Heywire
Related Issues:
Portrayal of young people by the media;
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Why do we exist ?
If you believe everything that you hear (and read, and watch!) then all young people are anorexic, binge-drinking, pregnant, violent thugs, who don’t want to work hard and don’t care about politics.
Heywire aims to provide an AUTHENTIC and REAL voice for young people from rural and regional Australia.
In Australia young people from rural and regional Australia face higher levels of unemployment, reduced access to higher education and health services. The Heywire program opens up the airwaves of the ABC and provides a platform for voices which are often excluded or marginalised by mainstream media.
What do we do ?
Heywire is all about connecting young people from rural and regional Australia together, and with the wider community both in regional Australia and in the capital cities.
Heywire runs a yearly competition “calling out” for stories from regional and rural Australia. The best 41 stories are selected and are professionally produced alongside ABC staff. The stories air on ABC Local Radio, Radio National and Triple J.
The 41 finalists attend a week-long forum in Canberra. The forum aims to provide a collective voice for young people from rural and regional Australia and for that voice to be heard loud-and-clear in our nation’s capital. It is a chance for the 41 finalists to meet each other and discuss the issues that young people from rural and regional Australia face.
Some of the themes that Heywire has dealt with include medical services in the bush, mental illness, leaving home, the drought and even stories about the local sports team. The issue or idea can be very big or very local. Heywire aims to become a central hub for news, views and information by and for young people from rural and regional Australia.
What opportunities do we have for young people ?
Heywire is a chance for young people from rural and regional Australia to take over the ABC.
Do you have a story which should be told?
Do you have something important to say?
Do you have an opinion on an issue?
Sure there are lots of avenues these days to get your voice out. But none of them have the reach and power of the ABC. This is the opportunity of a life-time to be part of something bigger.
