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The Ethnic Broadcaster Spring 2003 Edition National Ethnic and Multicultural Broadcasters’ Council Inside: Conference 2003 Full details Early days at 5EBI Publicly funded broadcasting: a barrier to trade? NEMBC Youth: Getting active, getting heard Research Resources for END users and much more Ethnic broadcasting: multiculturalism back on the agenda CONFERENCE 2003

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Page 1: The Ethnic Broadcaster - NEMBC · The Ethnic Broadcaster Spring 2003 - 3 From demented spaghetti to minidisc: Early days at You knew it was 6:12 pm because the window rattled as the

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Inside:Conference 2003 Full detailsEarly days at 5EBIPublicly funded broadcasting: abarrier to trade?NEMBC Youth: Getting active,getting heardResearch Resources for END usersand much more

Ethnic broadcasting:multiculturalism

back on the agendaC O N F E R E N C E 2 0 0 3

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Contents3 From demented spaghetti to minidisc:

Early days at 5EBI

4 New from AMRAP

6 noise Festival

8 Airtime for youth and new communities:how does ethnic radio compare to SBS?

10 Members’ NewsAt 4EB, the more languages the merrier!New waves at 4EBBeating the drum: TaikOz at 5EBINew faces at 7THE

6EBA: How to make your AGM fun!

13 What an AERTP graduate can tell you

14 Conference 2003

16 Tony Manicaros Award

17 Publicly funded broadcasting: a barrierto trade?

18 Welcome Andrew Apostola

19 NEMBC Youth: getting active, gettingheard

16 Community broadcasting: by thepeople, for the people

17 Radio Adelaide’s Radio Neo

18 Chung Wah Radio

19 Ethnic News Digest: Research ResourcesRefugees and ImmigrationHealthEconomicsWomen’s IssuesYouthAgedIndigenousWar and Peace

PRESIDENT’S PENDear Members,

once again we are about to meet - thistime in Canberra (Dec 5 - 7) for ourAnnual Conference and AGM. Howquickly the year comes around.

No sooner is the Conference over than work begins forthe next one, stretching to the end our limitedresources. But with the help of the ACT Governmentthis time, and our Members in Canberra, we are able tosay that this Conference will be at least as good as thebest in the past - and certainly more “youthful.”

The isuses are many and difficult - but working togetherwe have a better chance to be successful in finding theanswers that lead us forward.

As you will notice, the theme for the Conference hasbeen determined by the actual circumstances: that is,PLACING THE FUNDAMENTAL VALUES ANDPRINCIPLES OF MULTICULTURALISM AND ETHNICBROADCASTING ON THE NATIONAL AGENDA.

The NEMBC is extremely happy to have the nation’sleading thinker and practitioner on multiculturalism,Professor Mary Kalantzis, as being the keynotespeaker at the Conference - among many otherdistinguished contributors.

As you know, as a result of the ministerial reshuffle,Senator Richard Alston has retired as Minister forCommunications. His position passes to Mr DarrylWilliams. The NEMBC acknowledges with appreciationthe interest and often the support that Senator Alstonhas given to community broadcasting and the ethnicsector. We wish Senator Alston the very best in hispending retirement from politics.

The NEMBC has written to Mr Williams congratulatinghim on his appointment, and requesting an earlymeeting to discuss with him the work and the role ofthe NEMBC, and establish a working relationship.

I would also like to take this opportunity to welcomeand acknowledge the good work done by Güler Shawas AERTP Coordinator.

Looking forward to seeing you in Canberra - and I hopeyou will make every effort to represent your station orprogram to this all-important National Conference.

George ZangalisNEMBC President

Cover photo: Beating the drum at 5EBI - see Member News, p.11

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From dementedspaghetti tominidisc:

Early days at

You knew it was 6:12 pmbecause the window rattled asthe evening Ansett flight fromMelbourne approachedAdelaide airport. The windowresonated before you heard theplane. It was a bit like the movieApocalypse Now, where you heardthe Ride of the Valkyries before thehelicopters. Being under the flightpath for the approach to Adelaideairport is not the ideal place for thestudios of the fledgling 5EBI. Yet,programs were recorded there, andthen delivered to 5UV for broadcastvia access time. It was 1978.

As you can imagine, there wasplenty of tape stopping/starting/editing between 5pm and 9pm,which was the best time for peopleto record after going home fromwork. This was also peak time forflight traffic. We tried rolling smallpieces of paper to squeezebetween the window and the frame,but to no avail.

The two 5EBI studios and officewere in Cresco House, a largebungalow style house built in the1920s – a renovator’s delight. Weshared it with two other communitybased organisations. It wasrumoured that the house washaunted, which explained thewindow rattling. The communalkitchen was in a perpetual mess

5EBIand the coffee disappeared fasterthan a politician’s promise.

It was our fourth annual radiothon,but our first one there. The 22ethnic groups provided atechnicolour array of entertainment,dances, speeches and food. Mymost vivid memory of that occasionwas the unveiling of a brand newmop, ceremoniously dipped into abucket of the best cooking claretand then scrubbed on a lambturning on the spit. Marinade à lamop! The studio décor was theuniversal norm for a novicecommunity radio station, designedby a graduate from the Sir LesPatterson School of RefinedDesign. Floor to ceiling brownhessian, pre-loved carpet anddouble doors for acousticabsorption – at least in theory.

For a young person at that time, thetechnical side was a greatattraction. The placement ofmicrophones, tape recordingtechniques and the console openedup a whole new world ofexperimentation and discovery. Themain recording device was aCuemaster 77 MK IVB using ¼ inchtape in mono. When you pressedSTOP on the recorder, as the tapewas in mid flight going fast forwardor reverse, several feet of the tapewould violently wrap itself around

one spool like demented spaghetti.A cause of this would be the take upspool being of a different size. It didnot matter whether you were usinga 4, 7 or 10 inch reel of tape, therewould never be a correspondingtake up spool of the same size inthe studio, so you had to make dowith what was there. Nor wouldthere be a 'centre' to fill in thosesingles with the big holes. It isimpossible to slip cue a recordwithout a middle.

After unwrapping the damaged tapefrom around the spool, we had to docreative editing using that whitesplicing tape or record the programagain. Sometimes you would spendhours in the studio to do a 30minute program, meticulouslyrecording community news,features, analysis, comment andmusic only to find that there wasnothing on the tape at the end ofthe recording session. Surely thatwas enough proof that the placehad a resident ghost.

Things have improved since then.5EBI-FM occupies premises wheretape recorders have been replacedwith Mini Disc, operators receiveformal training and there is nopoltergeist. I still have problemswith the windows though – it is hardto clean the middle pane of tripleglazing.

Peter Perejma shows off the height of broadcast technology... in 1978.

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New from AMRAP

AMRAP has been extremely busy with a number of newinitiatives recently. Paul Mason provides this update.

Amrap and noise

noise is a national media festival profiling young creative people andtheir work on radio, television, in print and online in October 2003.The festival is funded by the Federal Government and managed bythe Australia Council.

