FRONTLINE: Jill Emberson: A lifetime of bearing witness to help others
Abstract
Jill Emberson, an award-winning Australian journalist of Tongan heritage died in 2019. She achieved national attention for her campaign to provide a voice for all women suffering from ovarian cancer and for more and fairer funding for ovarian cancer research. Through an analysis of her programmes and interviews with colleagues, this article focuses on Emberson’s journalism from daily news coverage of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander protests in 1982 for public radio to her Meet the Mob podcast series in 2014. It focuses on her significant radio documentaries on women in the Pacific for the ABCs’ feminist Coming Out Show (1986) and Ties that Bind, which was about Tonga, including the Tongan diaspora in Australia (2009). It argues that Emberson’s own journey to discover her cultural identity shaped her as a reflective journalist whose work was underpinned by a concern for social justice, marginalised communities, the impacts of colonisation and gender discrimination.
Downloads
Metrics
References
Adlide, G. (2020, June 14). Interview with co-author Vivien Altman.
Attard, M. (2020, August 6). Interview with co-author Vivien Altman.
Altman, V. (2019). Vale Jill Emberson, ABC Alumni. Retrieved October 14, 2020, from https://www.abcalumni.net/awards-and-tributes/remembering-jill
Bacon, W. (1997). Shifting notions of the public in journalism. Culture and Policy. 8(2), 65-91.
Bacon, W. (2013). Women in the media. Retrieved October 14, 2020, from http://www.wendybacon.com/investigations/women-in-the-media/
Collinge, A. (2019, September 9). The good fight. Australian Story. ABC. Retrieved September 30, 2020, from http://abc.net.au/austory/the-good-fight/11480836
Collinge, A. (2020, January 23). Speech for Jill Emberson’s public funeral.
Collinge, A. (2020, August 17). Interview with Vivien Altman.
Curthoys, A. (1995, August/September). Ivory Town as transmitter. Arena, pp. 39-41. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/25305937
Deadly Story (n.d.). The Koori Heritage Trust. Available at
https://www.deadlystory.com/page/culture/history/Commonwealth_Games_protested
Emberson, J., & Garrett, J. (1986). Paradise past, paradise present. Coming Out Show. Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
Emberson, J. (1987). Liberty, equality, sorority—Kanak women on French colonialism. Scarlet Woman. Issue 23.
Emberson, J. (1994). Bridging women across the Pacific. In M. Gallagher & L. Quindoza-Santiago (Eds.), Women and empowering communication. World Association of Christian Communication.
Emberson, J. & O’Donnell, P. (1995). Whose Feminism? Coming Out on Race and Gender… In E. Fell & C. Wenzel (Eds.), The Coming Out Show. Sydney, NSW: ABC Books.
Emberson, J., McGregor,T., & Rapley, J. (2009, May 9). The ties that bind. 360 documentaries, Retrieved September 30, 2020, from https://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/archived/360/the-ties-that-bind-stories-from-the-tongan-diaspora/3131868
Emberson, J., Millington, B., & Hill, L. (2012). Hooked on heroin, Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
Emberson, J. (2013, September 18). Interview with Judge Matthew Myers. Meet the mob. Retrieved October 14, 2020, from https://www.abc.net.au/local/audio/2013/09/16/3849444.htm?site=newcastle
Emberson, J. (2016, February 9). The making of Meet the mob. Retrieved October 14, 2020, from http://abc.net.au/local/stories/2013/06/26/3789988.htm
Emberson, J. (2018a). Still Jill [Podcast]. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved October 14, 2020, from https://www.abc.net.au/radio/programs/still-jill/
Emberson, J., & Livingstone, N. (2018b, June 20). Address to the National Press Club. Retrieved October 14, 2020, from https://www.npc.org.au/speaker/2018/466-jill-emberson-nicole-livingstone/
Emberson, M. (2020). Email communication with authors, April 18, 2020.
