WITBN

By TANYA DENNING / TIM BURKE

‘It was the best of times, it was the worst of times’… you could say much the same for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in 2010.   ~ Ken Reys, NITV Chairman

Last December, before a gathering in Canberra, Australia, of politicians, public servants, Indigenous leaders, and industry people, National Indigenous Television’s Chairman, Ken Reys, started his speech with an old literary quote: “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times”. Charles Dickens may have written that in A Tale of Two Cities, but you could say much the same for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in 2010.

“But today I’m going to concentrate on the best of times,” Reys added. “As Prime Minister Julia Gillard said recently, the Apology to the Stolen Generations helped build a bridge of respect between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians. And then the Prime Minister said: ‘Now is the right time to take the next step and recognize in the Australian Constitution the first peoples of our nation.’”

This kind of recognition requires a referendum with all Australians voting to change the Constitution. For Indigenous Australians it will be a great history-making step if there is a referendum and it succeeds. And it will be a milestone in nation-building for Australia as a whole.

But first we – all Australians – should have a national discussion, as the Prime Minister put it, to build a consensus for change. This is a wise idea, given that most referendums have failed at the ballot box.

Which brings us to the role of television.

Television is the medium for everyone. Television provides a shared experience like no other medium can. This is how television is able to capture the popular imagination.
As Australia’s national Indigenous television service, NITV can take a lead role in informing and engaging Indigenous communities as the national discussion unfolds. NITV also has the potential to reach a wider population and help capture the popular imagination in favor of Constitutional change.

NITV has this potential because it is an Indigenous-run television channel that knows Indigenous Australia. Australian Indigenous culture is both ancient and modern. Half of our growing Indigenous population is 21-years-old or younger. Our Indigenous culture is a vibrant, evolving one and NITV presents it with a contemporary feel that celebrates it.
This is how we can reach out to the wider population: Audiences will enjoy an experience that portrays Indigenous Australia as refreshingly different from what they are accustomed to.
To deliver on this potential, to truly make a difference to Australia, NITV needs to be widely available as a free-to-air TV channel.

Right now, we can only reach a small proportion of Indigenous Australians, and a smaller proportion of the overall population on a free-to-air basis. Most people can only view NITV through subscription TV (the operators of which – particularly Foxtel and Austar – have been enormously supportive of NITV).

Indigenous Broadcasting and Media Review (the Stevens review) has acknowledged the station’s desire to expand free-to-air carriage of NITV. The government released the report on April 6, 2011. The review also envisaged a long term future for NITV, which means we will no longer be subject to the insecurity and negative operational impacts of being funded a year at a time.

NITV regards editorial independence as the highest value of public service television and is determined not to risk it.

The review also recommended what NITV had sought for a long time: that government responsibility for NITV be located within the Communications portfolio. The Communications portfolio has policy responsibility for broadcasting and spectrum use along with major national projects, such as conversion of television to digital and rollout of the National Broadband Network. All these things give NITV renewed confidence about our future.

The government has agreed to the portfolio transfer and has committed $15.2 million to maintain NITV for the 2011-12 financial year. While the future corporate structure for delivering NITV is sorted out, the future structure may or may not involve the existing operator, National Indigenous TV Ltd. This is a private, membership-based company and the government has indicated this is not a desirable model for a long term and potentially increased public investment in the enterprise. The review recommended that NITV be restructured into a government-owned company.

In the end this is the government’s call, as NITV relies overwhelmingly on taxpayer money to operate. NITV will approach all issues in good faith, in a spirit of securing and strengthening NITV for the future, and of protecting NITV’s status as an editorially independent, Indigenous-controlled TV channel. Even if ownership of NITV is transferred to another company, NITV the organization and membership of WITBN will continue.

Both the government and NITV gave initial responses to the Stevens review and foreshadowed more detailed responses at a later time. In light of how the media covered components relating to NITV in the review, the station decided to share a detailed response. Not surprisingly, some coverage highlighted only the negatives. Having released a detailed response, NITV hopes follow-up articles and reports will offer a more balanced perspective. 

The Stevens review takes a visionary approach to aspects of Australia’s Indigenous broadcasting sector including radio and emerging technologies. It treats NITV fairly in most respects, and NITV agrees with, or does not dispute, 35 of the 39 recommendations in the report. 

However there are philosophical differences between Stevens and NITV when it comes to the balance between NITV and Australia’s mainstream national television networks in relation to the future of Indigenous broadcasting and delivery of the social, cultural and economic benefits that come from it. NITV also regards editorial independence as the highest value of public service television and is determined not to risk it, even where the risks are unintended. We are proud of our achievements since we launched in July 2007. We created Australia’s first national Indigenous television news service and commissioned more than 1,200 hours of content from external producers in a range of genres.

The imperatives for Ministers and policymakers are not the same as those for reviewers and we are confident the government and our new administering department will show the understanding, imagination and commitment necessary to put NITV on a sound footing for the long term, and in a rightfully central place within the Australian media landscape.

Our position is one of great optimism for the future of national Indigenous television in Australia. While there is a way to go yet, we are now able to turn our attention more fully to what we are here to do: making programs that showcase Australia’s Indigenous culture in all its diversity, artistry, and grace. We are confident the day is not too far off when we will be available to most Australians as a free-to-air channel. And then we can hope to capture the popular imagination through the power of television.

For more information about the Stevens Review, visit: www.minister.dbcde.gov.au; for NITV's full detailed response to the Review, visit: nitv.org.au.

ENDS

Tanya Denning is the director of content at NITV. Denning has worked in the media industry for more than a decade in fields spanning from community broadcasting to executive television production and management. Denning worked as a presenter/producer in community radio in Canberra, Brisbane and Sydney before completing an ABC Journalism cadetship that extended her career into online, TV and Radio production for ABC and SBS.

In May 2007, Denning joined National Indigenous Television as one of its first Commissioning Editors, managing the distribution of all programs on NITV, including the daily news service and the weekly live football shows.

Denning’s inquisitive passion for the world has led her into various media positions both nationally and internationally. A proud Birri woman from Central and Northern Queensland, Denning has been rewarded by industry groups for her work and continues to be recognized for her contribution to media and the Indigenous community.

Tim Burke is a part-time advisor to NITV on policy and management issues.

After almost a decade in television management roles with Australia’s Special Broadcasting Service (SBS), Burke convened a multidisciplinary group of former SBS executives to help NITV during its establishment phase, on tasks ranging from creation of its news service to preparation of policies and guidelines, and the design and commissioning of audience research. 

Before joining SBS, Burke ran his own consulting business, concerned mainly with cultural and Indigenous organizations. Burke was brought back by NITV to assist it in its dealings with the first federal government review – by Hugh Watson Consulting Pty Ltd – and reprised this role with the second, broader review by Neville Stevens AO.