AMRAP has developed a partnership initiative with noise throughwhich 12 young broadcasters from community radio stations aroundthe country have been selected as Music Correspondents.

Each correspondent has been funded to produced three short radiopieces (up to 10mins) profiling a local performer or composer, orcovering an issue relevant to the local music scene.

These pieces have been distributed to stations on CD and viasatellite and stations are encouraged to broadcast some or all of thework during the noise festival in October this year.

Anthony Colombo from 2000FM (see Meet noise artist AnthonyColombo, page 7) was one of the 12 Music Correspondents and hehas produced a fantastic variety of pieces profiling Opera singerGaetano, pop duo Chablis and RnB DJ Lenno.

“For me the aspect of why I enjoy doing radio is just discovering thatthere’s more to Italian music than the classic hits,” says Anthony.

“I also enjoy speaking Italian through the music, it helps you learn thelanguage,” he adds.

The Australian MusicRadio Airplay Project

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The Ethnic Broadcaster Spring 2003 - 5

Being part of the Amrap / noise Music Correspondent Initiative hasalso expanded Anthony’s radio experience.

“I’d like to do this full time, broadcasting and producing differentsegments” says Anthony “With noise/AMRAP, it’s pushed me to comeinto the studio every day – I wouldn’t usually come in tis much – andit’s something that I’ve really enjoyed”.

Other highlights of the pieces produced through this initiative includework produced by Mundanara Bayles from Brisbane’s 4AAA, profilingyoung Indigenous musicians expressing themselves through hip-hop;work by Rico Adjrun from 8KNB in Darwin that includes profiles of“Katamaran” a local trio who claim to have conceived the genre “newschool bush” and the legendary June Mills; and a profile of local hiphop artists including Curse Ov Dialect by Simone Ubaldi of 3PBS.

If you haven’t received the 3 CD set, more are available by [email protected] and you can listen and download all the piecesfrom the amrap web site www.amrap.org.au

Other Amrap news

New Amrap-funded CDs worth looking out for include:

Local and Live A new compilation of live to air recordings made byMelbourne’s 3CRRoutes of Rhythm 2 Volume 2 of this fantastic world music seriesproduced by 3ZZZWorld Circuitry A compilation of world music artists who haveappeared at the Woodford folk Festival produced by 4EBWorking Together A musical slice of the Top End produced by 8EARNhulumbuy

Check with your station for copies of these cds or [email protected]

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New from AMRAP

Noise Festival featuring one of our very own NEMBC membersAnthony Colombo

In March of this year, young people from across the country (aged 25and under) were invited to submit their creative work to noise for theopportunity to receive mass media exposure. Thousands ofsubmissions were received: the resulting creative critical mass iswhat Australia will see this October.

For those of you who are not familiar with noise… noise is a media-based festival happening throughout October 2003, profiling youngartists and their new work on radio, television, in print and online.

Noise is unique, hanging creative works across the media instead ofin traditional art spaces. The festival will showcase writing, animation,e-works, moving pictures, images, DJ sets, zines, comics, spokenword and new and remixed music – all created by young Australiansand projected to a national audience of over 15 million.

NEMBC Member Anthony Colombo is one of these artists who hasfeatured in this festival. As part of the noise / AMRAP MusicCorrespondents project Anthony created three short radio packages:Chablis - “The Taste of Music” - sisters who have grown up singingtogether; Gaetno - a story of a young man’s achievements bothnationally and internationally and his experiences in opera music,which is new to him; and DJ Lenno and RnB - DJ Lenno talks aboutwhat it’s like being a DJ plus RnB music and its followers.

Interested in where you will see noise?

Noise will reach this sizable audience thanks to collaborations withover 80 media and arts organisations. noise partners include Triple J,Channel 10, the ABC (Radio, TV and Online), the National Gallery ofAustralia, Channel [V], The Australian, The National Gallery ofAustralia, and a host of magazines including IdN (InternationalDesign Network), HQ, Inside Film, Kerrang, Chik, Design Graphics,Black + White and more. Noise has also created a magazine and abook noise: words and pictures.

For more information on this festival check out the websitewww.noise.net.au as well as AMRAP: Australian Music RadioAirplay Project www.amrap.org

Noise Festival

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The Ethnic Broadcaster Spring 2003 - 7

Anthony Colombo (or to some known asMr.C), a Radio Announcer from ItalianCommunity Radio Program Movimento FM onRadio 2000 98.5FM in Sydney, is one of thenoise/AMRAP music correspondents. Since1999 he has been looking after MovimentoFM, an Italian youth radio program spoken inEnglish with a modern Italian and Europeanflavour playing all the new music from there.

Anthony is heavily involved in manycommunity groups and projects such as beingNSW State Representative of NEMBC YouthCommittee and the Vice President - Italo-Australian Youth Association Inc. He is fromthe eastern suburbs of Sydney and has grownup there with an Italian background; explaininghis involvement in an Italian youth radioprogram and his love for Italian music andfood of course.

Mr C says “There’s not much that I hate.”Instead he says the one thing that keeps himsane is his love for music and being able to dothings that he enjoys so much and that isproducing radio programs and Dee Jayingparties.

Recently completing an Events ManagementAdv Diploma, Anthony is looking at getting intoevent management or radio broadcasting.Whilst in between jobs he has been seriousabout his radio programs and regularlyproduces segments to go on air.

Meet Noiseartist AnthonyColombo

What’s atthe NEMBCwebsite?

www.nembc.org.au

Make the most of what we offer online bybecoming a regular visitor to our website:

Search for programs by language or bystate - find out about broadcasts happeningall over the country.

Funding database: where to look to applyfor money for your program.

All the latest news and Conferenceinformation.

Everything you need to know abouttraining by the AERTP.

News from the Women’s Committee, theYouth Committee and on the New &Emerging Communities project.

The Ethnic News Digest (END): news youcan use in 20 languages. See pages 23-27for Research Resources, a new addition tothe END.

Articles, stories and news from pasteditions of The Ethnic Broadcaster.

and

How to get in touch with us! The NEMBCwebsite is your membership one-stopshop:

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8 - The Ethnic Broadcaster Spring 2003

Airtime for youthand newcommunities:how does ethnic communityradio compare to SBS?

In March of this year the Minister forCommunications, Senator Alston, wrote to theNEMBC asking for details of our sector’sprogress in developing strategies to increasethe participation of young people andemerging communities.

The NEMBC has a long standing and deepcommitment to promoting an increase in participationby these groups. The letter from the Minister led us toattempt to quantify our progress in this area.

As an initial indicator, we decided to benchmark theprogress of ethnic community radio against that of SBSRadio, for which Senator Alston had a directresponsibility. In order to ensure that we are comparingapples with apples, we measured the performance of“full time” ethnic community stations in the major capitalcities against their SBS counterparts.

