OPINION: ​​They're our stories. Australia's newsrooms need to diversify so we can tell them

I never saw people like my mum or nan on TV growing up. I'm part of a new generation kicking down doors to tell our stories on our terms, writes Bronte Charles.

Growing up, Bronte Charles never saw people like her grandmother represented on TV. Her career in journalism is helping to change that.

It isn't easy being a young Blak journalist; it involves a lot of work over and above that of others in the profession.

It’s walking into a newsroom on your first day of an internship and seeing no representation.

It's having only a handful of role models to look up to (5.4 per cent by some measures).

It’s taking a long, deep breath before an interview and thinking: will they think I’m too much? Do I have too many opinions? Am I too Blak? Am I not Blak enough?

This isn't a complaint; it's a call for change. The critical work of telling our stories will only get easier if there's more Blak representation in newsrooms and leadership.

Australia's media needs to reflect us as we are

I believe what Australians care about is shifting. Australia is a multicultural society, but our media tells a very different story.

My university classes are filled with young, aspiring journalists from all walks of life. Some are just two generations removed from people who fled to this country from warzones.

They not only want to give the diverse communities they’re from access to the news, but they want their stories to be heard and what they care about to be represented.

After all, they call this country home, too.

Bronte Charles (left) graduating from Marketing and Media at Macquarie University alongside a friend. Source: Supplied

The media has a significant role in constructing our identities. It affects how we feel about ourselves and others, and what to think about issues that directly affect us.

So who is crafting that narrative?

A recent report by Media Diversity Australia, Who Gets to Tell Australian Stories 2.0, told us (again) what we already know.

While there are pockets of progress, the people who mostly appear on our screens are Anglo-Celtic. The report also found that Aboriginality and cultural diversity among TV leadership remains poor.

Importantly, non-European Australian audiences have the least trust in news and are more concerned about representation.

Getting the story right

Can they be blamed? Not only are we more likely to trust those with similar life experiences to us, people telling stories from outside their community often get it wrong.

Newsrooms have a responsibility to accurately reflect their audiences, and to take care when reporting on diverse people.

This year we saw one news organisation publish negative stories about Kumanjayi Walker as the police officer who shot him dead was acquitted of murder; another identified the wrong Aboriginal man as the suspect who kidnapped Cleo Smith last year.

We regularly see all-white panels talking about Indigenous issues.

This is what I want to change.

Reporter Bronte Charles interviewing young children for NITV News. Source: Supplied

Telling stories with NITV

Growing up, I never saw people who looked like my Mum and Nan on TV. I didn’t hear from people who sounded like them, or thought like them.

It wasn’t until I was about 13 when I was flicking through the channels that I stumbled across NITV.

This was a massive change.

It’s the reason I wanted to become a journalist. I crossed the bridge from Redfern to study a Bachelor of Marketing and Media at Macquarie University, which I have just completed.

I got a foot in the door at NITV as an intern in November last year and throughout this year I have been a casual cross-platform journalist.

When people ask me what I do, I say that I tell stories.

My daily meetings start with 'Morning you mob'. Team members wear red, black and yellow into the office and I see plenty of earrings woven by our women.

We talk about our community, the mad feed we had on the weekend, the kids, the cousins, the Aunties and Uncles.

Then we tell stories about the beauty of that Blak life.

The journalists here are comfortable enough to talk openly about the racism they’ve experienced while out on shoots.

After a tough story – whether it be about an Indigenous death in custody or the passing of an Elder - the care is taken to check on our welfare. After all, the leadership is feeling the same pain.

The mob here are actively supporting my journey.

I am only new, but where I am now in my career makes me feel so proud to be Aboriginal.

I hope that Blak and diverse journos working for other networks don’t leave that same sense of pride at the door when walking into their newsrooms.

Bronte Charles is a proud Bundjalung woman. The 21-year-old is a graduate of Macquarie University, holding a Bachelor of Marketing and Media and is a cross-platform journalist with National Indigenous Television (NITV).