Fidler, R. & Kanowski, S. (2018). Jill’s big change, Conversations. Retrieved October 14, 2020, from https://www.abc.net.au/radio/programs/conversations/jill-emberson/9813708
Fraser, H. (2020, July 22). Interview with co-author Vivien Altman.
Garrett, J. (2020, August 1). Interview with co-author Vivien Altman.
Hill, L. (2020). Interview with co-author Vivien Altman.
Jameson, (2009, May 30). Take 10—Jill Emberson. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1353/abr.2009.0051
Jenke, T., & Matchett, S. (2018, April 5). Pioneering triple J program director has passed away. Brag Industry Observer. Retrieved October 14, 2020, from https://theindustryobserver.thebrag.com/stuart-matchett-program-director-passed-away/
Mason, B. ‘Listen reporting Black Lives Matters’ Journalism Education and Research Association Australia. Retrieved October 14, 2020, from jeraa.org.au/listen-reporting-black-lives-matters/
Madsen, V. (1982, September). Fuelling Emberson, Listening Post. Issue 23, p. 9.
Millington, B. (2012, May 24). Hooked on heroin: Who’s responsible? Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved September 14, 2020, from https://www.abc.net.au/local/stories/2012/05/24/3510288.htm?site=newcastle
Nash, C. (2020, September 8). Communication with co-author Wendy Bacon.
Newton-Cain, T. (2019, April 18). The ‘how and why’ of the Sean Dorney grant for Pacific journalism. DevpolicyBlog. Retrieved September 14, 2020, from http://devpolicy.org/how-and-why-sean-dorney-grant-for-pacific-journalism-20190418/
Northern Territory Government, (2007). Little children are sacred report. Retrieved October 14, 2020, from https://humanrights.gov.au/sites/default/files/57.4%20%E2%80%9CLittle%20Children%20are%20Sacred%E2%80%9D%20report.pdf
Norrie, J. (2012, April 2). Time for Australia to abandon ‘failed war on drugs. The Conversation. Retrieved October 14, from https://theonversation.com/time-for-australia-to abondon-failed-war-on-drugs-6219
Peers, M. (1982). Winning and losing, Listening Post. 38, 16-17.
Protess, D. L., Lomax, F., Doppelt, J.C., Ettema, J.S., Gordan, M.T., Donna, R.L., & Leff, P.M. (1991) Journalism of outrage: Invesigative reporting and agenda building in America. Guilford Communications Series.
Quade, V. (2016, June 28). Tribute to Kanak independence activist Susanna Ounei. Scoop. Retrieved October 31, 2020, from https://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/CU1606/S00314/tribute-to-kanak-independence-activist-susanna-ounei.htm
Rice, M. (2020) Santa stories, The late Jill Emberson. Retrieved October 14, 2020, from https://www.ssc.nsw.edu.au/2020/08/santa-stories-the-late-jill-emberson-class-of-1976/
Robie, D. (1985). Eyes of fire: The last voyage of the Rainbow Warrior. Auckland, NZ: Lindon Books.
Robie, D. (2019). Independence for Kanaky: A media and political stalemate or a ‘three strikes’ Frexit challenge? Pacific Journalism Review: Te Koakoa, 25(1&2), 81-100. https://doi.org/10.24135/pjr.v25i1.477 DOI: https://doi.org/10.24135/pjr.v25i1.477
South Pacific Commission (1995). Pacific Platform of Action: rethinking sustainable development for Pacific women towards the year 2000. South Pacific Commission, Noumea
Valencia-Forrester, F., Backhaus, B., & Stewart, H. (2020). In her own words: Melanesian women in media. Pacific Journalism Review: Te Koakoa, 26(1), 63-74. https://doi.org/10.24135/pjr.v26i1.1104 DOI: https://doi.org/10.24135/pjr.v26i1.1104
Women’s News, (1992-1995). Quarterly Newsletter Women’s Resource Bureau, Nouméa, South Pacific Commission. Vols. 6 -10.
Copyright (c) 2020 Wendy Bacon
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