The results show that ethnic communitystations on the five major capital cities(Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide andPerth) provide almost twice as much time toyouth and members of emerging communitiesas their SBS counterparts (see table opposite).

After noting the performance of community stationscompared to SBS radio, and hinting that perhapsSenator Alston should pay attention to his ownbackyard first, NEMBC President George Zangaliswrote to the Minister:

The most obvious strategy is to significantly increasethe number of frequencies available for ethniccommunity broadcasters.. With a low population density,and a lack of near neighbours, Australia is fortunate inthis regard. Even with existing technologies it is mucheasier to find additional frequencies in Australia thancomparable countries.

While significant progress has been made in gettingmore youth and members of emerging communities toair, and while there is still some capacity for movementwithin the existing structures, there is a limit.

We recognise, and indeed we have championed, thelegitimate needs of youth and members of newcommunities. But we are not comfortable evicting theexisting tenants. These broadcasters value theirlanguage and their culture. They fought hard toestablish ethnic community broadcasting, and theyworked hard to learn new skills. They will not go quietly.Robbing Peter to pay Paul is not a solution.

He also referred to the government’s decision not tocontinue funding for the NEMBC’s highly regardedtraining of ethnic broadcasters through the AustralianEthnic Radio Training Project (AERTP). Noting thatnewcomers to ethnic community radio, principally youthand members of new and emerging communities, werethe principal beneficiaries of the AERTP, he continued:

Another hurdle that (young people and members of newcommunities) have to jump before they can go to air isacquiring the appropriate broadcasting skills. Weacknowledge your expressions of high regard for the

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The Ethnic Broadcaster Spring 2003 - 9

Australian Ethnic Radio Training Project. The funding forthis project has now expired. A sensible strategy forgetting new groups to air would be to continue supportfor training new ethnic broadcasters.

In short, ethnic community broadcasters have welcomedyoung people and members of new and emerging ethniccommunities. We have done much better in this regardthan the SBS.

There is a great and legitimate demand for airtime fromethnic communities. The best way to meet this need isto make more frequencies available to ethnic communitybroadcasters, and to provide funding support for thetraining of new ethnic broadcasters.

Update

Senator Alston replied to us in July. He expressed somereservations about the validity of our comparison of fulltime ethnic community radio stations with SBS stationsin the same city. We maintain our view that ethnic

community stations in the capital cities have a muchbetter record with regard to youth and emergingcommunities than their SBS counterparts.

In his letter the Minister advised:

I have requested the Department to include in the2004-2005 deed of grant for the CBF a requirement thatat least 20% of the targeted funds for ethnic communitybroadcasting be provided to support ethnic youthprograms, new language groups and new and emergingcommunities (including any training initiatives for thesegroups).

In response to our suggestion that the provision ofadditional frequencies would help accommodate theneeds of young people and emerging communities,Senator Alston mentioned a number of difficulties. Wecontinue with our view that if much larger and moredensely populated cities in Europe can have so manystations available, Australia should be able to matchthem.

Youth and new & emerging communities: how the full time stations perform

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Sydney: 2000FM vSBS 97.7FM

Melbourne: 3ZZZ vSBS 93.3FM

Brisbane: 4EB v SBSRadio

Adelaide: 5EBI v SBSRadio

Perth: 6EBA v SBSRadio

Full-time stations in capital cities

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Ethnic Community RadioSBS Radio

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MEMBERS’ NEWS

and New waves at 4EB

At 4EB, themorelanguagesthe merrier!

It has been a busy couple of months at 4EB FMin Brisbane (that’s our building, above) –recently fundraising well into the evening onmany occasions that I presume many stationsacross the country have been working on aswell. But now doubt the primary goal once thebills are paid is to maximize the use of airtime forall communities within a station’s coverage area.

4EB FM has had increased involvement fromcertain communities and as a result the stationhas managed to increase some of the languageand youth programming on the station. Recently,the station saw the return of a Japaneselanguage programme and soon once again thestation will have Korean and Turkish Language

Programmes being broadcast ona weekly basis. An Italian youthprogramme was re-invigoratedrecently and the station’sPersian youth programmecemented its place within thestation’s weekly programming.With so many differentdemographics to consider withlimited community radio airtimeacross Australia it will forever bea challenge to broadcastprogrammes not only for thegeneral audience of a specificcommunity but programmes foryouth as well. I look forward tothe NEMBC Conference –hopefully, many stations will takethe opportunity to pass oncontact details for broadcastersto allow for increasedcommunication and supportacross Australia. At worst, oncewe all meet we will be just a littlebit more knowledgeable andwiser for the experiences weshare!

See you soon,

Peter Rohweder4EB FM Manager

In the previous issue of Ethnic Broadcaster we reported onthe activities of the Youth Coordinators at Radio 4EB. Wellit’s been yet another busy month for the Queensland gang.The Radio 4EB Annual General Meeting was held onSunday 21 September 2003. Sinéad Lee has been electedas the Secretary of the Board of Directors and Adam Lohas been elected as a Member of the Board of Directors.The outcome of the AGM is an indication of 4EB’scommitment to youth participation in ethnic broadcasting.The station coopted two youth members at the beginningof 2003 and has been working to promote and encourage

youth involvement since then. Adam and Sinéad haveworked together to create a multicultural youth program, topromote the accessibility of the station and to encourageyoung members from differing backgrounds to worktogether and learn from each other in the broadcastingarena. Their position on the Board of Directors will facilitatethe youth voice at Radio 4EB, and hopefully encourageother young members to get involved in the station on alllevels. The new Board members are looking forward to achallenging and exciting year and to having continuedcommunication with their colleagues interstate.

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In the state where less than 8% of the population speaks a language otherthan English at home, Multicultural Broadcasters Inc is Hobart’s sole localsource of audio information in different languages. We share the airwaveswith other community programs on 7THE FM Sound of the City - Communityand Multicultural Radio Station, an provide programs in 20 languages. Wehave had our AGM (top left) and elected the board (bottom left, left to right:Mahandra Pathik - Sectetary, Teodino Ottavi - Multicultural Coordinator (theone standing in the picture), Davor Perovic - President, Benetos Gavallas -vicepresident, and Danijela Ivkovic - Treasurer). After the election of theoffice bearers, the evening ended on a festive note, thanks to our friendsfrom the Chinese program who brought a cake, and the Italian broadcasterwho provided wine.

Danijela Ivkovic

New faces at 7THE

Dr Riley Lee from TaikOz (on the left),showed 5EBI-FM’s Peter Perejma the artof Wadaiko (Japanese drumming)improvised on upturned waste paperbins, during a recent visit to the studios.TaikOz was formed in 1997 and hasestablished itself as one of Australia’smost energetic and exciting drumminggroups, combining the power oftraditional Japanese taiko drums and theethereal tones of the bambooshakuhachi flute. Dr Riley Lee isAustralia’s only Grand Master of theshakuhachi and one of few outside ofJapan.

Beating thedrum:TaikOz at EBI

AROUND AUSTRALIA

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MEMBERS’ NEWS

6EBA: How to makeyour AGM fun!

