Ethnic content: the other Australia

Our society is constantly being shaped by a constant influx of immigrants from all cultural backgrounds, and the influences they bring with them. But for a country that prides itself on its multiculturalism, there is a very limited amount of ‘ethnic’ content in the media, aimed specifically at these groups. Aravind Balasubramaniam reports.

The statistics are well known,” said audio and language content director at SBS, Dirk Anthony. “One in four Australians is either born overseas or has parents of migrant backgrounds, so it is very important that we recognise that fact and continue to be able to communicate Australian messages in the relevant languages”.
The media landscape appears not to have evolved with this increase in migrant population and the consequent growth in demand for specialised content. When taking into consideration the early identification
of the Hispanic population in the U.S as a potential market, Australia’s reaction is afflicted with a sense of lethargy. Since the 1950s, the US has seen the growth of Spanish language broadcasters such as Telemundo
and the emergence of other networks from the mid 80s onwards, like Univision.
In Australia, SBS has been assigned the responsibility of communicating with non-English speaking background (NESB) communities.

“Throughout the 30 years of television and the 35 years of radio at SBS, the key task has been to help encourage multiculturalism across the cultures in the country”, said Anthony.
SBS was launched as an innovative radio service with the frequencies 3EA and 2EA, at a time when the Federal Government needed to communicate with the new Australians that were arriving – about, for example, Medicare, the then-new universal health service introduced in 1975. Five years later, SBS TV became a platform to expose Australians to other cultures, both the ones around the world, and the ones living here. It also started offering its ethnic language news services for migrants.
Traditionally, the ethnic communities of Australia needed sport, music, entertainment and movies in their native languages to maintain a link to the homeland – or because they wanted to teach the language and
the culture to their children. Community-specific print and radio outlets have been producing content locally for decades, but in terms of television – including SBS – most of this content has been brought directly from overseas.
Local production companies are now starting to create programs to target these niche markets.

A LOCAL SERVICE
The 1990s saw the arrival of a new medium, the internet, which gave ethnic communities access to information directly from their home countries without the need for intermediates. The challenge for SBS
to remain relevant was to provide information about Australia to these communities, in their own languages.
Launched on November 24, SBS’s latest project targets the Chinese community. Mandarin News Australia was conceived to work alongside with the Chinese Virtual Community website, and presents new opportunities for content creation and demand.

“We aim to offer International news stories as well, but predominantly Australian news and information, across our radio division and this new project. It’s for all the different migrants from a Chinese language background, whether its Mandarin or Cantonese, from the various countries that represent those languages. That’s nearly a million people!” added Anthony. “We are an Australian service. This is not Radio Australia or the Australian Network. This is a domestic service provided to Chinese Australians about life in this country and that’s our number one priority: to provide content and services where communities can talk to each other about issues that are affecting their lives here, in this country.”
SBS management has always been persistent about ensuring that the changing demography of Australia is represented in the media, but limited funding for the public broadcaster remains a problem. The majority
of its programming has been financed through the Australian tax payer and a few Government initiatives.
The Chinese initiative is a 12-month pilot program funded through the redistribution of resources at SBS. Within this time, it needs to demonstrate that it has got value for a large section of Australia: “This pilot is a way of showing what SBS can do when properly funded, in serving small and large emerging language groups in this country.
“If it works for the Chinese Australians, it is likely to work for people who speak Arabic, Greek or Italian. There are of course some differences, but many more similarities; you have to build a model that allows for
those differences. This is an exciting opportunity and it’s easily doable; but it requires adequate funding and audiences to appreciate it,” commented Anthony.
AUSTRALIAN MADE
Lack of funding and advertising revenue represents only part of the problem when looking at ethnic content in Australia. In terms of free-to-air broadcasters, along with SBS, the only other purveyor of multicultural
programming has been the ABC. Over the last 10 years, the lack of multicultural content on free-to-air TV has seen the infiltration of a number of satellite channels and companies such as Mandarin/Cantonese pay TV provider TVBA (based in Hong Kong) and Australia’s UBI World TV, which offers packages in 12 different languages.
UBI World TV’s president, Regina Boulos, believes that the combination of free-to-air and pay television does reflect the multiculturalism of the country. Mainstream broadcasters cater for mass audiences, but they are slowly recognising the migrant demographic.
“There is definitely a demand for ethnic programming. This is beginning to be reflected by the likes of Foxtel, Austar and Optus who, in recent times, have begun providing a semblance of ethnic channels,” said  Boulos, “Ethnic content is created to address the existing needs of the local market.”
UBI World TV premiered its first local production in September; Somer’s Kitchen is a Turkish culinary show presented by chef Somer Sivrioglu. The idea came from head of development Ben Boulos, who realised the potential for this type of show amongst the Turkish community in Australia. Somer’s Kitchen started on the back of the Crave Food Festival that was recently held in Sydney, where the number one chef in Turkey, Musa Dagdeviren, held a cooking session with Sivrioglu.
“There was a lot of interest from our viewers and that’s what we wanted to show, not just in Australia but also New Zealand,” said Ben Boulos. “With Somer’s Kitchen we aren’t reinventing the wheel or trying to teach Turkish people how to cook Turkish food. We wanted to show them how they can use Australian ingredients and put a Mediterranean-Turkish spin. Also, we plan on showcasing more of the Australian environment and scenery. This is why it’s different to other cooking shows,” commented Ben Boulos.
The show was financed primarily by UBI, but it has already received the support of a number of local sponsors, from small shops to big corporations. Somer’s Kitchenhas gained some rapport abroad and as a result,

