Community media organisations have an extremely important role in the media landscape, providing hyperlocal, independent and culturally relevant news to our communities.
The CMTO is dedicated to providing training that bolsters the community media sector’s ability to deliver quality journalism.
We also seek to provide pathways for those in underrepresented communities to learn about and become involved in news reporting.
Here’s a wrap up of our work building skills in community journalists across the country in the last 12 months;
Community Journalism Training Project
In November last year 26 Culturally and Linguistically Diverse students participated in our Community Journalism Training Project (CJTP) in partnership with Ethnic radio station 4EB.
The project was a free 5-week online learning course designed to empower community broadcasters with the skills, knowledge and confidence to work as community journalists.
CJTP was coordinated by Pathways & Partnerships Manager, Mikaela Ford, along with CMTO Trainer Chelsea Deeley and assessors Eduardo Jordan (4EB) and Zain Nabi (formerly SBS).
Participants finished the course having learned to find stories that matter to their communities, write for news and current affairs radio programs, record & edit at home and conduct great interviews.
What skills and knowledge did I gain from the training?
“Concisely edit news bulletins and thinking about new ideas for community journalism/broadcast content” - CJTP Participant
What will I be able to do now that I couldn’t do before the training?
“Feel more confident in any broadcasting role that I have.” - CJTP Participant
“Be confident in my role as a community journalist, differentiate from mainstream media.” - CJTP Participant
The next round of CJTP will be taking applications in August.
If you want to get a lead on the application process, complete our Media Law For Broadcasters online course.
If you have any questions regarding the course contact [email protected]
Multimedia Journalism Intensive
In April 2023, the Local & Independent News Association held their first national summit. CMTO attended and presented at this summit of digital and hybrid news publishers who mostly consisted of emerging and hyperlocal voices in the news media landscape.
The day after the Summit CMTO held a Multimedia Journalism Intensive delivered by CMTO trainer Sam Ikin.
The intensive was created to upskill LINA members in the digital and media space to further complement and help promote their reporting skills.
The CMTO is now working with LINA to create bespoke courses that focus on hyperlocal publishing and the skills you need to report for your community. For more information on becoming a LINA member, please contact LINA by calling +61 02 9310 2999 or emailing [email protected]
News Writing Pathways Courses
CMTO delivers pathways courses to stations such as ‘news writing’, ‘interviewing ‘ and ‘advanced presentation’.
Most recently CMTO trainer Eduardo Jordan delivered our pathways training package on Community Journalism with the crew at 8CCC Radio in Alice Springs.
The course went through the basics of news writing as well as how to write news for radio before going through the details of putting together a news package.
Regional stations such as 8CCC especially benefit from the ability to create and share news that caters to their specific listenership and so this was the focus for the staff and volunteers at the course.
If you’re interested in having a Community Journalism training package delivered at your station, please contact the pathways team on [email protected] for a quote.
FNMA News Sharing Workshops
Working closely with Batchelor Institute of Indigenous Tertiary Education (BIITE) the CMTO delivered two-day intensive workshops on Audio Production & Editing in the Northern Territory.
Participants of the News Sharing Initiative with First Nations Media Australia (FNMA) included ten reporters who travelled from Badu Island in the Torres Strait, Kununurra in Western Australia, Hobart, Alice Springs, Adelaide, Melbourne and Darwin.
BIITE Trainer Patrick McKenzie, supported by CMTO's Pathways and Partnership Manager, Mikaela Ford, lead students through training on using recording and editing equipment, recording interviews & vox pops, and packaging them for distribution.
On The Horizon
Accredited Journalism Skill set
CMTO will be offering students the ability to take a skill set in Journalism as part of our Certificate IV in Screen and Media Course. This skill set will consist of 7 units of competency and will be part of a national intake of students later this year. This is a potential pathway that former CJTP students can take to receive a nationally recognised qualification.
CBAA News Sharing Project
Students from our CJTP project and the Journalism skill set will have the opportunity to learn about the Community Broadcasting Association Australia’s News Sharing Project. This project sees journalists from across the country contribute their work to nationally syndicated programs such as The Wire and National Radio News. The project will also involve working with stations to build their own newsroom capacity for the broadcast of local stories.