ISSN: 1329-878X

MIA Donation Program

MIA is now offering universities, schools and interested organisations the opportunity to apply for a donation of MIA back issues. MIA also welcomes an exchange of publications with cognate research centres and journals internationally.

MIA’s donation program has been running for a number of years with a history of solid success. The program was first launched when MIA (then based at Griffith University and published by the Australian Key Centre for Cultural and Media Policy [CMP]) was approached to donate journals and other Key Centre issues to the war-ravaged University of Kabul in Afghanistan. MIA publisher Professor Tom O’Regan and Dr Kitty van Vuuren joined forces to raise money and send the publications to Afghanistan. From here MIA developed a multifaceted donation program, conducted intensively throughout 2003.

The program evolved over several phases, the first involving the UNESCO-Orbicom network of Professors of Communication. MIA donations were made through this network to several recommended Pacific universities including the University of the South Pacific in Fiji, and Papua New Guinean universities. MIA also targeted African organisations, asking the South African Communication Association President, Keyan Tomaselli to distribute journals to several African universities, libraries and media foundations. UNESCO-Orbicom also donated journals to its own members in North America, Latin America and Europe. As well, the journals donated books to cognate research centres and institutes which shared a close relationship with MIA and the Key Centre.

Prof O’Regan states, the Australian and New Zealand scholars donation program was especially important as the CMP was in ‘wind-down mode’. “We thought it appropriate that the journal and the CMP give something back to the universities which supported it so strongly,” Prof O’Regan said. “This resulted in a donation program firstly to [Australasian] research centres and schools with communication and cultural studies briefs, and secondly to cognate research centres and institutes internationally.”

The program has also worked in MIA’s favour - MIA encouraged recipients to locate their donations in a reasonably public space, thus creating a greater awareness of the journal among academics and research students in screen, media studies and journalism. Recipients have been glad to accommodate MIA thus far.

The final phase of the program involved donations to Queensland secondary schools. MIA identified teachers closely involved in Film and Television in the state and drew up a list of schools, donating journals in recognition of their support for Film and Television teaching at secondary level. “We were hoping the MIA issues would assist informed commentary, debate and understanding of the diverse role of our media in social, cultural and political life,” Prof O’Regan said.

MIA’s generosity paid off with high schools communicating their excitement and appreciation and universities proudly displaying their new journals in postgraduate research rooms.

With still more books to spare, MIA is now inviting interested organisations to apply for a donatory box of books. As the journal’s publisher and editorial board member, Professor Tom O’Regan put it, “We’d rather have them find a useful home than sit around and get dusty. Depending on what’s available we can usually provide issues back five to seven years. We just want to get them out there and be used.”

To make an application, organisations need to email miacp@uq.edu.au outlining a case for donation. This should include an explanation of who they are, why they would like a donation and what they would use it for.