Annual General Meetings can and often are boring affairs.However, some 59 of the 67 member groups constituting theMulticultural Radio & TV Association of WA Inc. (6EBA-FM)turned up to the AGM held on Saturday 27th September 2003at the WA Yugoslav Centre Inc., 78 Jones street, Stirling, WA.In total 153 persons attended the evening.

A new 16-member council was elected with a mandate to takethe association and the station forward into the 21st century.The following were elected:

Office Bearers:

Mr. Nikola Nikolich, Chairperson (unopposed); Mr. BrunoRabensteiner, Vice-Chairperson; Mr. Said Padshah, Secretary;Ms. Diane Popovich, Treasurer (unopposed)

Ordinary Councillors:Mr. Andrew Basinski; Mr. Daniel Stojanovski(Youth); Mr. Vlado Radalj; Mr. IslamAbduramanoski; Mr. Mick Bellis; Mr. RobertWegman; Mr. Joe Kaldas; Mr. Roland Rosario;Mrs. Irene Szabo; Mr. Tugomir Matokovic; Mrs.Ingeborg Trittler; Ms. Paula Tsakisiris (Youth).

Two young people, Daniel Stojanovski(Macedonian United Society) and PaulaTsakisiris (Hellenic Community of WA Inc.)made history by being the first to be electedto Council.

Our three ‘Life members’ – Mr. AlessandroLutero, Mrs. Joyce Lutero and Ms. DianePopovich – were in attendance and werethanked for their individual contributions to theassociation over many, many years. Mr. Luterothe President of the Association for over 25years did not seek election this term andbecomes our past President (Chairperson).

A magnificent dinner then followed with theprovision of Halal and non-Halal food. Two bellydancers looked after the entertainment for theevening.

It just goes to show that AGMs don’t have to beboring.

Photograph: New Council MRTA of WA Inc &Life members. Back row L-R: Vlado Radalj;Robert Wegman; Nikola Nikolich (Chairperson);Joe Kaldas; Diane Popovich (Treasurer); MickBellis; Islam Abduramanoski; Said Padshah(Secretary). Front row L-R: Andrew Basinski;Tugomir Matokovic; Paula Tsakisiris; IngeborgTrittler; Bruno Rabensteiner (Vice-Chairperson);Alessandro Lutero; Joyce Lutero; RolandRosario; Irence Szabo. Absent from thephotograph: Daniel Stojanovski.

NEMBC Members!Did you know...

Why not renew your Membership withyour Conference registration? See theConference form for details - it’s beeninserted into this edition of The EthnicBroadcaster - or visit our website:www.nembc.org.au

Your NEMBC Membership comes up forrenewal at the end of every calendar year.That’s 31 December, 2003!

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free radiotrainingfor ethnicbroadcasters

AERTP still lives - don’t missthis opportunity!

• learn defamation/media law,panel operating, talkback,documentary making andmuch more!

• training is accredited• Stations can apply for

funding from the CBF by 14November 2003 atwww.cbf.com.au

For training information go to:www.nembc.org.au or contactGüler Shaw, AERTPCo-ordinator on (03) 9415 8566or [email protected]

At the recent NEMBC Youth Conference the question was asked:Just how many people in this room have been trained by the AERTP(Australian Ethnic Radio Training Project)? As I raised my hand,other people did too. I felt a sense of belonging – greater than thatto my communities and the station where I broadcast, and where Iwas trained and train others. The connection I felt was tomulticultural communities, through their broadcasters aroundAustralia. AERTP strengthens a national communal voice.

Here’s what some recent AERTP trainees had to say about it:

Aylin Eser: “I thought it was a really good experience. It wasdifferent to everything else I’ve ever done. I met a lot of peoplethrough it – I associate with a lot of people but this was a differentatmosphere. I liked interviewing people and gathering differentopinions. The things I learnt helped me a lot.

“When I went on the show and course I couldn’t speak Turkishproperly. I gained heaps of confidence, I didn’t care what peoplethought. Just having my part in my community and having inputmeant a lot. I could do something to help educate the community.As I gained confidence my Turkish improved. When I started Ipaused a lot; near the end it was more fluid.”

Öznur Ünal: “I loved the atmosphere and made lots of new friends. Ilearnt studio use, recording, program research skills, writing forradio and broadcast law.”

– Güler Shaw, AERTP Coordinator

What an AERTPgraduate can tell you

AERTP Training at Plenty Valley FM 88.6. From left: Michal Morris (Trainer),Aylin Eser, Güler Shaw and Öznur Ünal (Trainees).

AROUND AUSTRALIA

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14 - The Ethnic Broadcaster Spring 2003

Conference 2003Canberra, 5 - 7 December

It’s that time of year again! Time forNEMBC Members to meet, exchangeexperiences and ideas, and make plansfor the coming year.

The theme for this year’s NEMBC Annual Conferenceannounces that the time has come to putmulticulturalism back on the policy-making and fundingagenda. Despite growing demand from youth and new& emerging communities, ethnic and multiculturalbroadcasting are in real danger of being overlooked,and funding for the Australian Ethnic Radio TrainingProject looks like being discontinued.

We need to remind politicians, policy makers andmost importantly ourselves, that our power lies

behind the microphone. We are opinion leaders –active members of our communities, with plenty tosay and plenty of people listening.

The Conference this year will take place from Friday 5– Sunday 7 December with the Annual GeneralMeeting of the NEMBC on the Sunday morning. Theconference concludes at 1:00pm on Sunday, givingmost of you time to get home by Sunday night.

The venue for both the Conference and for delegates’accommodation will be the Hotel Heritage, 203 GoyderSt, Narrabundah, Canberra. Hotel Heritage offers aswimming pool, sauna and spa plus a variety ofaccommodation options to suit most pockets. It islocated close to cosmopolitan Manuka and Kingston.

CONFERENCE PROGRAMME - DRAFT

Friday 5th December

11am – 1pm Registrations1 – 2.30pm Plenary: Multicultural community building and youth.

Patrick Abboud TBC

2:30 – 3pm Afternoon tea3 – 4:30pm Workshops

Getting heard Youth Hands-on3:00pm – 3:45pm

Media Law workshop Patrick Abboud TBC Maureen O’Keefe: streaming audioPhil Kafcaloudes Be a broadcaster demonstration

for the afternoon3:45pm – 4:30pm Getting your message Maureen O’Keefe

across Demonstration of 3ZZZ’s onlinePhil Kafcaloudes sponsorship booking system

6.00pm – Cocktail receptionIndigenous welcomeFormal conference opening/ welcome from ACT Government.

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Ethnic broadcasting:multiculturalism

back on the agenda

We acknowledge the generous support of:the Australian Bureau of Statistics, the ACTGovernment, Centrelink and the CommunityBroadcasting Foundation

Their website at http://www.hotelheritage.com.auprovides more information, including many images anda map.

