The Media part of the Media, Leisure & Arts Alliance has appointed a brand new Federal President and Vice-Presidents.
ABC surroundings reporter Michael Slezak will instantly start because the Federal President, whereas The Age and Sydney Morning Herald’s surroundings and local weather reporter Bianca Corridor, and Kasun Ubayasiri, a senior lecturer and Program Director of Communication and Journalism at Griffith College and freelance documentary photographer, will function Federal Vice-Presidents.
They may also develop into administrators of the Walkley Basis.
It follows the resignations of Karen Percy, Erin Delahunty and Kate Ferguson who give up after requires an overhaul of the Walkley Basis and extra unbiased administrators.
“Mikey, Bianca and Kasun are all highly-respected leaders in their very own workplaces who’ve now stepped as much as be leaders of their union,” MEAA Federal President Michael Balk mentioned.
“They’ve proven an important dedication to their business and to their union over an extended time period and are wonderful appointments.”
The brand new management crew paid tribute to their predecessors and pledged to work with all MEAA members to advance the pursuits of Australian journalists.
“There are various large points confronting our business: the sustainability of media enterprise fashions to proceed delivering unbiased and high quality journalism, tackling the monetary and employment insecurity of freelancers, the roll out of Synthetic Intelligence, sustaining belief with audiences by way of moral journalism, and diversifying the office profile of our business so it really represents fashionable Australia,” they mentioned in a joint assertion.
“MEAA has an extended and proud historical past of greater than a century advocating for Australian journalists and media staff, together with as custodian of the Walkley awards, and each time there was a problem now we have at all times overcome it.
“As administrators of the Walkley Basis, we’ll take very severely its constitutional requirement to construct a neighborhood of journalists and defend it from any undue company affect. Impartial, moral journalism will stay the muse’s driving objective.
“Our invitation to representatives from the muse to satisfy with us and our elected colleagues on MEAA’s Nationwide Media Part committee to debate the longer term governance of the muse stays open.”
Michael Slezak is the ABC’s nationwide surroundings and science reporter, masking tales throughout all ABC platforms. A Walkley Award-winning journalist, he has a robust report of breaking tales on the intersection of environmental and governance points, driving public debate and reform. A proud member of MEAA all through his profession, he’s co-chair of the ABC’s Home Committee and has led campaigns on the ABC to guard workers packages, win higher pay and situations, and get up in opposition to outdoors political interference. Below his management, the ABC has doubled its union density and the nationwide home committee construction has been reformed to higher symbolize the variety of journalists who work there. Earlier than becoming a member of the ABC, Michael was the surroundings reporter for Guardian Australia and the Australasian correspondent for New Scientist journal. He additionally edited The Finest Australian Science Writing (NewSouth Books) and has contributed to quite a few different publications.
Bianca Corridor is a journalist and editor with greater than 20 years’ expertise, reporting from the Press Gallery in Canberra, The Age’s newsroom in Melbourne, for neighborhood newspapers, and for papers in regional Victoria. She has labored as a deputy federal editor for The Age, The Sydney Morning Herald, Brisbane Occasions, WAtoday and The Canberra Occasions, in addition to Immigration Correspondent and Sunday Political Correspondent (amongst different roles) for these mastheads. She strongly believes within the position journalism can play in representing and connecting our communities, shining a light-weight to energy, and in being a “first draft” of historical past. She has been a union member for the reason that age of 14, and has helped lead campaigns for higher pay and situations with The Age’s home committee and 9 Publishing’s nationwide home committee.
Kasun Ubayasiri is a print and photojournalist who labored in Sri Lanka, and rural and regional Queensland earlier than taking over a journalism instructing place at Griffith College, Queensland, the place he’s employed as Senior Lecturer and Program Director of Journalism and Communication. He continues to work on longform photodocumentary tasks specializing in human rights and migration. He has a PhD from Queensland College of Expertise and is the co-author of Journalism for Social Change in Asia: Reporting Human Rights. He’s a robust believer in constructing united, moral and sturdy journalistic collectives that may face the challenges of the longer term.
