Media Ethnography and Australian Indigenous Youth

By:

Central Australian Indigenous communities received intense media attention in the wake of the NT Crown Prosecutor Nannette Rogers leaked dossier, "Child Sexual Assault and some cultural issues in the Northern Territory" in May of 2006. The contents of this document was first publicised in a report by (Australian) ABC's Lateline (15/05/06) and then followed up closely at the time by newspaper, television and radio (talkback) reports. The minister for Indigenous Affairs at the time, Mal Brough, publicly stated that it was important for welfare reform that issues remain ‘palatable to the Australian public’ (www.facsia.gov.au).

This paper will look closely at the ways cultural value is shaped by media images in a digital and global media environment. The combination of three methodologies of research will be used to examine the same phenomenon (Jick 1979) and presented as the basis of the discussion. The paper will specifically focus on methodology and the interpretation of data. I will be presenting findings in relation to cultural representation and identity; orality and technology; governance and paternalism in Post Colonial Australia while considering the relationship between an Indigenous youth audience and ‘the media’.

Stream: First Nations and Indigenous Peoples

Paper: Media Ethnography and Australian Indigenous Youth

I have been employed as a Research Assistant within the College of Communication Arts at the University of Western Sydney, since 2006. My current research studies have been inspired not only by this work but also by my teaching experience working with Indigenous kids in Alice Springs, Central Australia for several years prior to my employment with UWS. Before this I worked in the Community Sector and obtained my undergraduate degree in Arts (Theatre, Theory and Practise) at UWS, followed by my teaching qualifications at Charles Sturt University, Bathurst.