USQ academic heads National Indigenous Times

USQ academic Stephen Hagan heads National Indigenous Times

USQ academic and 2006 NAIDOC Indigenous Person of the Year Stephen Hagan has taken on another new challenge as the new head of the National Indigenous Times (NIT).

The lecturer in indigenous studies and cultural heritage will use all of his skills gained over a lifetime of varied careers in the new role.

'I was approached by the owners of the National Indigenous Times who asked me to take it over,' Mr Hagan said.

'They had been reading the fortnightly column I wrote in the rival Koori Mail, so I decided to listen to them.'

Mr Hagan said he planned on taking the paper in a new direction.

'The NIT is a fortnightly publication, with a circulation of 12,000 and until now it has been seen as a left-leaning newspaper. It has been very political and certainly very critical of government and big business.

'I will be taking it in a different direction, although government decisions affecting indigenous people will be given critical scrutiny. I am looking to make the paper more inclusive because it was my view that many indigenous organisations and prominent individuals were excluded from its coverage.

'What I envisage is a paper that caters for all views, but one that is a must-buy for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families – a paper which includes content which is of interest to children, teenagers and families.'

Mr Hagan will write a column in each edition.

'I have also introduced a Living the Dream/Daring to Dream page, which looks at achievers and role models. I’ve significantly increased the number of indigenous columnists from 2 to over 10 with the engagement of a coterie of prominent indigenous writers.

'They include lawyers, a psychotherapist, an international human rights advocate, NRL and AFL sporting icons, a male and female teenage columnist – a first for any indigenous fortnightly publication, as well as a leading Indigenous cartoonist,' he said.

Mr Hagan, a former diplomat, multi-award winning author, producer and filmmaker, has written columns in newspapers for years and gained international notoriety for his successful battle to remove the 'Nigger Brown' sign from the Toowoomba football oval.

Mr Hagan will direct his Canberra based team from Toowoomba where his wife Rhonda, also a USQ Lecturer, teaches Mass Communications in the Faculty of Arts, his son Stephen Jr is in his second semester of a USQ Arts/Law double degree and his daughter Jayde is in year 10 at a local school.

Contact Details:
Jo-Ann Sparrow, USQ Media, +61 7 3470 4119 or 0438 309 096