Image: Tanya Denning-Orman (SBS/NITV)
As the fallout from Stan Grant’s departure from the ABC continues, Indigenous broadcaster NITV has confirmed its exit from Twitter.
On Monday, Grant hosted his last Q+A program for the ABC, citing the media as his reason for leaving, as well as the intense scrutiny he’d come under from other mainstream publications.
The Wiradjuri journalist also experienced an increase in racist abuse online which the National Indigenous Television Network has also been copping, leading them to take a break from Twitter.
“I fear the media does not have the love or the language to speak to the gentle spirits of our land. – I feel like I’m part of the problem, and I need to ask myself how or if we can do it better.”
Wiradjuri Journalist Stan Grant
Director of Indigenous Content at SBS and NITV, Tanya Denning-Orman says Australian media needs to take a long hard look at itself but believes Indigenous media is part of the solution.
“First Nations media is so critical, particularly in this climate that we’re all facing as Australians. There is accountability that we all have to deliver to, and keep us focused, number one, our communities.
“For an organisation like NITV we have really strict code and ethics that we have to deliver to, so for me, we are not part of the problem, we are part of the solution.
“We are a gift to Australian media, the fact that we have infiltrated into mainstream the way that we have.”
On leaving Twitter, the proud Birri and Guugu Yimidhirr woman from north Queensland says the decision was made to protect NITV’s predominantly Indigenous staff from the ongoing and increasing racism and hate seen on the platform.
“Having to moderate every single day, it wears you down. This is their workplace. We had a look at it, and we didn’t see the benefits coming back to our stories or the voice of our communities.
“When we looked at Twitter, the conversation wasn’t necessarily on the actual story we were covering or the issue, so we kept our community as paramount as well, but primarily it was to ensure that our staff weren’t being unnecessarily exposed, and they didn’t need to be.”
