For the first time since 1999, Australians are heading to the polls this year for a referendum. The country is being asked to decide whether to enshrine an Indigenous Voice to Parliament in the constitution, a decision that will have far-reaching impacts on the future of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people living here.
At the forefront of making sure people are informed when they get to the voting booth is NITV, overseen by SBS’s Director of Indigenous Content, Tanya Denning-Orman.
Mediaweek caught up with Denning-Orman to speak about what it’s been like for NITV as the country waits for polls to open on October 14th.
Reflecting on the lead-up to the referendum, Denning-Orman said that it’s been “really mixed emotions” for the team behind the scenes.
“NITV launched originally back in 2007, so for 16 years we’ve been evolving and growing. This discussion about The Voice has been evolving and growing for several decades as well.
“There’s a degree of empowerment, but of course, it is us behind the scenes doing it all. Because of social media, it’s like there’s a discussion and debate on Aboriginality and Torres Strait Islanders. We have prepared for the fact that this could potentially get quite challenging for our staff, that’s why we went off Twitter earlier in the year due to the rise in racism that was coming out of our identity being discussed.”
With multi-platform, multilingual coverage delivering information on The Voice across 60 different languages through the SBS network, Denning-Orman and her team have had their work cut out for them.
“We’ve got the support of the network, and our people are what come first. We’re doing absolutely all we can to get to the 15th of October and the weeks after saying that we did everything we could, whatever the decision.
“We’re excited, but also it’s full on for our team, I’m not going to deny that. We’re doing the best we can with what we’ve got.”
People searching for information on The Voice referendum has resulted in a surge of traffic for NITV – current affairs show The Point has seen a 27% increase in viewing on NITV since the start of August and the Referendum Portal has seen a fourfold increase in daily users accessing SBS/NITV’s coverage.
SBS referendum portal
“Our numbers are rising and so is the audience’s engagement,” said Denning-Orman. “There’s still a lot of people asking about general civics, and that’s why we were prepared to really push into our multilingual, multicultural audiences, as well as for newer Australians who might be voting for the first time. But also, we haven’t had a referendum since the late 90s, so there are a lot of those queries.
“Six out of 10 Australians may not have even met an Indigenous person, and a lot of their information is through Australian media. That accountability is why we partnered earlier in the year with Channel 10 when we simulcast First Inventors, that was all part of this strategy to really connect and engage. It’s not just about voting yes or no, we wanted to utilise the elevation of this discussion.”
Of course, no demographic is a monolith. With the First Nations experience being so varied, Denning-Orman said that the NITV team are working to make sure that no matter who you are as consumer they have content for you – “we want to make sure we’re delivering in all aspects as a true public broadcaster.”
“Trust and respect of our audience through our news and current affairs offering has always been paramount. Our communities have always had degrees of discussion and debate anyway – what we’ve done, though, is give perspective. What NITV has really helped spread in Australian media is not otherising Aboriginal people. We’ve really ensured that when you’re watching your Indigenous content, you’re actually getting our perspective and we’re placed with a degree of empowerment as opposed to being talked about. That’s our unique offering, no other network in Australia can do that.”
Unveiling the new Promo
This week, the broadcaster unveiled a new promo highlighting SBS and NITV’s role in telling First Nations stories.
Reflecting on the new spot that will be run beyond the referendum, Denning-Orman said “we’re reminding our audiences and Australians at the end of the day to take it out of the Canberra decision.”
“Australia is the home of the oldest living continuous culture on the planet, and everything that happens with First Nations peoples is Australia’s story as well. That’s always been our mantra.
“I wanted to make sure we had something for our audiences and for the market, to reflect that this is a really massive moment for Australia – whether you’re going to vote yes or no, you’re looking at the future. We look back on previous generations and the decisions they made, this is our generation’s decision moment. It’s a really important moment.
“The world isn’t going to end on October 14th, we’re going to keep on going one way or the other – we’ve gone on for 60-odd thousand years. We want to keep that momentum, and for Australians who may not have thought about it before this referendum, I’m hoping we keep them thinking about it. If it’s a yes, there’s a transition – if it’s a no, what next? Either way, The Voice and the story will continue.”
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Top Image: Tanya Denning-Orman