WOMEN IN MEDIA CONFERENCE SPOTLIGHTS DIVERSITY AND STORYTELLING
BY TANGIORA HINAKI AND ASAD KHAN
PNG BROADCASTER CELEBRATES CAREER MILESTONE
Papua New Guinean journalist Maureen Orea says taking part in a landmark ABC–NBC documentary celebrating her nation’s 50th year of independence has been one of the highlights of her career.
The senior producer and presenter with Tribe 92 FM, the youth station of the National Broadcasting Corporation (NBC) of PNG, was sponsored by ABC Australia to attend the Women in Media Conference in Sydney this week.
Earlier this year, she travelled to Brisbane to record the narration for the 50th Independence Anniversary documentary, a co-production between ABC and NBC.
“We managed to pull through all 29 pages on the first day. It was the first time I got to just look at the monitor without any cues, and it was such a privilege to be part of this project that reflects the history and pride of my people,” she said.
The documentary will air on September 16, the date PNG marks its independence from Australia in 1975.
Reflecting on the conference, Ms Orea said her main takeaway was the diversity of approaches to storytelling.
“There’s no one way to do media. The tools keep changing, but it’s all about how you direct them and use them to inform, educate and inspire,”
Ms Orea, who also hosts the popular Tribe FM breakfast show, said she was “stoked” to meet journalists she grew up watching, including 60 Minutes veteran Liz Hayes, and is eager to take new skills and ideas back to her newsroom in PNG.
NAMILA BENSON ON LONGEVITY AND INCLUSION
Australian broadcaster Namila Benson, best known for her work across ABC Radio National and ABC Television, also attended the Sydney conference and spoke about her reflections on the industry.
Ms Benson recently interviewed Australian actress Claudia Karvan during the event. She said her focus was on exploring Karvan’s “longevity” in the media industry.
“I think her work over the decades, over 40 years, has always spoken to a particular era, which is my generation. Not a lot of people get to do that,” she said.
Attending her first Women in Media Conference, Ms Benson said the urgent conversations around diversity and inclusion in the industry struck her.
“It’s really interesting looking at the times that we are currently living in, especially around social, political, and cultural conversations. The buzzwords of the moment are inclusion and diversity—but what does that actually look like?” she said.
She questioned who gets to define those terms, who is given platforms to discuss them, and who holds the decision-making power to implement change.
“That’s been a key takeaway—looking at our industry and wondering how we can further affect change with diversity and inclusion, because we are not there yet,”
CONFERENCE FOCUSES ON FUTURE OF MEDIA
The Women in Media Conference in Sydney brought together journalists, broadcasters, and storytellers from across Australia and the Pacific.
The event highlighted both the challenges and opportunities facing women in the industry, from career longevity to the ongoing push for diversity and representation in decision-making roles.
For both Ms Orea and Ms Benson, the conference provided a chance to reflect on their careers and to push for a more inclusive and representative future in media.
Listen to Ngaarda Media’s Tangiora Hinaki speak with Maureen Orea and Namila Benson: