedule

NEED

Ethnic community broadcasting provides

information about settlement, government and community services
health, education and employment information
cultural maintenance and expression
language maintenance
skills development
community building and social cohesion
an opportunity for ethnic communities to better participate in the social, cultural, economic and political life of the nation

VALUE FOR GOVERNMENT

Ethnic community broadcasting provides great value to the nation by providing information in 98 languages that would cost government tens of millions of dollars to provide. We have trained 2500 broadcasters who speak 82 different language in IT, broadcasting and presentation skills through the Australian Ethnic Radio Training Project (AERTP). We provide this training at half the average cost of delivering workplace training.

Ethnic community broadcasting plays an important role in building a harmonious multicultural Australia. It's essential to an
inclusive, cohesive multicultural Australia that all Australians can participate in their communities and society in general

WHAT WE WANT

We want an increased level of funding that supports the work of ethnic community broadcasters by

increasing funding for ethnic community broadcasting that recognises the growth in broadcasting that has taken place
on going funding for the highly successful Australian Ethnic Radio Training Project (AERTP)

YOUR SUPPORT

Talk to politicians, get them to visit your station, interview them about their policies and put to them the case for increased funding for ethnic community broadcasting.

NEMBC

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To Timor and Back

I became interested in East Timor and their struggle for independence through working at Community Radio Station 3CR in Melbourne. The program Voice of East Timor began at 3CR 18 years ago broadcasting in Tetum and Hakka.

3CR was the first media outlet in Australia to give a voice to the East Timor community in Australia. It also enabled English language programmers at 3CR to access the real story of what was happening in East Timor under Indonesian rule. It's important to remember that right up until the ballot for independence 2 years ago, the human rights abuses that were happening on our doorstep were blocked from the mainstream media by political forces.

When I arrived in Timor I was amazed at the devastation still so evident from the fallout of the ballot 2 years ago when 80% of the country voted for Independence. After adjusting to the culture shock, the mozzies and the heat, I began to focus on my work. This too was overwhelming.

The community radio station I was working with had wonderful equipment donated by APHEDA, Union Alliances and the Victorian government, but it's studio was tiny, stinking hot, dusty and had no ventilation or sound proofing. Initially I could only last for 15 minutes in the studio without having to go outside and find some shade. I couldn't speak Tetum or Bahasa Indonesian and felt embarrassed by my ignorance. I wondered how I was going to offer any support or advice on how to run a community radio station at all.

I met everyone, even remotely, involved in the media in Timor, to get a sense of where things were at and what the emerging community media sector's most critical needs were. Community Radio is a powerful medium in Timor because of the lack of literacy and the passion for the local Tetum language.

As public leaders debated the pro's and con's of Portuguese and Indonesian as the national languages, the local community became even more committed to retaining and utilising their local language: Tetum. Each community radio station broadcasts in Tetum and in the Districts stations broadcast some hours in their local dialect as well.

There were 5 community radio station operating in Timor when I arrived along with UN Radio in Dili. By the time I left another 4 community radio station were being set up and UN Radio had set up repeater stations to make their news services available to people in the district areas.

Magically, over the 3 months, many more achievements were notched up at the APHEDA office than I anticipated. We did the first mobile broadcast of a public meeting of coffee growers in Ermera. This enabled the 1,000 odd coffee growers, who had walked in from neighbouring villages, to hear the discussion about coffee prices from international coffee buyers.

We taped an antenna to a long branch lying on the ground and propped it up with a mound of rocks. This enabled us to broadcast to near by villages who had each been given a solar powered wind up radio.

APHEDA also ran a community radio conference, which attracted members from each station plus other media workers in Dili. To my surprise it was a great success. Critical issues for Community Radio in Timor were identified at this conference through group workshops and a sense of community was engendered.

One of the key outcomes of this conference was that for the first time stations worked together to find common ground and develop an identity as a sector. This also involved identifying better ways of working together. As a result a committee was formed to look at establishing a Community Radio Association. It's first role is to develop a lobbying strategy to ensure the future of community radio in E.Timor and also to ensure licences are issued to truly community based stations.

When I arrived in Dili there was no media legislation governing who should, and should not, broadcast, no licence issuing procedures and no media regulatory framework. Stations just evolved out of the will of active community groups committed to empowering the community through the provision of information and civic education.

The debate around a media regulatory framework was critical during my three month term. In my last week in East Timor all media groups supported legislation, put to the interim governing body, that enshrined a three tiered broadcasting system. This regulatory framework included an independent broadcasting corporation, similar to the ABC to replace UN Radio, and a commitment to issuing licences to truly community based community radio stations.

