eChamps 2018

*Never be afraid to ask questions

* Your voice matters

*If you make mistakes, learn from them

How to get a job or work experience? These are your guys!

These are some of the words that Senator Jordon Steele-John, Senator for WA, Australian Greens used to open the session for Employment pathways at the NEMBC conference 2018.  His very motivational speech was directed to the youth to encourage them to believe in themselves and build their own perspective regardless of their age, cultural background or even demographic.

‘Take ownership and improve from your mistakes’ was one of the key concepts he outlined during the workshop and he stressed the importance of using your voice and making your opinions heard despite adversity.

Once the motivational speech ended, Andrew O’Connor, News Editor from the ABC News in WA, took over to advise the youth on possible pathways to employment through the ABC’s Cadetship program and work placement opportunities. ‘We need you to not only listen, but put your voice in that debate and lead’ was one of the things that Mr O’Connor mentioned during the workshop.

Andrew O’Connor speaking about the ABC’s media cadetships and training

For the talented broadcasters out there who want to apply or be part of the ABC team, Mr O’Connor suggested to not only show and say you have an interest but rather demonstrate your capacities through previous work and that includes blogs, podcasts,interviews or anything that you find is a valuable piece of content. So, now you know what to do-similar to what I am writing here, but spice it up as much as possible!

Last but not least, Giordana Caputo, CEO of the Community Media Training Organisation, ended the workshop by turning the tables and asking the youth in the audience what our experiences have been in the industry and what we are doing to be able to put ourselves out there and combat and overcome discrimination in the workplace.

Turning the tables to the audience

“Why are you here?”

“To learn about networking” “To represent NEMBC” 

Katerina Dimitriou, BNI Director Consultant, and Roy Aveling, BNI Associate Certified Meta-Coach, discuss the importance of networking in the final session for the youth.

After a series of introductions from members of the audience, the session started with definitions of networking followed by tips for the youth.

Below are some highlights and tips from the session:

55% of communication is dependent on body language. In fact, it is crucial in radio broadcasting as your posture and gestures will affect your tone.

“[The] best way to get your message across is through a story” – Katerina Dimitriou

Building relationships through networking is valuable when you need help in the future or to even build credibility for yourself. To get a sponsor on board, you must get to know the values of the sponsor and research them via google or other means. Relationships are most important when wanting a sponsorship as, no matter how good the company or product may be, the connection must be there.

“In networking, remember you have 2 ears and one mouth. That is the importance of listening.”

It is also important to establish trust to build the connection. In terms of your community radio program, it will be helpful to write down a set of core values to be followed.

Below are some of the tips given throughout the session:

Tip #1: Don’t give your business card unless you are asked for it.

Tip #2: There is no criticism, there is only feedback. Don’t get let down by negative comments, rather learn to improve on it.

Tip #3: Dress professionally without a branding on your clothing to further continue the conversation.

Tip #4: Take advice from older people without taking offence.

Tip #5: Don’t tell a joke when introducing yourself. Be conscious of what you say. Start a conversation by asking appropriate questions, rather than anything personal.

Finally remember:

Be authentic. Be yourself. Be present.

Youth Networking Session

One of the final sessions of the day was regarding Grants and was presented by Ian Stanistreet, Barbara Baxter and Dean Linguey from the Community Broadcasting Foundation (CBF).

In the year of 2018, the CBF will be investing $3.9M to help diverse ethnic communities connect via the airwaves.

This session become a discourse very quickly, with people in the audience fast to ask questions regarding the various criteria of applying for a grant. Dean Linguey was very informative with his responses, outlining the process for grant applications. He emphasized not rushing an application and that sometimes giving an application some time and really consider the points it can help strengthen your chances. “Sometimes you don’t have to reinvent the wheel”, he mentioned that collaboration is a great tool to get information to help your application.

The basic process of a grant application: Each application goes to 7 assessors, and those assessor give a score against a criteria and provide comments. The comments and scores are then compiled and ranked and presented to the committees and a recommendation is made based on the comments and rankings. Theoretically there is no ceiling on how much of a financial contribution you can apply for. You can only make 6 applications in a financial year

Tips to get your application over the line:

• share your application – communicate with your station and whoever you want to be involved with the grant application
• double check that all the questions have been answered
• chat with your grants support team
• you don’t have to apply for a grant every round
• check the FAQ’s on the CBF website

Dean also pointed to training for people who are interested in becoming assessors themselves. If you are interested in becoming an assessor, you can apply here.

The microphone was then given to the floor and a few questions were asked. Among the topics at the beginning were volunteering vs paid positions which resulted in the discourse becoming slightly confusing and tense with miscommunications laying way for things to get slightly off track. Things got back on track with discussions surrounding small stations in small communities and the difficult process of choosing what to include in an application.

Russell Anderson, Executive Officer of the NEMBC then posed a question regarding the current funding situation, with 43 stations losing funding and 27 stations gaining funding. Ian Stanistreet covered the answer, urging smaller stations in particular to engage with the grant process and the NEMBC as a body who can offer support.

