The media diversity report excluded NITV, but we tell Indigenous stories everyday
This week’s ‘Who gets to tell Australian stories?’ report highlighted the stark lack of Indigenous and non-European representation in TV networks. But, by excluding NITV, the report missed a big part of the picture, explains Rhanna Collins. As she sets out, NITV was “providing opportunities for Aboriginal media professionals far before diversity quotas were popular and certainly much earlier than Black Lives Matter has been trending in your social media feeds”.
A report released on Monday titled Who Gets To Tell Australian Stories? analysed 81 news programs over two weeks in June 2019 to review how diversity was reflected on Australian TV. It equated to approximately 19,000 news and current affairs items broadcast across free-to-air television.
The report categorised the presenters, reporters and commentators who presented the news across the FTA networks, and concluded there was little to no Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander representation available on our screens.
But that’s not quite the full picture.
How could any report on the subject of Australia’s national media possibly exclude NITV?
This report was even titled “Who gets to tell Australian stories?”
What are the various stories and films, news reports, and documentaries produced, procured, and screened daily on NITV, if they not in the main Australian and Australasian stories?
SBS also takes great care to cover not only Australian stories, but international stories of Australian relevance and interest, including a range of foreign language news and movies of interest to many Australians, but specifically to various groups of Australians with non-English speaking backgrounds.
This is not “Fake News,” it’s Selective News, the question I would ask is why?
I think it’s fair to assume NITV was deliberately left out of this report as it would’ve blown away their predetermined desire for their virtue signalling publicity stunt. The people behind this report should hang their heads in shame.
PS. NITV news and current affairs shows (and many others as well) are fantastic.
These sorts of fluffy reports about who gets to tell what stories are disingenuous.
Indigenous people in Australia make up around 2% of the population.
Last night or on any given night NITV is lucky to get 0.2% audience nationally. Most shows according to Oztam don’t even register a single viewer….
It is an inconvenient fact for the Aboriginal Industry as Billions of dollars are on the line each year for all the government funded programs that get dreamed up but I would contend most people in Australia really are not interested in indigenous focussed stories or as the numbers show an indigenous focussed channel.
The reality is Television is a business and as medium commercial TV which SBS falls into, is in the fight of it’s life to survive against bigger platforms like Netflix and Disney+. It reflects the majority of Australians and serves up what the majority want to watch and can’t afford to be be carrying token channels that don’t reach anyone forever. To save money these resources should be merged back into SBS or the ABC or moved onto streaming platforms like iView.
Reality check is one thing but if being excluded because of race would this not be discrimination? Everyone deserves a chance; we need all channels. Let us just say that SBS, ABC and NIVT should be supported equally like any other channel.
Do you mean funded by advertising and not tax payer money? In which case NITV would likely go off the air yesterday due to it’s low reach.
Reality check is one thing but if being excluded because of race would this not be discrimination? Everyone deserves a chance; we need all channels. Let us just say that SBS, ABC and NIVT should be supported equally like any other channel.
NITV is the only meaningful connection many Australians have to the beauty and strength of the 60,000 yr old culture that keeps this country strong.
SBS was doing a good job in its attempt at diversity and inclusiveness. ABC used to be intelligent and believable. NITV is now swept to the sidelines, beyond fringe. Mainstream media…I don’t even touch it nowadays. Can NITV be mainstream? I believe it is a yes. But it will need a long term strategic focus. It will need to make giant leaps taken in little steps were it not to be subverted and dragged back to the starting line.