UBI has an overseas pilot in the works. According to SBS’s Dirk Anthony, the potential of ethnic markets has remained largely unexploited. It is slowly being understood by advertisers, with some major brands recognising that there are Australians who may not speak English as a first language, but have a propensity to buy their products.
To monetise these markets, a sophistication of customer databases and a clear understanding of the potential consumers is vital. An example would be a major Australian car manufacturer that is now starting to
target the Chinese Australian market because they have identified that there is a high percentage of Chinese people buying their products, compared to other segments.
“Advertisers have to seriously start looking at ethnic programs and broadcasting as another area in which they have to put some marketing focus,” said Regina Boulos. “Marketing messages have to be tailor-made
to suit each ethnic group, and UBI is well-positioned in aiding potential advertisers by improving overall efficiency, because that’s what we do on a day-to-day basis”.
UBI’s latest initiative, UBI Focus, is a magazine-style program that aims to connect potential advertisers to the specific language groups, but more importantly, to bring attention and fulfil the needs of the ethnic groups of Australia.

REPRESENTING REALITY
The big screen has seen a few Greek, Italian, Lebanese and Chinese Australian stories over the years, but the representation of the country’s diversity on screen has not been fully exploited, according to many practitioners.
Director Franco Di Chiera, who recently completed his feature Big Mamma’s Boy – a comedy with an Italian Australian protagonist – believes part of the problem lies in the industry viewing ethnic content as a genre.
“It is not some sort of genre; it is Australian filmmaking, it’s about who we are and that includes everybody, but we are still not seeing everybody regularly on screen. The reality is that there is a market, and it seems absurd to have to discuss it even in these terms, because it is a part of everyday Australia. But we have to talk about it, because there is a regular absence,” said Di Chiera. “You’d think that the industry would want to think outside the box, and open things up, so that they could tap into the wide range of talent and stories that are available, because amongst those they will be hits!”.
Acclaimed director Peter Andrikidis (East West 101, The Kings of Mykonos: Wog Boy 2) believes the marketing of multicultural content to a wider audience is not being done properly. “Even at SBS today, we keep
talking about ‘how do we get to that audience?’. Another problem is that SBS and ABC are even seen as elitist to some, and that’s something we have to break down soon. I don’t know how to get there, but something has to be done.”
For Andrikidis, casting outside the box is important in a stylistic sense, whilst also bringing out an authenticity. A cast of 10 people has to have look differnet, and allowing ethnic groups to come into the mix helps that
process and mirrors reality. “Also, when you have a Greek character you don’t cast an Italian actor; there’s a bit of that in the industry. People assume actors can play different cultures easily.”
“The problem is when you watch mainstream commercial television today it that there is still something about aspiring to be white. I try to make a cast look like what you encounter when you are walking down the street, not like a cast from the 1970s. It’s also about defining each character; you don’t have to necessarily bring out their backgrounds, but it is evident in some shows, as the series goes on,” he added.
Co-creator of Acropolis Now and the Wog Boy films Nick Giannopoulos can almost be considered an authority on ethnic content in Australia. Acropolis Now ran from 1989 to 1993, and was the first show revolving
around Greek characters, set in a café in Melbourne.
“When I first started in the industry professionally in the late 80s, the true nature of Australia’s multicultural society wasn’t all that well reflected on our TV or cinema screens. I definitely think it’s improved a lot,
but that’s not to say it’s at a place where it’s okay,” said Giannopoulos. “We are probably not utilising our multiculturalism as much as we can; we are kind of microscopic in the way we view things. There is a huge
global market out there, and we’re in a position to create product for it.”
According to Giannopoulos, the fact that we rely on only two broadcasters for ethnic content is an issue. With advertising dollars dictating the decisions of the gatekeepers, ultimately it is only good scripts, good
performances, and projects that connect with the local target audience that will be picked: “All TV networks are open to good ideas, but they have to feel that people want to watch it. I certainly think there is no bias against what your background is, or where you are from anymore.”
Creators of ethnic content should also focus on a global audience and avoid being locked to one location or have a singular market in mind. The Kings of Mykonos gained success both locally and in territories such as
Greece, Germany, Italy and even Brazil.
“The investors for ethnic content are out there. I had to travel all over the world to find mine. It is possible.”
While some define ethnic content around the representation of different communities in mainstream content and others view it as content aimed at specific groups – and sometimes in specific languages -, one thing is certain: with the ever-increasing migrant demographic, our screen industry must start catering to these new markets.