NEMBC - National Ethnic and Multicultural Broadcasters' Council

Radio Active 2012

Radio Active QLD Youth Broadcasters’ Forum

4EB Ethnic Community Radio Brisbane and The National Ethnic and Multicultural Broadcasters’ Council (NEMBC) are organising the inaugural Radio Active QLD Youth
Broadcasters’ Forum to be held in Brisbane on Saturday April 14^th 2012 from 9:30am- 5:30pm

Radio Active is a one day forum to engage young people in community broadcasting. It’s a chance to meet other youth broadcasters from around the state, find out how you can get involved in radio and hear about media career pathways.

NEMBC would like to thank the Community Broadcasting Foundation's support for this project.

To confirm your place at the forum please fill out the registration form below and return it to youth@nembc.org.au by 9 April 2012

►►►REGISTRATION FORM

Radio Active Youth Forum 2012 Program

AIMS

The forum will provide an opportunity:

For youth broadcasters from community radio stations around QLD as well as young people from the community not yet involved in the media to come together, meet each other and learn from their peers as well as media professionals.
For young people to realise there are opportunities to get involved in media in a variety of ways through community radio and community media online. The forum will illustrate how one can access free local training and get involved. This will enable them to have a voice in the media now and have their voices heard and their perspectives taken seriously.
To hear from media professionals and to understand what opportunities and media career pathways there are for young people from culturally diverse backgrounds.
To join the Queensland Multicultural Youth Broadcasters Network (QMYBN) and for them to use this network to share ideas, initiatives and opportunities.
To have fun and meet young people who have a commitment to communities, an interest in the media and an opportunity to exchange experiences of language, culture, heritage and identity.

What is the event?

Radio Active is a one day forum to provide an opportunity for young people from all cultural backgrounds to come together, celebrate, learn and develop strategies for improved youth access and participation in community media.

The forum will be also be a great opportunity to include representatives from youth-serving organisations and community radio stations, to increase the awareness of the opportunities that community broadcasting can offer young people of diverse cultural backgrounds.

Community media is one of the most effective means of making young people’s voices heard in the community and it encourages more active participation of youth in society more generally.

The forum will include presentations from industry professionals, interactive presentations related to community media opportunities and the chance to make important state-wide networks. The forum will cover a number of areas relating to community media including: New media technology, media career pathways, opportunities for media participation and the opportunity for current youth broadcasters to learn from their peers and develop strategies for improved youth participation in community media. The sessions will also consider the intersection of media participation, youth empowerment, community activism as well as engaging with culture, language, heritage and identity. The forum will also provide the opportunity to make recommendations for improved youth policy at the community broadcasting sector level.

Who?

The target audience are young people from all cultural backgrounds who are already involved in community media and those interested in becoming involved.

We hope to have between 40 participants.

Importance:

Radio Active encourages youth broadcasters to connect with their communities and to connect with the government and community organisations to respond to the needs of communities. It provides access to important information and facilitates discussions.

Community media:

Encourages all sectors of society to work with youth and recognise their contribution to society
Empowers youth with a voice in the media and provides self-esteem and confidence with the acquisition of new skills.
Promotes cultural, social and linguistic meeting places and communication spaces, which are unlikely in other setting. The cooperative, independent, participatory and creative nature of community broadcasting encourages innovation, diversity and self-representation. In this way, community broadcasting becomes a site of difference, which creates a unique and rare opportunity for dialogue that encourages understanding and social cohesion.

Beyond the forum:

The skills learnt at the forum and networks forged with youth and various media outlets will mean that the outcomes will go beyond the forum itself and provide these young people with the support and opportunities for continued participation in the media. Past Radio Active conferences in Melbourne, Perth and Canberra have demonstrated that, given the opportunity youth can provide important leadership in society and community media with its commitment to training, access and participation can facilitate this.

The forum is a capacity building exercise, skills development opportunity and a rare chance to discuss the needs and experiences of young people from all cultural backgrounds in the media. Knowledge, enthusiasm, inspiration and skills will be brought back to communities by enabling youth to take a leading role to mobilise greater youth interest and drive for youth participation in community media and their respective communities.