SBS’s Value Magnified By Global Village

Michael Ebeid is the Managing Director of SBS

When my parents migrated to Australia from Egypt in the 1960s it cost two years’ wages for a flight back to the mother country, phone calls were expensive and unreliable, letters took weeks to arrive, and there was no real access to electronic media.

One of SBS’s important roles when established in the 1970s was to assist migrants to maintain a connection with their country of origin and cultural heritage.

SBS brought the world and its cultural diversity into our living rooms and allowed the many recent migrants to Australia to stay connected. It also gave all Australians the opportunity to experience new cultures.

Today, decades of technological advances have made the world smaller and more accessible. It is possible for new Australians to stay completely connected to their old homelands through satellite channels, social media and the internet.

The question now is: will this new media world reduce a person’s ability to participate in Australian society? To illustrate this point, some time ago Indian students living in Melbourne experienced a series of violent incidents.

Research SBS commissioned in 2010 found many people in the Australian Indian community were responding to often inflammatory coverage from India rather than getting their information from local news outlets which included coverage of initiatives to address the situation.

SBS obsolete?

So, is there a need for SBS anymore? The answer is that Australia needs SBS more today than ever before.

Today, there are over 270 languages and cultures in Australia, twice as many people who speak a language other than English; and they come from a more diverse range of countries and cultures than 30 years ago.

That is why it’s now imperative that SBS plays its part in helping migrants become participative members of Australian society.

Sadly, evidence from Europe and, to a lesser extent here, shows if not actively supported and nurtured, cultural diversity can lead to social tensions and divisions like those we’ve recently seen in mainland Europe and the United Kingdom, rather than being a strength.

SBS helps migrants become engaged members of Australian society. We do that through our rich multicultural broadcasting on two radio stations in over 60 languages – double the languages now broadcast on the BBC World Service.

Because it’s increasingly possible to rely on country of origin media for news, information and entertainment, SBS’s role is changing to be more focused on ensuring migrants can access Australian news and information in a language they’re familiar with, but through an Australian lens.

Radio reviewWe are doing that by reviewing the languages we broadcast on radio for the first time in 18 years to keep pace with Australia’s changing multicultural make-up, developing in-language Apps of Australian news and programs for mobiles, and we want to increase the amount of video in-language we produce.

SBS also plays a role in helping all Australians, no matter where they are from or when they arrived, understand and value diversity. We do this by telling the stories of our rich multicultural society, provoking debate about what it means to be Australian today and challenging Australians to think about the world they live in.

Programs such as Once Upon a Time in Cabramatta, Go Back to Where You Came From and East West 101 are great examples of SBS’s powerful and purposeful storytelling.

Our news and current affairs, drama and documentary programing gets people talking. And our more recent additions in food programming are shining a new light on cultures. We are also focusing hugely on SBS online, mobile and on-demand services.

All of this is about SBS playing its part to break down the misunderstandings or prejudices that can cause social tensions.

Indigenous push

The federal government’s announcement in this week’s budget to support a new national free-to-air digital Indigenous television service will take Indigenous broadcasting in this nation to the next level for a vastly wider audience.

SBS will take on responsibility for the National Indigenous Television (NITV) from July 1 ahead of the new channel, which when launched late this year, will allow Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders to showcase their culture, not just to other Indigenous Australians, but to the entire Australian community.

SBS should be considered an important part of national strategies to ensure the continued success of Australia as a migrant society, particularly in these more challenging economic times.

In boosting SBS’s funding and expanding our remit, the government has recognised we are a vital component in the nation’s success as a multicultural society in a complex, globalised world.

SBS is embracing the responsibility it’s been given and you can look forward to rich, engaging and challenging content that makes SBS more relevant than ever before.