Media Diversity Australia’s (MDA) new membership model is attracting Australia’s most recognised media brands to embrace the power of diverse storytelling.
As the nation’s peak advocacy body for diversity and representation in media, MDA is working towards creating a media landscape that looks and sounds like Australia.
Now, joining this mission are eight inaugural newsroom members: Network Ten, SBS, Channel Seven (top tier), Nine, ABC, The Guardian, AAP (Premium tier) and The Daily Aus (Basic tier).
CEO of Media Diversity Australia, Mariam Veiszadeh said on the latest announcement: “We’re pleased to witness and help drive the palpable push from many newsrooms to have their journalists and commentators reflect the broader community and, by default, the wider national conversation.”
With MDA’s new membership model these Australian news outlets and industry partners receive diversity, equity and inclusion expertise to help champion cultural diversity in their workplaces.
Driving systemic change and creating pathways for culturally and linguistically diverse journalists and media professionals has long been a part of MDA’s track record. This new membership model will help further these efforts.
Included in the membership package are consultancy sessions with Veiszadeh, who in addition to being MDA’s CEO, is also a diversity and inclusion expert, award-winning human rights champion, lawyer, contributing author and social commentator. These sessions will provide pivotal support to newsrooms.
“While some change towards better representation is happening in our newsrooms, they still don’t reflect Australia’s increasingly diverse population,” says Veiszadeh. “This can be seen from boardrooms to juniors in newsrooms. That’s why we are here to help.”
Other initiatives that MDA offers members include things like the new TalentHub, which is a growing pool of diverse talent with multi-level media experience.
There’s a Find-An-Expert directory, which is a comprehensive database of multicultural talent and voices intended for member newsrooms to access for interviews.
Also available for access is MDA’s mentoring services with customised training to meet company diversity and inclusion and staffing needs.
One of MDA’s member newsrooms, Network Ten’s Head of Digital News & Strategy, Rashell Habib says, “Not only does MDA add and change the direction of discourse in our industry for the better, they implement systemic changes that will benefit the future of media and the future of so many young journalists.”
In addition to helping newsrooms become more diverse, MDA has also launched a membership offering for tertiary educational institutions. With this, there’s exclusive early access to nominating eligible students for MDA programs and alumni can be selected as MDA mentors for future programs.