It was quite discouraging to hear some of the stories of stations who are struggling with the funding process but it was comforting to hear that there is a lot of measures in place for those stations to help secure a grant.

My second time today learning from presenters Giordana Caputo – CEO of the Community Media Training Organisation (CMTO) – and Emma Couch – National Training Manager at the CMTO. This time, they’re offering insights into the methods and means of producing podcasts. A hurdle to the less technologically savvy amongst us, the importance of digital and internet programs and broadcasting can not be understated in the internet age.

Citing examples of other podcasts, such as The Runners’ Guide, Giordana and Emma explained to use the steps required to create podcasting content and begin the podcast. Gear (namely, equipment) is listed as being a computer, a recording device (a smartphone works), a microphone; evidently, not much is required when compared to live radio broadcasting.

This particular session has proven to be particularly practical in nature, rather than theoretical; a welcome alternative to create balance in materials. We were given suggestions for multiple different forms of audio recording software, as well as the means to integrate with Skype and other such programs to enable recorded calls and interviews for the podcast. Different hosting services like Soundcloud and the free Australian variant, Whooshkaa, were introduced to the attentive audience, as we looked onto the continuing presentation.

In addition to the explanation of successful podcast creation, we were also given the opportunity to use and test an audio recording software called ‘Hindenburg’. Unlike the ill-fate blimp, however, this program seems unlikely to crash, presenting itself as a viable alternative to its competitors. This also served as an example of the capabilities of audio editing software in general to an audience undoubtedly comprised in part of more traditional broadcasters.

As someone aspiring to produce podcast and internet broadcast materials in the future, I found this session to be very helpful.

Fotis Kapetopoulos, the Director Kape Communications said, “Media is power and radio is the most powerful, regardless of digital and social media. It has been for over 100yrs.”

Radio was a powerful tool of communication, and can be used both for control and propaganda, as in the case of Rwanda in 1993 and equally as a voice of oppressed people, as it was in the form of Radio Free Europe, for more than 70 years.

Radio Free Europe, which began as a collective association still communicates to people living under authoritarian regimes as a counterbalance state or regime sponsored radio.

Fotis touched on the capacity of community broadcasters creating a collective marketing voice. He  and discussed how ethnic media was utilised by governments effectively to get elected.

Micro and direct marketing through community broadcasters can target specific audience. He presented case studies on how political parties, mining associations and cultural festivals use ethnic media to target specific psychographic market segments effectively. He emphasised the use of good design and image.

You can extend your reach and influence mainstream media with the right micro marketing and social media strategies. Radio benefits from social and digital media, as they provide an additional platform for distribution and audiences.

Fotis stated to be aware of the power you have rather than working from a “deficiency model, where

Jo Pratt, Station Manager, 4EB FM spoke about sponsorship. You are allowed 5 minutes of sponsorship per hour  and the station is currently only using around 30% allowing for exponentially increased growth.

Jo suggested that one way to increase the amount of sponsorship was to improve or grow in office generated and group sponsorship through micro marketing. Sponsorship can grow through giving the groups the tools and resources  and tapping into the programs listener-ships and contacts.

Fiv Antoniou, OperationsOfficer, NEMBC chatted about branding in radio and how this can adding value, using peoples fear of missing out

Fiv spoke about becoming an NEMBC media representative.Expressions of interest are being taken on the NEMBC website for 6-8 people from other states and 6-8 people from melbourne to take part in a 3 day workshop in Melbourne.

https://bit.ly/2E2uDkG

Are you ageing well?

Basically, how the ethnic background ageing peoples access to government-provided services in their older ages. The services are provided by the federal, state governments and other agencies but are rarely transferred to the ethnic ageing backgrounds, the setbacks are partly due to not understanding the language they can understand.  Therefore,  the community radio is very essential in reporting these issues in a language where they can communicate and understand.

Thus, the community radio broadcasting community gives the platform for the ageing population to be engaged in services they deserve for their wellbeing and part of ageing well. Most of the ageing people from ethnic backgrounds cannot understand languages other than their native language. Therefore, Speak My Language and providing accurate aged care information on your radio programs is very important.

Many government fundings are available to the ageing but agencies benefit more than addressing the needs of the ageing.

For example; dementia older person from an ethnic background needs proper services to understand their need in these situations; therefore Speak My Language and community radio can be a voice for the vulnerable in the community.

To conclude, the value of Ethnic community radio is very important as part of the  NEMBC in every community across the country.

For the second series of sessions in this year’s conference, I was given the opportunity to attend one hosted by Steven Brown, legal practitioner and director of Lynn and Brown Lawyers. He provided those of us attending with a very important aspect of broadcast media; legality. More to the point, we were given a lesson on defamation.

