Indigenous Media studies in Australia: Traditions, Theories and Contemporary Practices

This chapter locates the diverse, abundant and dynamic field of Indigenous media within the rapidly changing broader Australian media landscape. While there are some parallels with the ethnic media sector, including the universalities of race, this chapter argues that the Indigenous media sector is a product of Australia's colonial past and its complex political and policy history. Indigenous Media Studies have tended to focus on how representation of Indigenous peoples by powerful media contributes to marginalisation and exclusion from public debate. Simultaneously, Indigenous people have developed their own media to provide news and information about, and relevant to, their own communities. Indigenous media advance agendas including self-determination, sovereignty, cultural representation and talking back to those in power.