Tiga Bayles
Around 90% of Triple A listeners are from the wider community. Queensland has a huge following of country music. Murri music is entered into their homes and cars, riding on the back of country music exclusively.
NIRS (National Indigenous Radio Service) has a network of some 120 Indigenous communities. The Torres Strait Island, the Gulf Country, the Kimberley’s, central Desert, Alic…e Springs, Port Augusta and all the way up the east coast are some of the regions in which NIRS covers via our own satellite. Yes ! Murries in space!
Triple A’s main charter is to create a platform to promote Indigenous music, singers as well as story tellers. It also allows our politicians to be heard every hour. It highlights issues and events locally, regionally and nationally, all from a Murri prospective, which is the key ingredient. Most of the announcers are Murri, with the occasional non-Indigenous person replacing vacancies due to holiday’s and sick days.
Triple A 98.9 FM Murri Country has the biggest audience of around one and a half to two million listeners tune into triple A every week. (Note that this story was published in the year 2000 so I am sure these numbers have doubled probably tripled since).
In the early 80’s Murries were accessing their local community radio stations for air time. Ross Watson and a group of others were not content to have just an hour, “Murri Hour” on 4ZZZ. He then approached ATSIC, and on 6th April 1993, 4 Triple A 98.9 FM Murri Country went to air. smile emoticon
The Talks and Documentary Department set up talks between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people. These discussions are cut onto CD’s and are available to the public as well as used in schools and universities. There is also a Production Department, Library, Announcers and Programming Department.
Triple A also has an outside broadcasting van, a mobile unit, which broadcasts from such places as the Gympie Muster in August, Woodford Festival in December and Tamworth Country festival in January. Triple A has also been contracted to a National broadcast for the Corroboree 2000, a federal government and Indigenous Reconciliation plan.
Upon talking with the Manager for the Brisbane Indigenous Media Association INC, Tiga Bayles, it is plain to see that Triple A is playing a most important role in building bridges between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people of Australia. Finally, someone is actually asking our mob what needs to be heard.
Story by Leeann Hogarth Journalist “Our Dream Time” Magazines. Published in Edition 5 May 2000.
Photography, Tania Hopkins.
“Our Dream Time” will have an updated story on Triple A 98.9 FM in their next edition out December 2015
Our Dreamtime 