THE SPACES BETWEEN CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES IN INTER-DISCIPLINARY,

MULTI-STAKEHOLDER COMMUNITY MEDIA RESEARCH

JOCELYN WILLIAMS

COMMUNICATION STUDIES

WHAT SPACES? •  Interest in urban community – what builds it, what erodes it

•  PhD research…media connecting or alienating people?

Undermining or building new forms of family &

neighbourhood? Plus, issues of access to media, and

inequality of digital opportunity…

•  Unitec’s commitment to the needs of the community

•  Multiple existing research projects with community resilience

in common

WHAT SPACES? •  2013 Unitec Professorial Forum on social housing - “the

healthy apparatus of communities” and “what are the bits in

between… the increased numbers of houses – the social

cohesion, the public good?” (Hamish Keith)

•  What kind of community spaces facilitate social goals?

Relational and communicative spaces as well as physical ones

GOAL  

Community empowerment through engaging residents, local

businesses and community organisations in dynamic

storytelling networks to mobilise the communication

environment to better serve community needs.

 

OBJECTIVES  To produce media content around existing community development

projects lead by Unitec staff for the purpose of broadcasting their stories

in a public service community oriented TV channel context

- To produce media content which can be broadcast, but which can also

be used in multiple other ways

- To explore the capacity for such a project to facilitate collaboration

between visual arts, business and media / communication sectors that

develops a methodology for community engagement

- To identify how digital narratives can be used to engage and empower

communities in the Unitec catchment area

- To explore the potential for Unitec to develop partnership opportunities

through an expanded multidisciplinary methodology, and through

strengthened

relationships with community organisations.

 

Collaborating with:

•  Paul Woodruffe (DCA)

•  Ravi Bhat (DOMM)

•  Sara Donaghey

(Communication)

•  Geoff Bridgman (Social

Practice), with

Jonathan Hickman

•  Marcus Williams

SCREEN / PRODUCTION EXPERTISE

•  Alexander Lee, Executive Producer for the series

•  Mark Ingram, Production Manager

•  Selected students – researching stories, filming,

editing

•  Eight students from Comm and PaSA now being

trained as teams of presenters for the shows.

What we’re doing

•  We’re filming stories associated with the work of six Unitec

researchers from Social Practice, Design, and Communication

•  These will become a series of short documentary-style TV

programmes to be broadcast before the end of 2014 on Sky

channel 83

•  Each half-hour programme reflects on an aspect of existing

Unitec research projects that can be loosely characterised as

having community-building or community engagement aims:

•  Avondale Community Action

•  Banishing Bullying – Henderson South

•  CUE Haven

•  Rosebank Artwalk

•  “Studio MPHS” – a High Tech Youth Studio in Henderson

•  Digital storytelling for public engagement – Auckland Libraries

It’s also multi-

layered •  Each programme is being

created with the

involvement of staff and

students in

Communication and

Performing/Screen Arts

programmes

•  In this way, learning /

teaching and curriculum

goals are embedded in

the larger project

•  At a macro level, I’m

researching the value of a

partnership approach to

digital content creation

for community

communication goals.

 

•  Six communities, each the subject

of a programme for broadcast

•  Each with their own series of

members, networks, priorities,

strategies and values

•  Unitec staff responsible for

content production, with students,

who want to learn by engaging in

real-world production-related

activities

•  Unitec researchers at each site

•  Unitec as a strategic entity

•  Face TV, a niche community-

oriented station contracted to Sky.

All of their interests need to be held

in balance in order to achieve the

complex set of outcomes committed

to in this research piece.

… and there are

multiple

stakeholders:

INTENDED OUTCOMES / OUTPUTS

•  TV series for broadcast (November)

•  Website

•  Shareable content

•  Launch events

•  Journal articles, Unitec ePress, conference

presentations

•  Community-Unitec relationships

•  Student learning & experience

•  Review of process for next time

•  New strategies for Unitec media…

Challenges / opportunities

•  Colliding paradigms of

participation, ownership, co-

creation…

•  Opportunity however to evolve

new practices in collaborative

research and media production,

learning also from global best

practice in digital storytelling

•  Aligning with, or operating in spite

of, constraints

•  Undoubtedly the effort to do the

above is leading to further

opportunity and innovation

MULTIPLE LAYERS /

INTERPLAY BETWEEN

OBJECTIVES Whole exercise aims to support / complement

Unitec focus on live projects, real hands-on experience, developing curriculum opportunities for students to create real world impact. Thus, many layers:

-  Student learning

-  Staff research

-  Curriculum connection

-  Storytelling across a broad canvas: broadcast, social media, website, Unitec internal and external comms (supporting corporate identity/organisational story), student portfolios

-  Connection with organisations e.g. local boards, Council agencies