In an age where news media is expected to be released at a rate that matches the fast and continuous consumption levels of those of us living in the internet age, ensuring that comments stated on the air or written in text are factual and non-defamatory is of utmost importance. Mr Brown explains several of the nuances of the issue, such as the differences betwen libel and slander, and some of the potential defences of defamation accusations.

Truth or justification, statement of opinion, absolute privelege, qualified privelege, innnocent dissemination, triviality, consent, and apology and offer of ammends are presented as possible defences, he explains, with warnings of malicious intent affecting the ability to use certain aforementioned defences.

While such things may be clear to those who have been educated in the industry, this is important for anyone wanted to enter or continue in broadcast media. Despite the dangers of litigation, roughly 4% of cases are brought to trial. Nonetheless, Mr Brown stresses, the proceedings are particularly costly, and are best avoided. More notably, the proportion of digital defamation cases has increased between 2013 and 2017, further highlighting the increased dangers of unchecked statements, especially with the power and spread of social media.

Mr Brown was very helpful in explaining some of the statistics and specifics of dematory cases and accusations in recent Australian legal history. Of potentially greater relevence was the information provided regarding Twitter; not only the making of statements, but the sharing or ‘retweeting’ of defamatory statements on the platform can be cause for litigation. Even comments made about a surgeon, or particularly scathing restaurant reviews, have led to successful lawsuits depending on how they’re handled. Even if the contents of a statement or article are considered factually correct, there has been cases where the headlines can be cause for defamation accusations if they misrepresent the facts or plaintiff.

It seems it would be cheaper to remain silent, at times.

Steven Brown- Legal Practitioner/ Director of Lynn and Brown Lawyers-  introduces himself and the importance of knowing about social media.

The alarming stats on social media have awestruck the audience when they found out most people in the room have used social media more than once today. In fact, census results show that 79% now use social media which is up 10% from the previous year. Further, over a third of people check social media over five times a day, with more and more people starting to use it in the morning and during lunch breaks.

The current average Facebook user is a 41-year-old woman, with younger demographics predominantly using Instagram and Snapchat, hence it is important to understand which platform to use for your target audiences.

“People want to feel a part of something so they use social media to stay connected and follow brands.” – Steven Brown

Steven then continued to address the issue of copyright when using social media.

As an example, he said, “[The] Horn vs Pacquiao fight on Foxtel was pushed on social media and there were fines everywhere because they had no rights to publish the content.”

The audience began to question the copyright laws leading to Andrew Andrawos’ segment of this session on social media and copyright. Andrew is a broadcaster at 5EBI. 

He continued to show how to “progress to digital” by explaining how his program broadcasts their show through YouTube with the new camera technology available.

Sections of the audience commented on their thoughts on YouTube, Sound cloud and Facebook with the final consensus being that YouTube has the strictest policing.

The session concluded with case studies of previous copyright issues which made the headlines as seen below.

Famous Case Studies:

Madden vs Seafolly Pty Ltd. [2014]: $25k settlement + counter settlement
Wixen Music Publishing vs Spotify [2018]: $55M Settlement; Potentially more than $1.7Bn to be paid

Definition:

Copyright Act 1968 – The exclusive right of an owner to reproduce, use or share material with the public and profit from it.

Giordana Caputo and Emma Couch kicked off our Youth Conference sessions with their topic “Keeping your program fresh – On-air and Online”. Giordana is currently the CEO of the Community Media Training Organisation (CMTO) and Emma is the national training manager at the CMTO.

They began the session with an interactive voting experience for the audience via voxvote, an intuitive step forward beyond the old fashioned hand raising techniques of the past to learn more about their audience. They asked everyone how they were today, and were pleasantly surprised that over 80% of the audience was feeling “great”. The questions continued, going into more depth about the people of the audiences role at their stations and the actual stations themselves. The point of this exercise was to establish the idea of critical thinking and to learn more about the audience.

After giving a brief history of her radio career, Emma directed our attention to the importance of reflection and learning about your audience. She continued with some video content of vox pops of people who had completed the CMTO training, outlining the core ideas behind why media training is important. She also referred to the World Association of Community Radio Broadcasters (AMARC) as being a great organisation for community broadcasters to be a part of.

Why critically review your program/content?

• Its easy to do
• Discover new ideas for your content
• Receive validation for what you are doing
• Make positive changes for the benefit of your audience

Emma made the point that what we choose to broadcast on air should not be the same as what we choose to post online. The importance of analytics is a key difference when considering online content.

Some tips for making your online content travel:

• Use subtitles with headliner or clips
• Use quality images and video
• Access free image editing software like Snapseed and Canva
• Be organised with Google Drive
• Get creative with apps like Lapse it or 3D Brush

She also mentioned some great audio and visual editing software such as Headliner and Hindenberg. She wrapped up the talk with a demonstration on how to perfect your online content with the aforementioned software.

“We can be as flexible as you like in our delivery” Emma Couch telling the audience about the benefits of training CMTO.

Resources:

• The CMTO website
• The AMARC website
• The Google Drive website
• The Canva website
• The Headliner website
• The Hindenberg website