Satellite shot down: the myth of ownership and control in remote Indigenous broadcasting

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Title: Satellite shot down: the myth of ownership and control in remote Indigenous broadcasting
Author(s): Rennie, Ellie
Abstract: Control of satellite transponders is considered a crucial factor in the historical development of remote Indigenous broadcasting. However, recent events reveal the tenuous nature of such ‘control’. In the mid 1980s the Central Australian Aboriginal Media Association won the remote commercial TV service licence for Australia’s first communications satellite and established Imparja. The satellite also provided the necessary backbone for the Broadcasting for Remote Aboriginal Communities Scheme (BRACS), whereby communities were given the technology to choose content off the satellite for local viewing and to create and distribute locally produced content. Remote Indigenous broadcast networks developed from this system. The arguments put forward during the initial licensing process highlighted the importance of Indigenous control of remote broadcasting in remote areas for the purposes of cultural maintenance, and to counteract the influence of Western culture on language and traditional practices. This historical moment is worth revisiting in light of the Broadcasting Legislation Amendment (Digital Television) Bill 2010, which paved the way for the VAST satellite platform. VAST is intended to replace terrestrial transmission in remote communities by the end of 2013. The legislation does not clearly provide for Indigenous narrowcasters and has called into question Imparja’s historical role in meeting the demands of the Indigenous broadcasting sector. This paper will provide critical perspective on the role of Imparja and the BRACS system over 25 years and discuss the ways in which notions of cultural difference are now being abandoned by policy makers in favour of ‘parity’ between metropolitan and bush populations.
Publication type: Conference paper
Research centre: Swinburne University of Technology. Faculty of Life and Social Sciences. The Swinburne Institute for Social Research
Source: Paper presented at 'Trends, Traditions and Transformations', the 7th Australian Media Traditions Conference (AMT2011), Hawthorn, Victoria, Australia, 21-23 November 2011
Publication year: 2011
Keyword(s): Control; Indigenous broadcasting; Indigenous communities; Ownership
Publisher: The Swinburne Institute for Social Research, Swinburne University of Technology
Publisher URL: http://www.sisr.net/