From the moment I walked into my first newsroom, I understood the absolute power of story.
Hearing from people at their most vulnerable moments and sharing their story to help create momentum for change was a life changing experience for me.
As the ink hit the paper (no digital media then) I saw first-hand how one voice could have great influence.
How one voice could influence people in power.
How one voice could start a groundswell for positive societal change.
And when there was a collective voice with influence, what that meant for individuals, organisations and communities.
Understanding the strength of story has been the driving force throughout my journalism and communication career.
I have used it to help drive major social change.
People connect with the emotion of stories
It was a 45-degree day and I was standing in the Dondale Detention Centre in Darwin, where mostly Indigenous children, some as young as seven were detained.
They had been locked in their cells overnight for up to 15 hours.
It was one teenager’s story – Dylan Voller – who had been masked with a spit-hood and chained to a restraint chair while in detention – that sparked outrage and led the then Prime Minister to call a Royal Commission into the treatment of children in detention in the Northern Territory.
I knew if we didn’t find a way to give the other children in detention a voice, the Royal Commission had little chance of achieving lasting change.
People connect to the story of a child. Moved by that story, they can take the next step to think, what if this was my child, my grandchild, my niece or nephew, my friend’s child? From there, it is a small step to understand that it is unacceptable that this is happening and that something must be done.
The children’s stories – children who shared their experiences of detention – were a powerful force for change.
