“There’s so much coverage of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people which is framed in a negative way and focused on effects and not causes, and we try our best to combat this in our news offerings that prioritise our voices”
Representation matters for the nearly 1 million Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in Australia. Seeing and hearing stories that are similar to one’s own are essential to feeling connected. The new NITV podcast, Goodways is made for Indigenous people, by Indigenous people with a focus on Indigenous experiences. Produced in both an audio and video format, the podcast discusses the experiences of Indigenous peoples in a unique and relaxed way.
The podcast is hosted by a group of NITV’s digital team including Jonah Johnson, Jodan Perry, Alexis Moran, Jason Haji-Ali and Bronte Charles. Alexis, a proud Wakka Wakka & Yuin woman named the podcast to reflect the light-hearted nature of the show. “Goodways is a Murri term that can be used in a number of ways. One way is you can add it to the end of a sentence to be a bit cheeky and kind of lessen the impact of what you said before, particularly if you are having a dig at someone,” says Jodan, one of the hosts of the podcast and the Head of Digital at NITV.
Goodways features nuanced perspectives on a range of topics, including identity, childhood and relationships. “We wanted to create something as a unique point of difference to everything else coming out of the network. We cover all types of storytelling about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people through all the units in NITV, but we wanted to create a place where we could be our authentic selves and talk about all the beautiful, lesser-known stories about our lives and celebrate who we are as people,” says Jodan.
With so much discussion and hard-hitting coverage surrounding the Voice referendum, the creators of the podcast wanted to create content that would break up social feeds with light-hearted, funny and inspiring everyday stories. “There’s so much coverage of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people which is framed in a negative way and focused on effects and not causes, and we try our best to combat this in our news offerings that prioritise our voices,” says Jodan.
The team is incredibly conscious of accurately telling stories that their listeners will relate to. Currently, they are drawing on their own experiences along with the experiences of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander members of NITV Digital. Eventually, they want to expand this talent base even further to people from all over the country who want to share their experiences. “We want to expand our reach by tapping into communities who want to come on and yarn up!” says Jodan.
The first few episodes of Goodways are out now with new episodes released regularly. Future episodes will focus on identity, language and practising and revitalising culture. It is available on most podcast platforms and in video format via YouTube.
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