As usual the NEMBC will provide subsidies forMembers’ travel and have negotiated attractiveaccommodation rates – see the Registration Form fordetails. Please make your accommodationarrangement directly with the Hotel Heritage, and besure to book as soon as possible. Conferenceregistrations on the other hand need to be receivedhere at the NEMBC, with your payments in full, byFriday 21 November 2003.

We look forward to meeting with as many of you aspossible.

Saturday 6th December

9am – 10am Government and Opposition: Media Policy(Invitations issued to Ministers and Shadow Ministers)

10am – 11am Plenary - Keynote address: Mary Kalantzis. Multiculturalism back on the agenda.

11 – 11:30am Morning tea

11:30 – 12:30pm Plenary: The challenges facing ethnic and multicultural broadcasting today.

12:30 – 1:30pm Lunch2 – 3pm Plenary: Women in ethnic community radio Or Workshop discussions.

2:30 – 3pm Afternoon tea

3:30 – 5pm Workshops

Getting heard Youth Hands-on3:30pm – 4:15pm Planning a media Policy and planning. Training: options for the future?

campaign Alternative models?4:15pm – 5pm Lobbying effectively. Concrete outcomes. Internet media skills.

7pm – Dinner at the Hotel Heritage Restaurant

Sunday 6th December AGM from 10:00am

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Tony ManicarosAwardUp to $1500 of one-off funding forprojects to be completed within sixmonths.

The Tony Manicaros Award is an annual award to fund aproject of significance for ethnic communitybroadcasting. It is open to stations, programming groupsand individuals. Proposals that will be considered for theaward include projects which:

• produce special programming of significance to anational audience, specific target group or to marksignificant historic or present day events• produce programming across a number of stationsas part of a festival, to celebrate a significant event, etc.• assist with oral history, documenting or archiving ofmaterial of significance for ethnic communitybroadcasting• produce cultural information or programming ofbenefit to ethnic community broadcasting• produce and distribute information of benefit toethnic programmers or stations with ethnic programming• provide specialised training for broadcasters andparticularly broadcasters under represented in ethniccommunity broadcasting• undertake study in the media that would assist aprogramme or station in its programming, technical,administrative or management development• develop equipment of benefit to the sector

Preference will be given to projects that are significantfor the ethnic community broadcasting sector. Creativeand innovative projects are encouraged. Preference willbe given to projects that would have difficulty receivingfunding or sufficient funding from other sources

CONDITIONS OF THE AWARD

• Funding of up to $1500 will be made to the winnerof the award• Projects must be completed within 6 months.• An individual applying for training mustdemonstrate they are of low income.• The NEMBC is to be given permission to use theproject for non-commercial purposes• A successful applicant cannot reapply in thefollowing year. The award is a one off grant.

INFORMATION ABOUT THE AWARD

• The winner of the award will be announcedannually at the NEMBC conference in December 2003.• The decision of the Tony Manicaros Awardtrustees is final.• As an equal opportunity organisation we welcomeapplications from young people, women and emergingcommunities.

Applications close Friday 14 November

For further information phone the NEMBC on (03)9486 9549 or email [email protected]

The Tony Manicaros Award is given to commemorateand celebrate Tony Manicaros’ work for ethniccommunity broadcasting on a station, state and nationalbasis. Full time ethnic community broadcasting stations,ethnic umbrella groups and the Community BroadcastingFoundation have provided funding for the award.

Have we got youremail address?

Are you missing out on vital correspondence fromthe NEMBC because your details aren’t up to date?

We send regular newsletters by email, as well aspassing on valuable news and information as soonas we get it.

We also rely on having your postal address - notyour stations’ - so we can get stuff straight to you.

Call (03) 9486 9549 or email Esther [email protected] to update your details.

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Publicly fundedbroadcasting –a barrier totrade?Synonymous with global protests, the World TradeOrganisation (WTO) is now proposing to expand its power overmedia and culture – including community broadcasting – writesSasha Costanza-Chock of the World Association of CommunityRadio Broadcasters (AMARC).

Cancun 08/09/2003 – At thisSeptember’s WTO meeting, the USTrade Representative has proposedto submit Communications andAudiovisual Services, including film,radio, television, video, and musicproduction, as well as mediadistribution services such assatellite, cable and broadcast, to theWTO’s General Agreement on Tradein Services (GATS).

This would spell disaster for vibrantmedia systems worldwide: publicfunding for media, including mass,alternative, community, and citizens’media, could be attacked as“barriers to trade.” Media ownershiplimits, as well as laws and initiativesthat encourage diverse, locally-owned media, could be consideredoutright trade violations. Publicfunding for cultural and artisticproduction could also come underattack.

On September 9th, representativesfrom the Movements assembled inCancun met to denounce the idea ofsurrendering media and culture tothe WTO or any other ‘free trade’agreement, and to strategise on howto build the international movementfor Communication Rights.

Background

In Cancun, trade ministers from 146countries (including Mark Vaile,Australian Minister for Trade)continued negotiations on theGeneral Agreement on Trade inServices (GATS). Critics argue thatthis agreement is used to overridethe democratic process, weakennational laws, and undermine publicinterest regulations around theworld. This is done through trademechanisms that favor theprivatisation of every sector of lifeand the sale of all public services -including education, health care,electricity and water, just to name afew - to the world’s largest, mostpowerful transnational corporations.

Requests to include Communicationand Audiovisual Services in GATS -film, radio, television, video, andmusic production, as well as mediadistribution services such assatellite, cable and broadcast - havebeen put forward before. To date,many countries have resisted theserequests and fought for an (albeitlimited) exemption from GATSknown as the ‘cultural exception.’ Sofar, this stopgap has kept manymedia and cultural services out of

the agreement. If Communicationsand Audiovisual Services do findtheir way into GATS this September,the repercussions will be severe.

Certain measures taken bygovernments to defend or buildmedia localism, diversity, andpluralism could be classified as‘barriers to trade;’ other WTOmember nations would be able toattack them using the bindingdispute mechanism of the WTO.Decisions on ‘trade disputes’ madeby the WTO are enforced byinternational law - member nationsmust comply with WTO rulings orface multi-million or -billion dollarpunitive sanctions. A variety ofmeasures crucial to delivering highquality public service broadcastingwould be seen as clear violations ofGATS rules, including limits onmedia ownership, specificrestrictions on foreign mediaownership, public serviceobligations, and rules regardingcross ownership.

For these and further reasons,concerned citizens in many nations(including the European Union) haveso far successfully lobbied theirgovernments to reject US proposalson Communications and AudiovisualServices, and to block agreementsthat could impact their nations’media systems.

People everywhere recognise that afree, diverse, local, and independentmedia system is a fundamentalrequirement for a functioningdemocracy, and that ensuring sucha media system requires regulationin the public interest as well assupport for public service, local,nonprofit and independent media.

