(Re)citing the sovereign source: media representations of indigenous peoples

Abstract

[Conclusion]: History has determined the situation of indigenous Australia over an ancient cultural and spiritual presence with the land. It was dispossession of that land which enabled mainstream Australia to be papered over the top of that presence, but the sovereign source still waits to be heard. When we, as journalists, add to the paper-weight of history, the least we can do is write with some form of respect and awareness of how rough the draft has been. As teachers and students, we can embrace our rle as media audiences, as the public in the journalistic principle of public interest, to participate in the slow educational changes that may allow us one day to hear what indigenous people actually mean when they tell their stories of sovereignty.