Telling desert stories right way: Arabana Rangers media training

Putting the desert on the map and yarning up about looking after Country is an important part of being a ranger, and doing this is much easier when you have the skills and equipment to tell good stories. With lots of story ideas about Country and Culture up their sleeves, Arabana Rangers did some media training last month, so they can tell their own desert stories right way.

The training covered technical skills like using a camera to take videos and photos, and using a mic to get clean audio when filming. However, good storytelling goes beyond the technical stuff. The rangers also learnt how to interview people well, and develop messaging for their stories from start to finish.

With these skills, the rangers can select and develop their own stories to tell. Having this agency gives rangers freedom to decide what stories are important to them, moving away from relying on mainstream media to tell stories right way. The team have already identified several stories they'd like to tell about upcoming trips: Arabana Camp, Language Camp and a Back to Country trip they're running with Elders. They also think they could use their media skills as a way to advocate for funding of certain projects on Country.

With their new skills, the rangers want to tell stories about their conservation work as rangers, and stories of the Arabana community too. By telling these stories and sharing them on social media, their own website, and within their community, the rangers are showing people the importance of looking after Country and Culture, and creating something tangible that can support knowledge transfer through the generations.