The big question I always get asked is 'Do the East Timorese community really want our involvement and intervention or is foreign aid just another form of cultural colonisation, with lots of 'do gooders' pushing their own political barrows?' Big question eh?

My experience in East Timor told me that there is a significant element of cultural colonisation through the many different manifestations of aid. However the Timorese community are not silly. This is a community who went to the ballot box 2 years ago to vote for independence with full knowledge of what would transpire in their country when independence was declared.

Most planned to go to the mountains, or West Timor, or 'safer' districts as soon as they'd voted, knowing full well their homes, country side, public buildings, friends and families would be devastated in the process.

My experience of the East Timorese community is a people with steel will, a great commitment to community and wonderful smiles. There is an enormous hunger for information in East Timor. This is scanned, absorbed and utilised if it will help them construct an independent new nation, if it won't help it's not used.

I am very grateful to the people of East Timor for giving me one of the most challenging and inspiring 3 months of my life.

Jan McArthur

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Refugee Radio

What is it like to flee a war zone and arrive in Australia as a 21st century refugee? These trainees are about to get on air and tell the story through 5UV Radio Adelaide. Five people from West Africa and the Middle East will work with trainer Nicci Parkin to design radio programs and learn the necessary skills to produce them.

One of the key aims of community broadcasting is to encourage participation by those denied effective access to, and not effectively served by, other media. We've heard so much about refugees and asylum seekers - but how often do the people who have had this experience get to tell the story? Or determine how it will be told? Expanding the variety of viewpoints heard is to all our benefit and the underpinning of this project which came about through a partnership between our station and the Australian Refugees Association and is made possible through financial support from The Mercy Foundation.

Here at 5UV Radio Adelaide we're also looking forward to expanding our awareness by getting to know these people with vastly different life experiences. The group includes journalists and a cultural tourism worker, and is shaping up to be one of this year's most exciting training projects. The 'end product' will be designed by the participants, who are obviously in the best position to know how to communicate with other new members of our community. It may be a feature program - or some daily spots, or live on site broadcasts - we'll keep you posted.

Deb Welch, Manager 5UV

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Migrant Women in the Workforce

Women ethnic community broadcasters from across Australia have produced this 10 part radio series. The series looks at some of the difficulties these women faced to join and progress in the workforce.

The series is currently available on the Comradsat satellite service and is being sent to your station on CD. For more information and to hear excerpts from the programmes go to our web site at www.nembc.org.au

Make sure your station plays this important piece of our history

Programmes in the series

1. Italian Cake Shop
This is the story of Carmela Mezzapica, who came to Australia from a small Island in the south of Italy, and together with her husband Angelo started the first Italian cake shop in Leichhardt in what became known as Sydney's Little Italy.

2. On the Buses
Jan Wehipeihana and Tearani Roberta Cohen are Maori women from Ateoroa (New Zealand). Jan left school at 15 to take up an apprenticeship in the ragtrade before moving to Australia in 1976. Tearani worked in an office before deciding to become a truck driver. Both women are now part of a growing team of women bus drivers.

3. Between Worlds: the experience of migrant women in the workforce
Traces the paths of Eugenia Castro and María Cabellos Yañez from Latin America to their current home, Australia. Eugenia is a political refugee from El Salvador, while María escaped the Pinochet dictatorship in Chile. They tell of their experiences learning English, raising a family, studying and working in Australia

4. Migrant Women in the Sex Industry
Dela Pon, from Thailand, was an outworker in the garment industry in Melbourne but she could not earn enough to support her family so she became a sex worker. Weng Morales from the Philippines, is one of the increasing numbers of women trafficked all over the world for the purposes of prostitution.

5. Migrant Women in the Australian Legal System
Explores how three working class women from migrant backgrounds managed to beat the odds by entering the legal profession. Senior solicitor Nicky Nicoulaou, solicitor Meryem Apak and Deputy Chief Magistrate Jelena Popovic tell their stories.

6. The Great ACT Laundry Strike of 1987 and how the women won!
Chilean refugee Elba Cruz tells the story of a strike by laundry workers, which changed the lives of all the women involved.

7. Migrant Women in the Arts
Dondu Akbhati and Samia Mikhail are two migrant women who are carving out a place for themselves within Australia's cultural life. Dondu has worked on theatre and multimedia projects while Samia is a filmmaker.

