SBS’s Media Mentorship Program is now in its third year and is providing a unique opportunity for journalism/communications students from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds to be mentored and undertake placements in the national broadcaster.
The mentoring program was developed out of concern for how mainstream media in Australia portray migrant and other language communities.
Its goal is to establish an ongoing mentoring program through a formal partnership between both Macquarie University and Deakin University, SBS and the Ethnic Communities’ Council in both NSW and Victoria, to help students from refugee and culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds break into mainstream media.
It is designed to support students during their media and journalism studies, assist them to develop their career plans, equip them with hands on skills, provide networking opportunities, and facilitate pathways to careers in media.
Bangladeshi student Mridula Amin is in her second year of a Bachelor of Arts-Media/ Bachelor of Laws degree at Macquarie University. The Mentorship Program has afforded her a mentor at SBS, Jim Carroll, Head of News and Current Affairs, and a placement with SBS’ Dateline and Insight.
“It’s warming how staff are willing to help you with your career where they can. SBS is a champion for multiculturalism, so I hope that through our involvement with SBS Media Mentorship my fellow mentees and I will help promote a larger cultural representation in Australian media and change the white-bread industry in commercial channels”.
A law student as well, Mridula has observed that a legal eye combined with an exceptional media profile is going to help her in a future in foreign correspondence. She has also recently started building a site Made in Bngldsh at madeinbngldsh.com, where she hopes to share socio-economic commentary and stories on multiculturalism, law and environment.
Program Coordinator from Macquarie University, Ruth McHugh, said the experience and networking opportunities offered by SBS have gone from strength to strength each year.
“This is a fantastic program which gives students from disadvantaged backgrounds access to career opportunities in media that they would normally not even dream of. Besides the one-on-one mentoring, which is in itself an amazingly valuable experience for the students, the relationship Macquarie University has built with SBS and NITV means that they think of our students first when interesting work experiences or production opportunities arise.”
According to Jillian Hocking, Mentoring Co-ordinator for SBS, “The real success will be when we hear and see presenters on mainstream commercial networks who are clearly from diverse linguistic and cultural backgrounds.”