AMARC InternationalSecretariatEmail: [email protected]: www.amarc.org

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I was standing at the front of a long queue at theVictorian Arts Center waiting to make an inquiry. Therewere other people in the queue behind me, all aroundthe same age, which was surprising for the ArtsCenter. I was about to step forward to the counterwhen a woman, around the age of fifty wearing a redsuit, pushed right in front of me.

“Excuse me,” I said, “I think you have mistaken thefront of the line for the back of the line”.“So what?” she said as she stepped forward to thewoman waiting at the counter.

I was taken back by the rudeness of her response andher audacity but I wasn’t surprised. For those whohave forgotten what it’s like to be a young person, letme refresh your memories. In Australia, being youngdenies you a whole range of privileges and activitiesthat older people take for granted. Not only are youngpeople overlooked in decision making processes anddenied jobs in management, they are also almostentirely ignored and under-represented by Australiamedia, including radio.

I see my new position as Youth Coordinator at theNEMBC as a positive step towards balancing out theage inequalities that exist in most institutions inAustralia. Around one third of all Australians are underthe age of 26 and I think it is a realistic aim to havethis figure reflected in ethnic broadcasting acrossAustralia. Ethnic community radio stations need to

accurately reflect the communities they purport torepresent.

My general aim is to get more young people involvedin ethnic broadcasting. That’s the bottom line. In orderfor this to happen stations need to take a highlystructured and positive approach to youthparticipation on every level. I don’t expect stations toflood their time-slots with young people or to kick outlong-time broadcasters. There needs to be anadequate process of planning and implementation toallow space for young people to make their way ontothe air. If a program is retiring at the end of the yearthen why not work towards putting together amulticultural youth program?

I will be contacting ethnic broadcasters all over thecountry in coming weeks offering them ideas andsupport to help them get more young people on theair. If you have any ideas or require any assistance,send me an email on [email protected] or call theNEMBC office on (03) 9486 9549. In conclusion to thestory, I didn’t let the woman get away with pushing in.I stepped right up beside her and explained to thewoman behind the counter what had happened.

“No, no I was here first, this boy is trying to pushahead of me,” she said emphatically.“I don’t think so -” replied the woman behind thecounter, “you’re going to have to take a walk to theback of the line and wait your turn.”

WelcomeAndrew Apostola

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Over the past few weeks we have seen a fewsignificant successes for youth across the nation.

The appointment of Andrew Apostola as the YouthCoordinator for the NEMBC signifies a new push by theNEMBC for ethnic broadcasters to become aware ofyoung people and youth programming at their stations.It also reflects a growing shift in the general attitude ofcommunity broadcasters across Australia towardsstrengthening the sector and ensuring that communitybroadcasting is sustainable for the future.

In Queensland, Tasmania and Perth several youngethnic broadcasters have been elected to the Board ofDirectors at their respective stations. These are verypositive steps towards creating regenerative cultures atstations across the continent. If young people have arepresentative looking out for their interests thenmakes it easier to get involved in broadcasting.

Plans to broaden the scope of the NEMBC YouthCommittee are under way which will involve thecreation of subcommittees in each state, convened bydelegates of the youth committee. This structuralchange will help stations to work together to get moreyoung people from community groups involved inethnic broadcasting. This is combined with ongoingchanges to the way in which the Youth Committeecommunicates. If you are interested in getting involvednow is the time to put your hand up: send an email [email protected] .

Recently a youth survey was sent out to all ethnicbroadcasters to gather information about youthparticipation across the nation and from early signs, theresponse is quite good. This information will be usedto assist individual stations in generating youth interestand to provide information to young ethnic people inthe community about broadcasting in their areas. Incoming months, all stations will be contacted regardingtheir level of youth participation and hopefully someheadway will be made into addressing some of themajor issues preventing stations from moving forward.

Be sure to check the youth section of the NEMBCwebsite www.nembc.org.au for any changes or updatestaking place from now until the conference.

NEMBC Youth:Getting active, getting heard

OPPOSITE PAGE Ziad Ajaj, Sinéad Lee, JoAnne Fettke, TewellGewargis, Adam Lo, Anthony Colombo and Vida Karabuva of theNEMBC Youth Committee. Photo by Esther Anatolitis. ABOVEHelene Hoi-Ying Fung and Naim Saifullah report back to thegroup. BELOW Top image: (clockwise from left) Helene Hoi-YingFung, Jagdeep Shergill, Esther Anatolitis, Naim Saifullah andMaarten de Weerd. Photo by Darce Cassidy. Bottom image: (fromleft) Jagdeep Shergill, ‘Ailini Steen, Adam Lo, Darce Cassidy,JoAnne Fettke, Vida Karabuva, Guler Shaw, Naim Saifullah andTewell Gewargis. Photo by Esther Anatolitis.

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Communitybroadcasting:

by the people,for the people

Community broadcasting stationsshould be controlled by thecommunity they represent. Thisprinciple may be threatened whengrant money is involved. Manycommunity stations would find itdifficult to survive if they did notreceive sponsorship money, orgovernment grants.

In return for that funding, there canbe times when the providers ofthose funds, both commercialsponsors and governments, seek toinfluence – or even dictate – thepolicy of community broadcasters.This, of course, is inconsistent withthe concept of community control ofcommunity broadcasting.

The CBAA’s Code of Practicerecognises some of the problemsthat can arise. It requires thatcommunity broadcasting stationsadopt a sponsorship policy whichensures that “the content and styleof individual programs is notinfluenced by the sponsors ofprograms” and that “overallprogramming of communitybroadcasting stations is notinfluenced by sponsors.”

There is however no provisionrelating to similar conditionsattached to government grants. Inrecent years this has become moreand more of an issue.

Most of us would accept that publicmoney received by communitystations should be properly

accounted for. It should be usedonly for the purposes for which itwas intended, and should be fullydocumented. Increasingly howevergovernments have been developing“tied” or “targeted” grants.

For many years the governmenthad been subsidising ethnicbroadcasting. This subsidy hadbeen provided at an hourly rate bythe Community BroadcastingFoundation from funds supplied bythe government. With the numberof ethnic broadcasters steadilyincreasing, and with the fundinghaving been static through the earlypart of the 1990s, the hourly ratehad slipped to $28 per hour. Wewere therefore very pleased whenthe Coalition government, whichwon office in 1996, increased thefunding to the point where theCommunity BroadcastingFoundation could raise the hourlyrate to $43.50. With the increase inthe number of stations on air, thisrate has since declined.

In announcing the funding increaseSenator Alston said nothing abouttied or targeted funds. As timeprogressed however the additionalfunds, the money that had allowedthe rate to increase from $28 to$43.50 per hour, began to betreated differently. To start with itwas simply described differently, astargeted funding. We weren’trequired to treat it differently, or useit for different purposes. Then inMarch of this year the NEMBC and

the CBF both received letters fromSenator Alston.

In his letter the Minister suggeststhat the additional $3 millionprovided in 1996 has specialconditions attached to it. Heindicated that the governmentwanted greater influence over howthis money was spent. In particular,he seemed to be suggesting thatethnic community broadcasters hadnot done enough to provide accessfor young people, and for membersof new and emerging communities.

