National Indigenous Times

The National Indigenous Times (NIT) is an Indigenous Australian affairs newspaper first published on 27 February 2002. It was set up by Owen Carriage, the founder of the Koori Mail, and a group of other Australians, both Indigenous and non-Indigenous. The paper seeks to:

• build a bridge between black and white Australia
• reporting the tough issues giving a "warts-and-all" look at Indigenous affairs and mainstream Australia
• work towards Indigenous Australians' better access to education and access by non-Indigenous Australians information on Indigenous issues

There is a belief that Indigenous media tends to "go soft" on Indigenous people or organisations in response to the history of discrimination as a protective response^{[citation needed]}. There is also the perception that the mainstream Australian media tends to misreport indigenous affairs, whether through intent or ignorance, and regularly sensationalises Indigenous issues^{[citation needed]}.

In NIT's first two years, the vast majority of stories have reflected positively on Indigenous people and organisations. But NIT has also broken major news stories on the corruption, bullying and fraud within Aboriginal organisations.

Major news stories broken by the NIT include:

• stolen wages (For which a Walkley Award was won)^[1]
• government staff anonymously representing themselves as independent witnesses^[2] in the Lateline report on child abuse in remote communities, with particular reference to Mutitjulu, Northern Territory.

References

1. ^ FINALISTS AND JUDGES 2004 Walkley Awards for "Stolen Wages Payback Shame"
2. ^ OIPC's 'Baby-faced Assassin': Senior public servant adopts bogus identity; backs minister's claims, NIT Issue 109 - 13 Jul 2006 Accessed 22 October 2006

External links

• Official National Indigenous Times website