Hi MDA supporters,
In our March newsletter, we put the spotlight on MDA’s new project manager, Dania Roumieh. Applications are now open for MDA’s Women of Colour Mentorships in partnership with Crescent Foundation, University of Melbourne, and Monash University. Additionally, entries for the MDA Award at the mid-year Walkleys are open. ENTER NOW to be in the running! Catch a sneak peak behind the scenes of Community Voices Melbourne 2022. We also introduce our upcoming #BeingAnAlly campaign, as a follow-up to our hugely successful #ThingsIveHeard campaign. And finally, in honour of International Women’s Day, we present to you MDA Impact: IWD Edition.
Media Diversity is the acknowledgment and acceptance of sharing the media stage with those who are from multiple diverse religions, ethnicities, and minority groups who all have authentic stories to share.
Working as a project manager at Media Diversity Australia involves having a positive attitude and ideas, which adds to the excitement of working with an innovative team. When I have a team that really supports me in what I do and what I’m passionate about, it makes my job so much more achievable. As a project manager, I’m a visionary with endless ideas that I aspire to bring to life and there’s always a starting point. As a project manager of amplifying voices, I’m excited to strengthen our diverse communities to develop a stronger relationship with the media and stakeholders. This requires a strong contribution to purposeful conversations and engaging with highly accomplished industry professionals. In my position, I oversee a project that aims to diversify our Australian media and provide opportunities to future generations to enrich the experience of the audience.
Prior to joining Media Diversity Australia, I was thoroughly exploring other areas of media, and promoting diverse voices. It started at Western Sydney University when I was elected as a Student Editor and member of the Publication Committee. Here, I initiated and founded ‘Humans of Western Sydney University’, which promotes and showcases a diverse collection of unique stories shared by students, and which has now become a permanent feature of the editorial column. I am also on the advisory for the Australian National Imams Council (ANIC) as the Media and Youth Affairs Advisor, simultaneously while freelancing pieces to publish alongside my other publications with ABC Religion & Ethics, AMUST, and many more.
First and foremost, from my diverse perspective, Media diversity is the essence of formulating exposure and increasing visibility of minority and Culturally and Linguistically diverse (CALD) communities in Australian media. It’s the acknowledgement and acceptance of sharing the media stage with those who are from multiple diverse religions, ethnicities and minority groups who all share authentic stories to share. It is unfortunate that people from various faiths and communities are underrepresented in a multicultural country, and that newly established journalists are challenged with landing positions in Australian media. It is vital that our media facilitates and enhances the connection between the diverse communities and individuals across the Australian landscape.
MDA is launching the Women of Colour Mentorship Program supported and funded by the Crescent Foundation to empower female journalists from culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) backgrounds to attain leadership positions in Australian media.
The mentorship program, with Monash University and University of Melbourne as partners, is designed to address the obvious lack of women in senior decision-making roles in the Australian media.
MDA will select 12 mid-career, women journalists of First Nations and culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds to take part in the mentoring program. Over 12 months, each mentee will be paired with an established media professional and receive in-person and online sessions to build their skills in leadership, presentation, compelling storytelling, and career development.
The Mentorships are scheduled to commence in mid-2022. Applications OPENED on Friday, March 4, 2022, at 9 am AEDT and will CLOSE on Wednesday, May 4, 2022, at 5 pm AEST.
View application details and full description here.
Applicants can apply by emailing MDA’s Director of Special Projects, Simone Jordan at simone@mediadiversityaustralia.org
Entries are OPEN for the Media Diversity Australia Award administered by The Walkley Foundation!
The Media Diversity Australia Award honours journalists who are making an outstanding contribution through their reporting or coverage of diverse people or issues in Australia. This includes culturally and linguistically diverse communities (CALD) and people with disability (PWD).
It celebrates reporting that demonstrates notable courage in raising awareness of CALD and/or PWD experiences and perspectives, as well as innovation in the telling of these stories. It recognises the significance of media coverage in providing nuanced reporting that serves to alter perceptions and attitudes, challenge stereotypes and fight misinformation.
Submissions are open to all journalists working in mainstream, community or alternative media, as individuals or in collaboration with others. Eligibility for the Media Diversity Australia award is based on independent acts of journalism, free from any commercial or corporate interests.
Enter NOW to be in the running! – https://www.mediadiversityaustralia.org/about/awards/
CEO Media Diversity Australia
Community Voices Melbourne has kicked off! The inaugural Community Voices program in Sydney in 2021 exceeded all our expectations. MDA in partnership with The Judith Neilson Institute is thrilled to introduce the program to Melbourne this year. You can find a complete list of the 2022 Community Voices participants here.
The participants in the program’s Melbourne cohort heard from and dined with NINE newspapers editor David King, Network Ten VIC news director Nicole Strahan, and ABC VIC deputy news director Joanna McCarthy.
Read more about Community Voices 2022 here.
“Whether you’re in the whirlpool of overt racism or the subject of regular micro aggressions, there’s nothing more important than knowing there are people who see you and how you feel. Being an ally needs to become an honour and a privilege for every Australian who is in the envious position of not experiencing racism – and any other -ism that seeks to denigrate and humiliate”
– Monica Attard (Journalist, co director UTS Centre for Media Transition and Ally)
Last month we launched #ThingsIveHeard, a social media campaign that unearthed the many microaggressions that diverse journalists and commentators often endure in a media landscape setting. We received over 140 stories from culturally and linguistically diverse journos and media commentators sharing their experiences of workplace microaggressions that sting.
You can find these stories under the #ThingsIveHeard hashtag on Twitter.
As a natural follow-up to this campaign, MDA is now launching #BeingAnAlly which we hope will showcase the untold stories of media allies who support diverse journalists and commentators. This could be an incident they recall, commentary, or an observation. Reading such stories can be comforting for all of us who have felt a level of isolation at times within the media landscape and a source of encouragement to others to be active in their allyship.
If you are an ally, please share your comments and stories with us – using the #BeingAnAlly hashtag and tagging @MediaDiverseAU on Twitter, Facebook & Linkedin. We really want to hear from you.
What does this year’s IWD theme #BreaktheBias mean to you?
“It means ensuring when we approach bias and try to challenge systemic barriers, we’re not only doing it for women that look and sound like us. It’s very easy for these conversations to just be about a certain type of woman from a certain type of background in a certain type of environment. So for me, breaking the bias means that we ensure that we look at all women.”
-Antoinette Lattouf
Co-founder Media Diversity Australia
To mark the 2022 International Women’s Day, we were out and about. Here is some of what we did:
As a not-for-profit organisation, we rely on the help of our incredible volunteers. With your financial and volunteer support, we can continue to run programs to support culturally and linguistically diverse journalists, conduct agenda-setting research, run networking events, provide practical solutions for the media industry, and much more. If you would like to make a tax-deductible donation to support the vital work we do, please click here.
Media Diversity Australia (MDA) is a national not-for-profit organisation led by journalists and media professionals. Australia is culturally and linguistically diverse, and our media should be too. Established in 2017, MDA has a unique role as a champion of cultural diversity in Australian journalism and news media. We have a vision for a media industry with full and equal participation for culturally diverse people at all levels.
