1. Rhetorics of assistance in
Australian Indigenous media
Dominic Santangelo
Doctor of Arts candidate, Department of Media and
Communications, University of Sydney.

2. Rhetorics of assistance in Indigenous media

Non-Indigenous assistance is interpreted
differently from conflicting ideological and
political positions.

3. Rhetorics of assistance in Indigenous media

Non-Indigenous assistance is interpreted
differently from conflicting ideological and
political positions.

Indigenous media development:

NITV (National Indigenous Television)

ICTV (Indigenous Community Television)

4. Rhetorics of assistance in Indigenous media

Non-Indigenous assistance is interpreted
differently from conflicting ideological and
political positions.

Indigenous media development:

NITV (National Indigenous Television)

ICTV (Indigenous Community Television)

Political tensions between Govt. policy and the
remote “community” sector.

5. How conditional is assistance?

Perceptible Govt. preference for mainstream,
pan-Aboriginal models (NITV), and
marginalisation of community ones (ICTV).

6. How conditional is assistance?

Perceptible Govt. preference for mainstream,
pan-Aboriginal models (NITV), and
marginalisation of community ones (ICTV).

Why is this happening?

How genuinely empowering is Govt.
assistance given this circumstance?

7. 1. Framing inter-cultural relationships

Collaboration?
− Largely absent within domains of Indigenous
sovereignty

8. 1. Framing inter-cultural relationships

Collaboration?
− Largely absent within domains of Indigenous
sovereignty
− Not easily compatible with ideals of self-
determination
− Challenges claims to non-intervention

9. 1. Framing inter-cultural relationships

Ancillary non-Indigenous assistance
− Prominent since the work of Eric Michaels
(1986)
− Part of the rhetoric of self-determination,
previously critiqued by Ginsburg (1995) and
Hinkson (2002)

10. 1. Framing inter-cultural relationships

Ancillary non-Indigenous assistance
− Prominent since the work of Eric Michaels
(1986)
− Part of the rhetoric of self-determination,
previously critiqued by Ginsburg (1995) and
Hinkson (2002)

But how far can the concept of ancillary
assistance truthfully and productively extend?

11. 2. The ambiguity of assistance

A site for rhetorical analysis
− “The underlying enigma will manifest itself in
inevitable ambiguities and inconsistencies
among the terms for motives...”
(Burke, 1969: xviii).

12. 2. The ambiguity of assistance

A site for rhetorical analysis
− “The underlying enigma will manifest itself in
inevitable ambiguities and inconsistencies
among the terms for motives...”
(Burke, 1969: xviii).

What are the ideological positions behind the
rhetorical expression of assistance?

13. 3. Assistance rhetoric by government

2010 federal government review into Indigenous
media (the Stevens report):
− “the review believes strongly that strengthening
Indigenous broadcasting and media sector will
create more positive policy outcomes for Closing
the Gap, and by being integrated within existing
government policy initiatives, will return
significant benefits”.
(Stevens, 2011: 11)

14. 3. Assistance rhetoric by government

Closing the Gap employs the rhetoric of self-
determination:

Connection to culture

Commitment to UN principles

“financial and technical assistance from
States”
(UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, 2008: 12)

15. 3. Assistance rhetoric by government

Closing the Gap employs the rhetoric of self-
determination:

Connection to culture

Commitment to UN principles

“financial and technical assistance from
States”
(UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, 2008: 12)

Indigenous media “needs to be resourced and
empowered to get on with the job” (Stevens, 2011: 22).

16. 3. Assistance rhetoric by government

The Stevens report reinforces the notion of
government assistance as ancillary non-Indigenous
support:
− “maximise”, “enhance”, “assist”, “empower

17. 3. Assistance rhetoric by government

The Stevens report reinforces the notion of
government assistance as ancillary non-Indigenous
support:
− “maximise”, “enhance”, “assist”, “empower”

However, a close analysis of the report
challenges this assumption.

It reveals a conflicting ideological interpretation
of assistance underpinning the government's
recommendations

18. 4. A pentadic analysis of the Stevens Report

Methodology:
− Originally developed by Kenneth Burke
(1969)
− Breaks down statements of motivation into
five categories:

Act

Scene

Agent

Agency

Purpose
− Analysis determines “orientation”, which
following McGee (1980), expresses ideology

19. 4. A pentadic analysis of the Stevens Report

Stevens' “three key principles” on which the report is
“founded” (Stevens, 2011:2):

20. 4. A pentadic analysis of the Stevens Report

Stevens' “three key principles” on which the report is
“founded” (Stevens, 2011:2):
1. That Indigenous media is a powerful tool that
needs to be harnessed more effectively to
assist the Australian government to realise
its broad Indigenous policy objectives

