Media student combines blogs with broadcast
Five years ago, Jonathan Brown tentatively dipped his toes into the world of community broadcasting when he signed up as a volunteer with Radio Adelaide. It was 'love at first sound bite' and he quickly became immersed in the medium, which gave him the opportunity to have a voice, and hear many others. "There's something really powerful about a person's voice telling a story and community radio is one of the only places I have seen that flourish. It is not pretending to be something else because it is raw and real," he said. The 22-year-old final-year Bachelor of Media student has taken his passion for community radio a step further this year. In an Australian first, he has established a CBlogging project, which encourages the nation's youth to integrate new media with community broadcasting to reach a whole new audience. Jonathan is undertaking a nationwide search for 20 young community broadcasters who are keen to learn new digital media skills, which they can incorporate into their radio programs. In late October he will help train the successful applicants in new media at the national conference of the Community Broadcasting Association of Australia (CBAA) in Hobart. As the CBAA's national youth representative, he said young people were crying out to learn new skills they can apply within the community radio environment. "They will be blogging, tweeting, networking, filming and reporting live from the conference from 21-24 October," he said. Jonathan's CBlogging initiative has been acknowledged by the Foundation for Young Australians, which has named him as one of 14 Young Social Pioneers in 2010. Modelled on the International Youth Foundation's global Youth Action Net initiative, the Young Social Pioneers' program is designed for youth aged 18-29 who are committed to social change and who demonstrate a passion and purpose in this regard. Jonathan will spend the next 12 months undergoing an intensive mentoring, leadership and development program with the 13 other Young Social Pioneers to build on their individual skills and talents. "I am really interested in social change and how communication can help bring people together," he said. "In that respect, the Bachelor of Media degree and Radio Adelaide have been the perfect fit for me. They have allowed me to put the bigger picture into context and understand how the media and other communication outlets have such an enormous impact on our lives. "My passion is to make sure communication skills are shared across society and to ensure that a diverse range of Australians have a voice - not just the top tier, or those with the most money or education." For more information about the CBloggers project and the Young Social Pioneers program, go to:
Story by Candy Gibson
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