Indigenous media: fighting to stay local

Making and watching local television has become an integral part of community life in
remote Aboriginal communities. But in 2013, when the plug is pulled on analogue transmission, these communities will lose control over their local television stations.

Dr Ellie Rennie, a research fellow at Swinburne's Institute for Social Research, is working in collaboration with the remote and national Indigenous media peak bodies to explore the significance of local media production for remote Indigenous communities.

She has found that local programs have played an important role in these communities. "Very often they are basic records of daily life, but it is a daily life that is completely different from the rest of the country," Rennie said.

According to Rennie, the act of video production in itself is helping to keep young people involved in the maintenance of traditional life. For instance, a recent recording of a ceremony told in three different Aboriginal languages - Ngarti, Kokotha, and Walmatjarri - was produced partly as a resource for young people.

Aboriginal communities have been making and broadcasting local TV programs since the 1980s. Today, eight large remote Indigenous media organisations and 150 smaller stations operate in Australia. The large organisations have developed content-sharing networks that provide a programming feed and communities that want to screen local content can insert programs into the schedule.

But when analogue TV is switched off in 2013, the transmitters used by the local remote Indigenous broadcasting stations will be made redundant. Television in many communities will be delivered by satellite only and local program distribution will end.

"It's impossible for a local community to take control of a satellite signal being delivered direct to people's homes," Rennie said. "Installing dishes on the roof of every home in these communities, and maintaining them over their lifespan, will also be a massive task."

Another issue is the dire need for better resources and funding for video production. "The remote sector has always been treated by government as an amateur and marginal sector," Rennie said. "But the media-makers of remote Australia are doing incredibly important work. There are women and men who are dedicating their lives to cultural maintenance and community education, and they're hamstrung by the stereotype that they are just playing around."

For Rennie, the bittersweet aspect of her research at Swinburne is the fact that she may be documenting the end of a unique media system. "Despite limited resources, locally produced Indigenous television has flourished. It is tragic that the model of remote television that has evolved since the mid-1980s - based on community ownership, grassroots organisation and regional collaboration - could soon be a thing of the past."

 in itself is helping to keep young people involved in the maintenance of traditional life. For instance, a recent recording of a ceremony told in three different Aboriginal languages - Ngarti, Kokotha, and Walmatjarri - was produced partly as a resource for young people.

Aboriginal communities have been making and broadcasting local TV programs since the 1980s. Today, eight large remote Indigenous media organisations and 150 smaller stations operate in Australia. The large organisations have developed content-sharing networks that provide a programming feed and communities that want to screen local content can insert programs into the schedule.

But when analogue TV is switched off in 2013, the transmitters used by the local remote Indigenous broadcasting stations will be made redundant. Television in many communities will be delivered by satellite only and local program distribution will end.

"It's impossible for a local community to take control of a satellite signal being delivered direct to people's homes," Rennie said. "Installing dishes on the roof of every home in these communities, and maintaining them over their lifespan, will also be a massive task."

Another issue is the dire need for better resources and funding for video production. "The remote sector has always been treated by government as an amateur and marginal sector," Rennie said. "But the media-makers of remote Australia are doing incredibly important work. There are women and men who are dedicating their lives to cultural maintenance and community education, and they're hamstrung by the stereotype that they are just playing around."

For Rennie, the bittersweet aspect of her research at Swinburne is the fact that she may be documenting the end of a unique media system. "Despite limited resources, locally produced Indigenous television has flourished. It is tragic that the model of remote television that has evolved since the mid-1980s - based on community ownership, grassroots organisation and regional collaboration - could soon be a thing of the past."

Read more about this research in the latest edition of the Swinburne Magazine.

Ends