8. Migrant Women in the Health Industry
Profiles 3 professional women in the health industry - Dr Alka Kothari is an obstetrician & gynecologist; Carmen Ceñal is currently working as a renal nurse and Francesca Mumme is a radiographer. All three work at the Alice Springs hospital.

9. In the Woolen Mills
Skaidrite Liepina and Inga Peerson both worked at the Federal Woollen Mills in Geelong. Like many migrant women in the 1950's, arriving by assisted passage, Skaidrite had to complete her two-year commonwealth work contract at the Mill.

10. Overcoming Stereotypes
The stereotypes, which apply to African women, rarely include a masters degree. Sophia Poppe from Tanzania has a masters degree and she talks about her experience of finding work in Adelaide. Dania Abdullah from Bosnia-Herzegovina talks about her experience in the workforce as a Muslim woman who wears hijab.

Made with support of the National Centenary of Federation Fund

Nicola Joseph, Series Exec Producer

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Writing Grant Applications

To meet this need for funding the NEMBC website now has a funding database listing over 100 possible sources for funding. But you're going to have to turn that idea into a submission. This article draws on the knowledge of three experienced submission writers with their tips on writing a successful submission. I'd like to thank Michele Bawden and Bruce Nelson for their assistance.

Developing your idea

• Read the application kit thoroughly before you begin your proposal. Underline key phrases and special requirements in the guidelines.
• Develop a rationale for the project. Have strong arguments as to why your idea is a good one that echoes the guidelines and objectives specified by the funding body.
• Ensure you can meet all the eligibility criteria that are required.
• Content - if it's programming content you intend to develop with grant funding then ask yourself: What would work well on radio, what production styles will you use? What will best meet the needs of the grant bodies objectives? (An outside broadcast of an event, radio drama, documentary or regular programming?) Identify your target audience and their needs.
• Consult with the community who will be affected by the project - their input is important. You could consider a joint project with other organisations. You should certainly seek letters of support from relevant organisations that outline why the project is important. These are important support for your application.
• Ask any questions you have about the requirements of the grant directly with the funding agency. Don't feel embarrassed about contacting them - it'll ensure you are on the right track with your application.

  Writing your Submission

• Describe your project in detail using concise and clear language
• Don't promise what you can't deliver
• Show you/your station is capable and competent in managing grant funded projects. Provide a reference if needed from a previous funding body
• Show you have broader support for the project (ie: joint project or support letters, or refer to needs outlined in research)
• If evaluation strategies are required in your submission, design ones that are realistic where you can work smarter rather than harder.
• Get it in on time!
• Attach to the application a covering letter signed by the Station Manager.
• Include relevant support material (station history, audience profile, mission statement, annual reports, business plan, relevant policy, examples of previous projects, articles of association, ABN number etc).
• Make sure in-kind support your organisation will be providing is costed at commercial rates. This will ensure the value of your in-kind contribution is realistic and you're not caught short. In-kind support may be in the form of administrative support, use of capital equipment or labour.
• Explain your budget and all associated costs of running the project. Ensure it falls within the limits of the grant and adds up to the total you request.
• Ask someone to check your application before you send it off. If they can't understand it then chances are the grant assessors won't be able to either. They may also identify missing information or spelling mistakes.
• Finally check the grant application against all the questions in the application form, make sure all supporting documentation requested is attached and keep a copy of your application plus all associated paperwork for your organisation.

  GST implications on grants
  The Goods and Services Tax (GST) does have implications for grants. When applying for a grant you will required to provide an Australian Business Number (ABN), or provide the details of the organisation that may be auspicing your grant.

  You will also need to include any components of GST in your budget. If you don't, these will have to be covered from the funds you receive.

Michelle Vlatkovic, AERTP Co-ordinator

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Allocating 'community' licences

The hearings follow a similar procedure carried out in Sydney and other cities and towns around Australia. In Sydney licences were awarded to Gadigal Information Service (Koori radio), Radio FBI (Youth) and Muslim Community Radio.

Major contenders among the Melbourne aspirants include a gay and lesbian station (JOYFM), a Koori station (3KND), religious stations, a few music stations rehashing old hits, a couple of single language ethnic stations and a number of dance music / youth stations who claim to be 'genuine community broadcasters'.

The community sector is a plum, ripe for plucking, and some stations seem intent on getting at no cost, what was recently sold for around $75 million in Melbourne and $140 million in Sydney; that is, commercial licences.

The ABA website (www.aba.gov.au) reveals that some of the music/youth applicants are looking at salary budgets of close to one million dollars. Unfortunately, the standard has been set to some extent by existing broadcasters in the community sector who are prepared to network John Law's programs, and who are taking on major corporate food and drink sponsors.