21. 4. A pentadic analysis of the Stevens Report

Stevens' “three key principles” on which the report is
“founded” (Stevens, 2011:2):
1. That Indigenous media is a powerful tool that
needs to be harnessed more effectively to
assist the Australian government to realise
its broad Indigenous policy objectives
− PURPOSE: Realise government
objectives

22. 4. A pentadic analysis of the Stevens Report

Stevens' “three key principles” on which the report is
“founded” (Stevens, 2011:2):
1. That Indigenous media is a powerful tool that
needs to be harnessed more effectively to
assist the Australian government to realise
its broad Indigenous policy objectives
− AGENCY: Indigenous media as Govt. tool

23. 4. A pentadic analysis of the Stevens Report

Stevens' “three key principles” on which the report is
“founded” (Stevens, 2011:2):
1. That Indigenous media is a powerful tool that
needs to be harnessed more effectively to
assist the Australian government to realise
its broad Indigenous policy objectives
− ACT: Harnessing Indigenous media

24. 4. A pentadic analysis of the Stevens Report

Stevens' “three key principles” on which the report is
“founded” (Stevens, 2011:2):
1. That Indigenous media is a powerful tool that
needs to be harnessed more effectively to
assist the Australian government to realise
its broad Indigenous policy objectives
− AGENT: Government

25. 4. A pentadic analysis of the Stevens Report

Stevens' “three key principles” on which the report is
“founded” (Stevens, 2011:2):
2. To maximise the effectiveness of the
Indigenous broadcasting and media sector,
fundamental changes need to be made to
the mechanisms whereby the sector is
funded, administered and regulated.
3. Success is ultimately dependent on
empowering and building the capacity of the
Indigenous media and broadcasting sector.

26. 4. A pentadic analysis of the Stevens Report

Stevens' “three key principles” on which the report is
“founded” (Stevens, 2011:2):
2. To maximise the effectiveness of the
Indigenous broadcasting and media sector,
fundamental changes need to be made to
the mechanisms whereby the sector is
funded, administered and regulated.
3. Success is ultimately dependent on
empowering and building the capacity of the
Indigenous media and broadcasting sector.
− SCENE: Ineffective media, dysfunction.

27. 4. A pentadic analysis of the Stevens Report

Govt. assistance = conditional on political integration

28. 4. A pentadic analysis of the Stevens Report

Govt. assistance = conditional on political integration
AND/OR?

Govt. assistance = ancillary support towards
Indigenous self-determination

29. 5. The cultural political context

Despite a global political ideological shift away from
self-determination, it's rhetorical devices are still
employed by governments.

30. 5. The cultural political context

Despite a global political ideological shift away from
self-determination, it's rhetorical devices are still
employed by governments.

There is a political shift to Indigenous cultural and
economic integration (often critiqued as part of neo-
liberalism)

31. 5. The cultural political context

Despite a global political ideological shift away from
self-determination, it's rhetorical devices are still
employed by governments.

There is a political shift to Indigenous cultural and
economic integration (often critiqued as part of neo-
liberalism)

The language of integration features strongly in the
Stevens report

32. 5. The cultural political context

A widely held belief that a “liberal consensus” (Sutton,
2009) of cultural relativism and self-determination
“short-changes” (Vanstone, 2005) Indigenous
Australians.

33. 5. The cultural political context

A widely held belief that a “liberal consensus” (Sutton,
2009) of cultural relativism and self-determination
“short-changes” (Vanstone, 2005) Indigenous
Australians.

But are the principles of self-determination simply
incompatible with the modern nation-state?
(Summers, 2009; Kapitan, 2006; Young, 2005)

34. 5. The cultural political context

Is true self-determination compromised by neo-liberalism?
(Lattas & Morris, 2010)

35. 5. The cultural political context

Is true self-determination compromised by neo-liberalism?
(Lattas & Morris, 2010)

Is Indigenous disadvantage exacerbated by the “new-
orientalism” of “white anti-racists”? (Kowal, 2008)

36. 5. The cultural political context

Is true self-determination compromised by neo-liberalism?
(Lattas & Morris, 2010)

Is Indigenous disadvantage exacerbated by the “new-
orientalism” of “white anti-racists”? (Kowal, 2008)

Perhaps achieving actual self-determination is a broader
political-structural challenge, evidenced in the ambiguous
and contradictory rhetoric of law and other policy.

37. Conclusion

The kind of assistance desired by the remote community
sector is not currently being provided

The notion of assistance in the Stevens report is complicated
by a political ideology that:
− Employs the language of self-determination
− Yet is motivated to engage Indigenous media
through a system geared more closely towards
Indigenous cultural and economic integration

Self-determination is unlikely to be achieved by processes of
political integration, but genuine political restructuring around
the expressed needs of Indigenous groups