Swinburne University associate professor Ellie Rennie said that eight out of 10 Indigenous Australians used Facebook, compared to six out of 10 people nationwide, and this fast uptake of social media presented opportunities to engage Indigenous communities. 

But while the Victorian editor of the The Australian, Patricia Karvelas, agreed, she doubted the extent to which people living in remote communities had access to the necessary technology.

“I don’t think there would be too many people in those isolated communites with smart phones,” she said.

Ms Karvelas also said that even though she found Twitter useful for making connections with members of different Indigenous communities, it could also be a “nasty space”.

“I’ve been deeply shocked by some of the racist comments I’ve read on Twitter,” she said.

But Kelly Briggs, who writes the blog The Koori Woman and was a guest columnist for Croakey, Crikey’s health blog on Aboriginal issues, encouraged those who had the technology to take advantage of it.

“I say if you’re black and have an internet connection, get a blog, start talking and people talk back.”  — blogger Kelly Briggs

“I started blogging because I wanted to express myself. I say if you’re black and have an Internet connection, get a blog, start talking and people talk back,” she added.

Ms Briggs said social media offered a way for many different views from many different communities to be heard.

“We are not all just one big homogenous group.”

The station manager of  Melbourne’s first Indigenous-owned and managed radio station, Jim Remedio, said the spoken word was a vital way of bringing the many voices of a community together.

But Mr Remedio said the reality was a constant battle for funds necessary to keep the station running and to find staff.

“Our voices, deadly voices, cool and deadly . . . anyone who works in Indigenous media, knows this language. It’s talking to our mob,”  he said.

He said that the radio station would invest years in training a young journalist only to have them poached by the ABC or SBS with a starting salary of $80,000.

“There’s no conversation with the organisation that trained them for four years and this happens all the time,” he said. “What we need is properly resourced, independently-funded investigative journalism on Aboriginal issues.”

Amy McQuire, the former editor of the defunct “TRACKER”, which was Australia’s first contemporary Aboriginal rights-based magazine, said Indigenous media should be an advocate for Aboriginal rights and should not try to be objective.

“Any reporter that ignores social media would not be doing their job.” — Patricia Karvelas,The Australian

She said mainstream reporting of Indigenous issues often gave the impression that one or two people spoke on behalf of the entire Aboriginal community. 

“This can lead to a skewed perception of the reality of many Indigenous people’s lives. Some views are seen as radical, when in reality they are quite prevalent in the Aboriginal community.” 

Ms Karvelas said she was acutely aware of the sensitivities surrounding her position as a white woman reporting on Indigenous affairs, likening it to a man writing about feminism. It was important that the mainstream media covered Indigenous issues but that the rise of social media provided another forum for views to be heard.

“Social media gives voice without the filters that the traditional media applies,” Ms Karvelas added. “Those filters are a legitimate part of the journalism process. That is just the way that it is.”

She said social media also gave journalists greater access to more people in the Indigenous community.

“I find it frustrating that Indigenous issues are covered in a cycle of crisis,” she said. “Twitter has given people opportunities to give their opinions without being censored.

“Now, I can go through a media spokesperson or I can speak to the person on Twitter. Any reporter that ignores social media would not be doing their job – both elements are crucial parts of the pie.”

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