The ABC have committed to supporting the Brisbane Indigenous Media Association in training and developing the next generation of Indigenous media professionals, in an emotional morning tea in memory of a much-loved member of both the ABC and BIMA family.
Teena Girdis helped forge links between the two organisations while helping BIMA with the award-winning Let’s Talk video panels two years ago. The panels covered topics as diverse as constitutional reform, treaty, sovereignty and decolonisation.
Teena played an integral role in producing and guiding Let’s Talk Decolonisation, which won the Indigenous reporting category at Amnesty International’s 2014 Media Awards. Teena sadly passed away last year, but her legacy lives on in the MOU, signed today by BIMA CEO Tiga Bayles and ABC Queensland’s Indigenous Working Group Head Gary Crane.
The MOU commits ABC to providing training, mentoring and guidance to students involved in training courses at BIMA. This will involve various skills, from camerawork, to editing, producing and scripting.
The ABC will also provide mentoring for BIMA students and should an outstanding Indigenous student be identified, the ABC is now committed to “considering that student for a Teena Girdis Memorial 12-month traineeship/internship”.
BIMA CEO Tiga Bayles delivered an emotional ode to Teena, saying that her guidance had been integral in the development of the video panels.
Pictured: Tiga with Teena’s family singing the MOU
