A presentation yesterday on the relationship between media coverage and Indigenous policy-making was timely in the lead-up to this week’s #IHMayDay Twitter day of action for Indigenous health.
It will no doubt also serve as a pointer to the forthcoming Federal Budget on what sorts of cuts it may deliver to Indigenous funding (given Warren Mundine’s warning to the Indigenous Advisory Council that he chairs for its members to “be prepared to be among the most hated people in Australia” and how those cuts will be framed.
The presentation by Associate Professor Kerry McCallum, Head of Discipline of Journalism and Communication at the University of Canberra, came to us via Craig Thomler, who chaired the 5th National Public Sector Communication Officers’ Conference and did some great multi-tasking, tweeting insights and links from all the presenters. You can follow his narrative via @craigthomler or at hashtag #nco14, or see below for some highlights, including on aged care, the national archives, stakeholder engagement in the Murray Darling Basin and justice. (APS refers to ‘Australian public sector’).
Here are his tweets on Kerry McCallum’s presentation about the 2012 report on The Media and Indigenous Policy (see also this Croakey report from when it was launched).
We’re back at #nco14 with Dr Kerry McCallum, Assoc Prof of Comm & Media Studies at UC, exploring media’s role in public policy development
— Craig Thomler (@craigthomler) April 29, 2014
What APS can learn from proj: stay aware of the politics, understand narrow media framing of issues, separate media & policy agendas #nco14
— Craig Thomler (@craigthomler) April 29, 2014
What APS can learn from proj: combat media focus with broad public policy discussion, be aware of cosy media/politics relationships #nco14
— Craig Thomler (@craigthomler) April 29, 2014
Kerry’s research project found Aussie media had little & narrow interest in covering indigenous health, politicians had largest voice #nco14
— Craig Thomler (@craigthomler) April 29, 2014
Kerry: media framing almost always negative: Indigenous health ‘crisis’, policy ‘failure’, ‘blame’, Aussie ‘shame’, medical ‘hero’ #nco14
— Craig Thomler (@craigthomler) April 29, 2014
Kerry: Why those frames? Journalism practice (competition/pressure), news value (controversy) & socio-economic perspectives (racism) #nco14
— Craig Thomler (@craigthomler) April 29, 2014
Kerry: Not just politicians responded to media, bureaucrats had adopted media framework in indigenous health policy framing #nco14
— Craig Thomler (@craigthomler) April 29, 2014
Kerry: we found policy officers worked to media cycles, incorporating media practices into policy dev, adjusting based on coverage #nco14
— Craig Thomler (@craigthomler) April 29, 2014
Kerry: policy managers believe media-driven policy announcements frustrate good policy, however are pragmatic about doing their job #nco14
— Craig Thomler (@craigthomler) April 29, 2014
Here’s a text snapshot of Craig’s tweets from other presentations:
Shaun Rohrlach from the National Archives
- Want to see what Australia’s censors have banned over the years? National Archives blogs about them at http://blog.naa.gov.au/banned/
- National Archives working with NZ Archives on ANZACs site, crowdsourcing content & physically embedding it in exhibitions. Live May
- Keep an eye out for http://discoveringanzacs.naa.gov.au – awesome new National Archives service in commemoration of 100th anniversary of WW1
- National Archives put WW1 records on HIVE for public to transcribe. done in a month! Hard records chosen first http://transcribe.naa.gov.au
- National Archive crowdsourcing immigrant arrival stories at https://www.destinationaustralia.gov.au/site/
- Nat Archives missed an update of BIG project page due to absent staff. Was called to account on #socialmedia. They engaged & updated
Kylie Fermor & Douglas Thwaites from the Department of Social Services on the design and launch of the ‘My Aged Care’ website
- They started My Aged Care project over Xmas & had 6mth timeline – started not knowing where or how people sought information.
- Research found people sought aged care info in a crisis & had to account for emotional state. Google & GPs were trusted channels
- Tested four mood boards for site design. People liked iconography, accessible phone number & easy to use with ‘Aussie’ colours
- People wanted images of older people other than couples on a beach – many had lost partners & found ‘positive’ images patronizing
- They created personas & videoed people facing aged care challenges. Talent deviated from script,but were more authentic, so kept them
Kirsten Henderson, Assistant Director of Stakeholder Engagement at the Murray Darling Basin Authority
See also this story from the Croakey vaults about the Authority’s engagement with Indigenous people in the Basin.
Simon Troeth, Director of Strategic Communication at the Victorian Department of Justice
