Plenary: First Nations media
Day 1, 29 November, 10am – 11.00am
Venue: Webster Theatre B, Robert Webster Building, School of the Arts and Media, USNW
In this plenary session, First Nations media producers Lorena Allam (The Guardian) and Summer May Finlay (Croakey) reflect on the politics of listening in their work, including at The Guardian, the ABC, #IHMayDay and #JustJustice.
Summer May Finlay is a Yorta Yorta woman who grew up in Lake Macquarie near Newcastle. Summer has extensive experience in social marketing, social media, communications and Aboriginal health research and policy. She currently works for Croakey in a number of capacities, including as a contributing editor, and formally as a member of the #IHMayDay, #JustJustice and #JustClimate projects, and has reported for the Croakey Conference News Service which includes live tweeting. She also writes for NITV and has written for the Guardian Australia and IndigenousX. Summer is currently undertaking a PhD at the University of South Australia, has a Master of Public Health Advanced from the University of Wollongong and a Bachelor of Social Science from Macquarie University. Follow her on Twitter @SummerMayFinlay
Lorena Allam is from the Gamilarai-Yawalaraay peoples of north-west New South Wales. Lorena has worked in the media for 27 years, including as an investigative journalist and editor for the ABC and the BBC. She has presented and producing many ABC Radio National programs, including Awaye, Background Briefing and Hindsight. Lorena has also worked in print, writing for a range of history and social justice publications. She is most proud of her contribution to the Bringing Them Home Inquiry into the separation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children from their families. She is currently the Guardian's Indigenous affairs editor.
Lorena spoke about Guardian Australia’s Deaths Inside interactive database which tracks every known Indigenous death in custody in every jurisdiction from 2008 - 2018.