Page 61 - AIB | The Chanel | Issue 1 2012
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their use of media begins in the
early 1980ʹs, when Francis
Jupurrurla Kelly and Dr Eric
Michaels created Walpirri Media in
the Tanami desert and CAAMA
was set up in Alice Springs.
Phillip Batty, one of the founders
of CAAMA and 8 KIN FM
Indigenous Radio says “We just
wanted to give the community a
voice and job prospects and before
we knew it, we had radio and were
thinking—what next?”
THENCAME TELEVISION
The launch of the Aussat satellite in
the mid 80’s enabled Indigenous
people in remote communities to
watch mainstream television for the
first time. This led to growing
community concerns about the
negative impact of western media.
In response the Australian
government introduced the
Broadcast for Remote Aboriginal
Communities Scheme (BRACS),
which involved installing basic
satellite receiving and re‐transmission
sites in 80 remote communities.
Gerald says of his BRACS radio
role, “I like this job, it’s like being a
voice for my community.” An ideal
that was realised only in some
BRACS communities partly
because of a lack of training. “This
mojo training is different, it’s about
teaching the job, not just the kit.”
COST-EFFECTIVEANDPERSONAL
Video delivery models, like BRACS,
usually take the form of hub
systems where access to tools to
create and broadcast content
generally means having to
negotiate with equipment
providers and gatekeepers.
Louis believes the real magic of
mojo is the lack of gatekeeping.
“We can do it in our own time when
we want to”, he says, “and send it
up to the satellite by yourself.” This
is a level of control over the
production and distribution
process that’s only possible because
of the accessibility to training,
equipment and telephony.
Twenty years ago for the
documentary
Satellite Dreaming
, I
filmed Francis Jupurrurla Kelly
reading the evening news in the
$40,000 BRACS unit at Yuendumu.
Today, in
Ramo News
, Gerald is
shown doing the same using an
$800 mojo kit.
Bathurst Island mojo trainee
Harry Munkara believes mojo is
less about the equipment and more
about application. "Mojo is all
about telling stories…it’s passed on
from generation to generation, my
grandfather taught me and I teach
my young ones.” Mojo skills are
enabling people like Harry to
continue their culture of oral story
telling and knowledge transference
in the digital age.
PROFESSIONAL PACKAGE
In 1993 I pioneered a formatted
version of self‐shot user generated
content (UGC) on Australian
television. The mojo training
package, which I delivered at
Batchelor Institute for Indigenous
Education, is based on these and
other lessons learned on frontline
current affairs shows like
Foreign
Correspondent
and
60 Minutes
, and
offers an affordable and
professional method of
empowering Indigenous people to
create a diverse media landscape.
Unlike the BRACS operation,
which cost the Australian
government over $3m to set up, a
mojo production kit—that’s
effectively a broadcast quality
creative suite in a pocket—can cost
as little as $300.
Mojo kits come in many hybrid
forms. Our kits, which comprise an
iPhone4, an Owle for steadying the
camera, a rechargeable light and a
microphone, cost about $800 each.
We chose the Apple iPhone4
because its camera records in HD
and it works with VeriCorder’s 1st
Video edit App. We mostly used 3G
to upload our stories because of its
accessibility in the outback.
JOBOPPORTUNITIES
Mojos produce stories, not just raw
footage because they employ
journalistic and editing skills that
enable them to finish their own
work and to own the story from
start to finish.
This training paid dividends at
the film festival as mojos continued
to trump the pros. “I’m so excited I
need to write a speech just in case”,
said Brendan Yunupingu moments
before
Bush Medicine
won the hotly
contested ʹBest Indigenousʹ award.
Mojo is much more than just a
buzzword. The skills are real and
so are the opportunities. NT mojos
have already produced messaging
for the Australian Government,
who funded the project. A number
of mojos have found work in local
media and all nine have been
invited by ABC television to work
as community freelance stringers.
This potentially creates a
foundation for building a
sustainable community based mojo
workforce, to support local
mainstream media.
Brendan travelled for seven
hours in a bus with his wife and
baby Marsha just to be at the
awards night ‐ recognition he
thought was an important step
wards self‐determination. “This is
great for our community to stand
up and have our say.”
And that’s what mojo is all
about—local stories giving voice to
local people on a global stage. Go
Mojo.
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THE CHANNEL
|
ISSUE 1 2012
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61
At the film
festival
mojos
trumped
the pros
“
”
