News Corp Australia’s state and regional mastheads will this weekend launch an investigation into the gap ahead of the Voice to Parliament referendum.
The investigation will highlight the disadvantages faced by Indigenous Australians – including higher suicide rates, poorer health outcomes, lower disposable income and a dramatically lower life expectancy.
Starting on Sunday, August 27 and running over five days, ‘Closing the Gap’ is the first of a four-part series running in the company’s mastheads across print, digital, social, video and audio. The series will run through to the week of the Voice to Parliament referendum.
The Advertiser editor Gemma Jones is leading the editorial series and said: “In potentially nation-shaping moments like this, journalists have a vital role to inform.
“Over the coming months we are committed to informing Australians through this series, starting with this weekend’s focus on the gap experienced by Indigenous Australians.
“Come polling day we want Australians to reach their own considered decisions on how to vote. They are thirsty for knowledge to allow them to make a well-informed decision in the referendum and this series meets that audience demand through the most compelling content available.”
For the first part of the series prominent Indigenous Australians speak candidly about their first-hand experience of the gap affecting their communities.
The series also features a special report from the Herald Sun’s award-winning senior features writer Patrick Carlyon, The Advertiser’s indigenous affairs reporter Douglas Smith and photographer David Caird who visited the Cape York communities of Mapoon and Napranum.
On Sunday, September 17, the second phase of the series breaks down the Voice proposal, the cases for yes and no, and feature leading opinion writers from both sides of the referendum debate.
This will lead into the third tranche, looking at what the Voice means through Australians’ rich diversity of views. This will include community leaders such as Amar Singh, founder of Turbans 4 Australia and current Australian of the Year Local Hero, who has travelled 25,000km around the country advocating for the Voice.
Finally, the company’s mastheads will run practical information about where to vote with a 24-page voter guide inserted nationally in The Daily Telegraph (NSW), Herald Sun (VIC), The Courier-Mail (QLD), The Advertiser (SA), NT News (NT), The Mercury (TAS) and The Australian (WA) – and feature across News Corp Australia’s digital network.
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Top image: Lisa Tabulai with her son John Tabulai. Picture David Caird