ABOUT VICTORIAN ABORIGINAL NEWS
Born of a disagreement between VAN founder Charles Pakana and a radio station manager, Victorian Aboriginal News is a fully Aboriginal-owned and -managed news and current affairs content creator, focused entirely on Aboriginal Victoria.
The genesis of Victorian Aboriginal News was a half-hour current affairs program on 3KND, running three times a week.
It was initially called Connection Matters Radio (CMR) and, being primarily self-funded, became financially impractical after nearly a year of being on air.
During the first year of COVID lockdowns in Melbourne, though, CMR once again emerged, this time going to air for half-an-hour five times a week.
It was a labour of love and despite consuming up to 12 hours a day in production and post-production – again, entirely self-funded – it stayed on air during the worst and most difficult periods of the lockdowns.
The focus was on sharing positive stories and interviews from across Aboriginal Victoria.
Following a decision to pull the program from 3KND and go beyond just radio, CMR was rebranded Victorian Aboriginal News (VAN) and the decision made to adopt a multi-platform podcast model.
Now, VAN has expanded its content deliverables to include:
Some VAN Backgrounder Posts
Definitely not traditional media
Far from being a traditional media outlet, Victorian Aboriginal News (VAN) is a unique media organisation that focuses on Victorian Aboriginal-specific matters, such as:
• Treaty,
• Self-Determination,
• Leadership,
• Truth-telling, and
• Reconciliation.
As of early 2024, our primary content deliverables are:
• VAN Talks: A 1-2 times per week podcast featuring relevant interviews from across Victoria. An evolution of the Ref. 23 Tapes podcast.
• The Leader Tapes: Frank video interviews with highly regarded Victorian Aboriginal Elders and leaders, discussing Aboriginality and leadership.
• Online News Service: Currently under development, planned to provide a single-source platform for all Victorian Aboriginal organisations and Traditional Owner Groups to share news and stories of interest.
How we operate
VAN operates almost entirely from “Violet” the van (yes, we totally get the coincidence), a 2019 Ford Transit.
Violet serves as the studio and home for VAN founder and editor, Charles Pakana, who is the second of three successive generations of Aboriginal journalists.
By operating as a truly mobile service, VAN has the ability to work on Country across Victoria with incredibly few logistic limitations, and maintain the production of high-quality content.
In addition, it is a model, which in combination with a remote/work-from-home support team, dramatically reduces operational overheads and production timelines.
Above all, as a direct result of our model and the subsequent ability to build strong relationships across Victoria, VAN has established strong relationships with a growing number of Aboriginal community-controlled organisations and Traditional Owner Groups.
Fee-Free Sharing Policy
Victorian Aboriginal News has a “Fee-Free” Sharing policy covering all content that is noted specifically as “Fee-Free Sharing”.
Prior to using any VAN content, you must gain formal written approval from VAN, either by email or hard copy.
Approval for use will only be granted if:
- Our content is not being used in association with inappropriate advertising or other content, such as tobacco, alcohol or gambling advertising, or other content deemed by Victorian Aboriginal News as inappropriate.
- Our content is not being used to generate revenue for you or any third-party person or organisation.
- Our content is not being used in a political context.
- Our content is not being used in extract form without appropriate attribution and approval to Victorian Aboriginal News.
- Our content is not being used to undermine any person, group of people or organisation.