This, I think, is the crux of the matter. Along with corporate sponsors, comes a corporate lifestyle media mentality. The mainstream media has become the mirror which bourgeois society holds up adoringly to lust after its own reflection. There is nothing quite so satisfying as to see yourself as you think you are. Confirmed in every page of newspapers and magazines, made gorgeous on every billboard and gently mocked in television sitcoms. This is the trajectory of all commercial media (and sadly these days parts of the ABC), where all human endeavour is reduced to aesthetics and marketable commodities.

Some of the twenty-odd licence applicants parade themselves as community broadcasters, but have their snouts in the same trough as major corporates and multinationals. They promote their stations in a manner that is indistinguishable from commercial radio and television, painting trams with their sponsor's logos and driving around in similarly marked 4WD vehicles.

The applicants that really offer community radio are in danger of being run down by men and boys in dark suits that hunt in packs with mobile phones screwed to their heads.

The community sector is not slick, and deliberately so, and within our sector there is no doubt a place for advertising that does not shape and dominate the community character of the station. The strength of community stations is that they are able to develop an intimate and special relationship with their audience, in several forms. These might include a forum for social criticism, reminding people that life is not just about consuming and 'copping it sweet'.

They have the ability to address special interests and needs that are consistently ignored by the mainstream media, because the subject matter is unpopular or difficult, or worse, because no revenue is attached. The ABC, traditionally not restrained by commercial ratings, is in the process of being disembowelled and is becoming as bland as its commercial cousins but without the massive income.

Corporate media continues to wallow in the grubby security of lowest common denominator programming, leaving anything different or risky to the ABC and the community sector. Only if it works, do they buy it!

Audiences still want media to engage them personally, and if possible give them a voice. We can only hope that the ABA understands the great need for radio that is diverse, accessible and sometimes unpredictable. If licences are awarded to stations whose chief concerns are to serve corporate interests, then we will be left with more of the same: self serving shock jocks, sales vehicles for record companies, and lifestyle products whose uselessness is directly proportional to the amount of promotion they receive.

There is nothing especially new in any of this, but it should not be forgotten that this round of licence allocations is perhaps the last opportunity to give communities of interest a place in the media, before analogue licences are migrated to limited space on the digital spectrum.

Digital radio's introduction is being hastened by commercial interests, since the potential for advertising, is immense. For that reason, pressure will be brought to bear to severely restrict the community sector's access to digital licences. There is already a view prevalent in commercial quarters that some community radio licences should be reissued as commercial licences. Needless to say, their argument is about levels of profit, not people.

In the long term, community access to non-commercial, non-corporate broadcasting is not looking good. Let's hope that the ABA is able to sort the peoples' wheat from the corporate chaff. At the risk of labouring the metaphor, it's all about the grassroots.

Tim Tolhurst is the Station Manager of 3CR - Melbourne's community station that proudly celebrates its 25th Birthday, this year.

Tim Tolhurst, Manager 3CR

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Youth Broadcasting...it's over to you

At the annual NEMBC Conference in Canberra nearly three years ago, the Youth Committee was formed to assist in increasing youth involvement in ethnic community broadcasting. Last year the Committee undertook an Australia wide survey of stations and broadcasters and has now devised a multi-pronged participation strategy based on the issues and ideas raised in the survey.

The strategy called for the development of a range of resource materials to assist three interest groups identified as key players in increasing youth participation in ethnic broadcasting. They are stations, existing broadcasters [young and old] and potential youth broadcasters.

With this in mind, the Youth Committee has developed an information kit that gives practical suggestions for improving youth participation. One key element of the kit is looking at ways of bridging the gap between the desire of existing programmers to increase youth programming and what actually happens at stations.

A key message of the kit for existing broadcasters is that if you want more youth participation in programming, then you have to accept that their style of programming, choice of music and issues may be different to yours.

The kits provide potential young broadcasters with ideas about how they could approach stations with programming ideas, ways of overcoming some common problems they might encounter and suggestions about ways of building support for their new program.

For stations, the kits provide details of some of the funding and training schemes that specifically address the needs of young broadcasters. It also reminds stations of the need to make youth participation a priority at a station management level and to ensure that internal station procedures, like fundraising targets, don't inhibit the type of programs you want to encourage.

All stations will be receiving copies of the strategy and poster. You can also get copies of all the youth participation strategy documents at www.nembc.org.au. The youth participation strategy will also be discussed at the NEMBC Conference in Melbourne in November.

NEMBC