Close to the Subject: Daniel Browning in Conversation with Larissa Behrendt

Is the Australian media driven by a racist metanarrative? By simply exposing horror and dysfunction, has journalism failed to represent First Nations communities, ventilating racism, moral panic and outright lies in the process?

A conversation with Bundjalung and Kullilli journalist, radio broadcaster and writer Daniel Browning, whose first book, Close to the Subject outlines a strengths-based approach that might just silence the white noise. Published by Magabala Books, Close to the Subject will be launched jointly by Professor Larissa Behrendt and Executive Director Artspace, Alexie Glass-Kantor.

Daniel Browning
Daniel Browning (he/him) is a Bundjalung and Kullilli journalist, radio broadcaster, documentary maker, sound artist and writer. Currently, he is Editor: Indigenous Radio with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) and produces and presents The Art Show for ABC RN, the ABC’s specialist arts and journalism network. He also presented Awaye! for many years, an RN staple which surveys contemporary Indigenous cultural practice across the arts spectrum.

A leading Aboriginal journalist with a long career at the ABC, Daniel Browning has been quietly achieving in the arts and media world for almost two decades. He is celebrated as a pioneer for his fiercely perceptive commentary and values-driven practice, and across the breadth of his career, has sought to elevate public commentary and criticism on Aboriginal arts and culture for the last two decades. Central to his work has been his talent as a conversationalist.

Larissa Behrendt
Eualeyai / Gamillaroi woman Larissa Behrendt is an award-winning author and filmmaker and the host of Speaking Out on ABC Radio. She is also a lawyer and an academic, Distinguished Professor and the Laureate Fellow at the Jumbunna Institute at the University of Technology Sydney.