Ethnic community broadcasters canbe proud of their record in thisregard. As another article illustrates(see Airtime for youth and newcommunities: how does ethniccommunity radio compare toSBS?, p.8), the major ethnicstations in the capital citiesbroadcast nearly twice the hours inthese categories as do their SBSequivalents.

We have an excellent record insupporting young people andmembers of new communities, andwill continue to pursue thosepolicies. We will be happy toadhere to strict standards offinancial probity for the use of allpublic money, but we will not behappy to abandon the principle ofcommunity control of communitybroadcasting.

Darce Cassidy

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Radio AdelaideRadio Neo

A focus on youth and emerging communities meetsRadio Adelaide’s mission “Diverse radio for curiouspeople”, writes Deborah Welch.

This Radio Adelaide station community is beinginvigorated by the arrival of a team of ten young peoplefrom Iraq, Iran, Sudan, Somalia, Afghanistan, Liberia andIndia. The three women and seven men are between 16and 28 years. Some are still at school, some are very newto Adelaide. All of them have something to say. They haveeach produced a short report, for broadcast on air inRefugee Week and for distribution to all South Australiancommunity stations.

Why is the project called Neo? We needed something toconvey that these are new voices on South Australianairwaves. If you have seen The Matrix (or if you have someknowledge of Greek) then you will know that it means“new”.

Radio Adelaide has always tried to present an alternativevoice in current affairs, and in the last 12 months we havebeen even more aware of the importance of that, as weface a media full of the “war on terror”. With this in mind,Station Manager Deborah Welch sought and won somefunding from Multicultural SA to run a radio project withyoung people from new and emerging communities.Training Manager Nicky Page has worked with the MiigrantResource Centres Youth Project Officer to set it up.

This is a partnership made in heaven. They have a YouthNetwork of people ready to learn new skills for theircommunities and we want to hear those voices on air. Thefirst stage of the partnership was in April when several ofyoung Radio Adelaide broadcasters attended Sharing theFuture, a National Youth Conference organized by theMRC. Some of the Neo team were speakers at theconference.

Who would be the right people to run the radio course?One of our Chilean broadcasters Estela Fuentes is a youthworker, she was the obvious person to co-ordinate theteam. Hermione Gilchrist has been involved in many radioproduction projects at the station, including the Live at theGov series. She has also run some very popularworkshops for the South Australian Country Arts Trust.Hermione was taken on as a specialist consultant for theproject.

The group is now finalising their radio features aboutmulticulturalism and their experiences. The CD of theirwork will be launched at Radio Adelaide in October duringRefugee Week, when the Neo team will also receive theircertificates for completing their first stage of training. If allgoes according to plan, and our further fundingapplications are successful then this is just the beginning!The group are continuing their training to run amulticultural youth show over the summer season, andbeyond on Radio Adelaide.

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Chung WahRadio

NEMBC Youth Committee Member HeleneHoi-Ying Fung tells us about her program.

Chung Wah Association has been providing fundingtowards the production and broadcasting ofcommunity radio programs in Chinese on Perthairwaves for more than two decades. It’s on 6-EBA(FM 95.3), a full time multicultural and ethniccommunity radio station:

Program times:Cantonese - every Saturday 10am-11amMandarin - every Wednesday 6pm-7pm

Often we got confused with the programs on SBSand I’ve had to explain to people that we’re not thesame as SBS, in that

1) we are not employed to broadcast2) the level of resources is more limited than SBS.

But hey, there is a sense of satisfaction about doingeverything from information research, selectingmusic, actually announcing through themicrophone, to panel operation, and seeingsomething through from start to finish. (I wouldn’thave kept going with it for 9 years if it wasn’t fun!!!Oh and before anyone questions my status as“youth”: I started REAL early OK? :P)

The Catnonese and Mandarin programs prettymuch operate independently, and format andcontent of the program is only limited by theannouncers’ creativity.

The Cantonese group do our 1 hour weekly

program live on a weekly-rotation basis. At any onetime we probably have around 4-6 announcers inthe group, of which 2-3 are qualified for paneloperation. In each week we usually have one panel-qualified and one not-yet-qualified on duty for theprogram.

We have opted for a “magazine” approach with a bitof everything for the format of the program.

International and Australian news, weather, theneach announcer picks a segment/topic or two oftheir choice, with the segments separated byCantopop songs. Sometimes these segments maybe interviews with people or phone-in games suchas IQ quizzes.

Other types of topics we’ve done include:

‘travel shows’: my previous involvement with aninternational professional body gave me achance to fly to different places around theworld 7 times in 2001-02, plus now I get someinter-state travel with NEMBC too, so killing 2birds with one stone :)customs, origins and folk lores of festivals atappropriate times of the year: mid-autumn(moon) festival, dragon boat festival, ChineseNew Year, Christmas, Mother’s day etc...how to prepare for job interviews: I learnt athing or two while going to all the job interviewswhile in final yr uni which I thought I’d sharenew science/technology: interesting scientificresearch or new inventions that recently madeit to news headlinesinformation on healthy living, nutritional valueof food etc...psychology/personality tests

HK entertainment news

The choice of topic really depends on the interestsof each announcer. Being a language programrather than a youth-specific program we are aimingfor broad audience appeal, although it just sohappens that most of the announcers now are intheir 20’s so that youth-interest will come through insome of the topics.

Recently we’ve also been trying to progress with agovernment grant bid for a public health promotion/education campaign targeted towards the WAChinese community that’s designed to utilise theradio program as the main delivery medium. I amcurrently working with people from many WA healthagencies to develop the proposal.

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Ethnic News DigestResearch ResourcesThe Ethnic News Digest now offers new media resources for broadcasters –access them at the NEMBC websitehttp://www.nembc.org.au/news/research.html. They are designed for ethniccommunity broadcasters who broadcast on community radio stations aroundAustralia, and they cover a range of issues of interest to ethnic communities:

• Refugees and Immigration• Health• Economics (including globalisation, small business,

unemployment etc)• Women• Youth• Aged• Indigenous• War and Peace

Each research page has useful links offering information in many languages.Some websites offer alternative sources of information on issues covered in themainstream media.

The Ethnic New Digest is also aware that our communities have memberswhose expertise is rarely used by the mainstream media. We are compiling alist of media commentators who have bilingual skills and will add names to theMedia Commentators Lists as they come in. If you have information you wouldlike to add to these pages, email Nicola Joseph at [email protected]

1. View current newsstories at our websitewww.nembc.org.au –short Australian newsstories in 20 languages

2. Print the articlesyou want to use

3. Use them in yourprogram – no copyrightworries, this news is foryou!

It’s that easy!

How can I use the Ethnic News Digest?

