Presentation to the Unitec Institute of Technology annual Research Symposium, 2 October 2014, relating the scale and scope of a community media project in Auckland, New Zealand. The project is comprised of layers: the creation of documentaries for broadcast, with student involvement and community stakeholder engagement, as well as a research component As the work is in progress, this presentation gave the opportunity to review and reflect on the multiple challenges and opportunities inherent in this collaborative work.

1. THE SPACES BETWEEN
CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES IN INTER-DISCIPLINARY,
MULTI-STAKEHOLDER COMMUNITY MEDIA RESEARCH
JOCELYN WILLIAMS
COMMUNICATION STUDIES

2. WHAT SPACES?
• Interest in urban community – what builds it, what erodes it
• PhD research…media connecting or alienating people?
Undermining or building new forms of family &
neighbourhood? Plus, issues of access to media, and
inequality of digital opportunity…
• Unitec’s commitment to the needs of the community
• Multiple existing research projects with community resilience
in common

3. WHAT SPACES?
• 2013 Unitec Professorial Forum on social housing - “the
healthy apparatus of communities” and “what are the bits in
between… the increased numbers of houses – the social
cohesion, the public good?” (Hamish Keith)
• What kind of community spaces facilitate social goals?
Relational and communicative spaces as well as physical ones

4. GOAL
Community empowerment through engaging residents, local
businesses and community organisations in dynamic
storytelling networks to mobilise the communication
environment to better serve community needs.
OBJECTIVES
To produce media content around existing community development
projects lead by Unitec staff for the purpose of broadcasting their stories
in a public service community oriented TV channel context
- To produce media content which can be broadcast, but which can also
be used in multiple other ways
- To explore the capacity for such a project to facilitate collaboration
between visual arts, business and media / communication sectors that
develops a methodology for community engagement
- To identify how digital narratives can be used to engage and empower
communities in the Unitec catchment area
- To explore the potential for Unitec to develop partnership opportunities
through an expanded multidisciplinary methodology, and through
strengthened
relationships with community organisations.

5. Collaborating with:
• Paul Woodruffe (DCA)
• Ravi Bhat (DOMM)
• Sara Donaghey
(Communication)
• Geoff Bridgman (Social
Practice), with
Jonathan Hickman
• Marcus Williams

6. SCREEN / PRODUCTION EXPERTISE
• Alexander Lee, Executive Producer for the series
• Mark Ingram, Production Manager
• Selected students – researching stories, filming,
editing
• Eight students from Comm and PaSA now being
trained as teams of presenters for the shows.

7. What we’re doing
• We’re filming stories associated with the work of six Unitec
researchers from Social Practice, Design, and Communication
• These will become a series of short documentary-style TV
programmes to be broadcast before the end of 2014 on Sky
channel 83
• Each half-hour programme reflects on an aspect of existing
Unitec research projects that can be loosely characterised as
having community-building or community engagement aims:
• Avondale Community Action
• Banishing Bullying – Henderson South
• CUE Haven
• Rosebank Artwalk
• “Studio MPHS” – a High Tech Youth Studio in Henderson
• Digital storytelling for public engagement – Auckland Libraries

8. It’s also multi-layered
• Each programme is being
created with the
involvement of staff and
students in
Communication and
Performing/Screen Arts
programmes
• In this way, learning /
teaching and curriculum
goals are embedded in
the larger project
• At a macro level, I’m
researching the value of a
partnership approach to
digital content creation
for community
communication goals.

9. … and there are
multiple
stakeholders:
• Six communities, each the subject
of a programme for broadcast
• Each with their own series of
members, networks, priorities,
strategies and values
• Unitec staff responsible for
content production, with students,
who want to learn by engaging in
real-world production-related
activities
• Unitec researchers at each site
• Unitec as a strategic entity
• Face TV, a niche community-oriented
station contracted to Sky.
All of their interests need to be held
in balance in order to achieve the
complex set of outcomes committed
to in this research piece.

11. INTENDED OUTCOMES / OUTPUTS
• TV series for broadcast (November)
• Website
• Shareable content
• Launch events
• Journal articles, Unitec ePress, conference
presentations
• Community-Unitec relationships
• Student learning & experience
• Review of process for next time
• New strategies for Unitec media…

12. Challenges / opportunities
• Colliding paradigms of
participation, ownership, co-creation…
• Opportunity however to evolve
new practices in collaborative
research and media production,
learning also from global best
practice in digital storytelling
• Aligning with, or operating in spite
of, constraints
• Undoubtedly the effort to do the
above is leading to further
opportunity and innovation

15. MULTIPLE LAYERS /
INTERPLAY BETWEEN
OBJECTIVES
Whole exercise aims to support / complement
Unitec focus on live projects, real hands-on
experience, developing curriculum
opportunities for students to create real
world impact. Thus, many layers:
- Student learning
- Staff research
- Curriculum connection
- Storytelling across a broad canvas: broadcast, social media, website,
Unitec internal and external comms (supporting corporate identity/
organisational story), student portfolios
- Connection with organisations e.g. local boards, Council agencies