SBS and Broadcast Australia join forces to support Indigenous Cadet

SBS and its transmission partner Broadcast Australia have teamed up to support a young Indigenous news and current affairs cadet for 2011.

Larteasha Smith, 22, started her year-long cadetship with SBS news and current affairs last month. She will spend the year working across different teams at SBS, including a stint with Broadcast Australia, gaining the knowledge she needs to chart a successful career as a broadcast journalist.

Only a few weeks into her cadetship and Larteasha, a Dunghatti woman hailing from Kempsey, is relishing the opportunity.

“I’m most looking forward to doing the rounds in the newsroom and Insight because I haven’t had a chance to see how they put their shows together and it will be a great experience to see how much work they put into it,” Larteasha said.

At such a young age, Larteasha already has some impressive credits to her name having worked on SBS radio’s Aboriginal and Alchemy programs as well as a stint as production coordinator at SBS’s Living Black current affairs program.

“Ultimately I would love to be a video journalist for Living Black at SBS. That has been a goal for me since high school, and one of the main reasons I wanted a career in journalism.”
 
The Indigenous cadetship forms part of a joint commitment from the two organisations to The Year of Giving Back where representatives from SBS and Broadcast Australia will help the community while building a stronger more collaborative partnership between the two organisations.

Broadcast Australia Group CEO Graeme Barclay said, “We are delighted to be supporting Larteasha through the Indigenous cadetship.  Growing up and coming talent in the local broadcast industry is essential for its long-term growth.  We commend SBS on this initiative.”