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Refugees and ImmigrationIssues about refugees and Australia’s immigration policy have been at the topof the list of news stories for both Ethnic Community Broadcasters and themainstream media. Keeping up with changes to the Federal Government’simmigration policy regarding business visas, family reunion and skilledmigration programs can be time-consuming for broadcasters who want to keeptheir communities informed. To save time, migrant resource centres andimmigration advisers often have the information in plain English and, in somecases, in languages other then English.

There are many websites about and the Federal Government’s policy onrefugees but they rarely carry information in languages other than English.When reporting about refugees it is important to know the facts about refugeesin Australia, rather than depending on the mainstream media for information.There are several websites listed on this page which presents “myths and facts”sheets about refugees, some provide these in languages other than English.

When writing news stories about refugees remember to avoid language whichstereotypes refugees such as “illegal migrants” and “boatpeople.”

Find commentators and research links athttp://www.nembc.org.au/news/refugees_and_immigration.html

HealthOne of the most important roles of ethnic community broadcasters is to provideinformation which is available to the wider community in languages other thanEnglish. Information about health issues and services are a high priority,especially for newly arrived communities.

There are many useful websites which cover health issues offering multilingualresources. These over all health issues from general health problems to mentalhealth. Some of the websites are helpful in providing ways of dealing withsensitive issues in the community.

Finding media commentators in the area of health is not difficult. Start withconsidering a local GP, nurse or health worker who has bilingual skills. Localmigrant and health services also provide a wealth of information and possible

Ethnic News DigestResearch Resources

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media commentators.

Find commentators and research links at http://www.nembc.org.au/news/health.html

Economics(including globalisation, small business,unemployment etc)

Covering economic issues can be challenging for Ethnic CommunityBroadcasters. Most of us shy away from these stories because they seem toocomplicated or boring for our programs. It is important, as broadcasters, thatwe take up these issues and try to make them relevant and understandable toour audiences. The issue of economic globalisation affects us all wherever welive. There are several website listed which cover global economic issues.

While globalisation has an impact on our domestic economy, important issuesfor ethnic audiences in Australia include the GST, small business issues andunemployment. Government agencies like Centrelink and the AustralianTaxation Office have websites which offer information in languages other thanEnglish which you will find useful.

Find commentators and research links at http://www.nembc.org.au/news/economics.html

Women’s IssuesWomen from ethnic communities are widely ignored by the mainstream media.When they are included it is often in stereotypical roles as mothers andhousewives. It is therefore important to think about any coverage of women inethnic community broadcasting to ensure it represents a wholistic picture ofwomen’s achievements.

Its also important to remember that women, especially recently-arrived women,are often isolated in the home and have special needs when it comes toinformation and resources. In many cases they rely on information fromcommunity language radio programmes to inform them of what is going on the

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community and of services available to them.

Find commentators and research links at http://www.nembc.org.au/news/women.html

YouthEthnic community broadcasters have an important role to play in reporting informationboth for and about young people from their communities. Young people from ethniccommunities are often misrepresented in the mainstream media, so it should be theresponsibility of all community broadcasters to provide a more realistic picture ofyoung people from their communities.

Positive stories about young people from ethnic communities are rare, so it is usefulto highlight the achievements of young people in the community. Of course, nothingbeats having young voices on air regularly, and one way to ensure good coverage ofyouth issues is to have some young people on your broadcast team.

Rather than avoid talking about “youth problems” you can deal with these issues in aconstructive way. There are many local youth workers and support services toapproach for help with stories. Information is available in various languages on thewebsites listed on the links page.

Find commentators and research links at http://www.nembc.org.au/news/youth.html

AgedAustralia’s population is an ageing one and issues concerning older people such asretirement, superannuation and health care are covered regularly by the mainstreammedia.

Older Ethnic Australians are almost absent from the mainstream media. While theymight not suffer the stereotypes of younger generations, they certainly don’t get thecoverage they deserve as Australians. Ethnic community broadcasting has played animportant role in getting information to older members of their community. Indeed,many ethnic community broadcasters are senior citizens themselves!

Ethnic News DigestResearch Resources

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There are several websites listed in the Useful Research Links which providemultilingual information on a range of issues concerning older people.

Find commentators and research links at http://www.nembc.org.au/news/aged.html

IndigenousEthnic community broadcasting is not just about reporting news from backhome. It is also an essential service for getting information to communitiesabout Australia. It is important that people in migrant communities are informedabout the issues concerning indigenous Australians and promote a greaterunderstanding of these issues through their programmes.

Like many migrant communities, indigenous Australians are oftenmisrepresented in the mainstream media. At the local level, you may find thelocal reconciliation group has members with bilingual skills who can contributeto your program.

Find commentators and research links at http://www.nembc.org.au/news/indigenous.html

War and PeaceGathering independent news during times of war is a difficult task. The recentwar on Iraq demonstrated the important role the media plays in a war. TheInternet provides a wide range of sites which are “unembedded” and provide awealth of stories on the issues of war and peace.

Many of these sites are useful in providing “news from the frontline” and you willoften find messages from people with personal experiences of the war. Thiscan be useful in giving a human face to war.

When using the Internet for research it is important to check the reliability of thestory you are interested in. Check the story on different sites.

Find commentators and research links at http://www.nembc.org.au/news/war_and_peace.html

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NEMBC Executive

President: George Zangalis, VICVice-President: Victor Marillanca, ACTSecretary: Marisol Salinas, VICTreasurer: Joanne Fettke, QLDMembers: Hans Degenhart, SA

Osai Faiva, NSWPeter Ho, QLDNik Nikolich, WARamkumar Konesparamoorthy, NTKarina Ceron, TAS

NEMBC StaffExecutive Officer: Darce Cassidy – [email protected] Officer: Esther Anatolitis – [email protected], Emerging & Refugee Communities Outreach, Training andBroadcasting Project Officer: Indira Narayan – [email protected] Coordinator: Güler Shaw – [email protected] Coordinator: Andrew Apostola – [email protected]: Denis WestEthnic News Digest Coordinator: Esther Anatolitis – [email protected] News Digest Journalist: Nicola Joseph – [email protected]

Editorial Review Committee:Osai FaivaGeorge Zangalis

Editorial Team:Darce CassidyEsther Anatolitis

The Ethnic Broadcaster Coordinator and designer: Esther AnatolitisJournal Printers: M & T Printers Co.

The Ethnic Broadcaster is the quarterly journal of the National Ethnic andMulticultural Broadcasters’ Council (NEMBC).

The views expressed in The Ethnic Broadcaster are not necessarily theviews of the NEMBC.

NEMBC Office and Contact Details1st Floor, 156 George StreetFitzroy VIC 3065Postal Address:PO Box 1144Collingwood VIC 3066Phone: 03 9486 9549Fax: 03 9486 9499Email: [email protected]: www.nembc.org.auTh

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We welcome contributions to The Ethnic Broadcaster, especially from NEMBCmembers. Send us your station news, letters, short pieces, photos...

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For more information please contact Esther Anatolitis on 03 9486 9549 [email protected].

VISIT THE NEMBC WEBSITE: www.nembc.org.au