* Photo of Paulette courtesy of Dixie Skuthorpe
PAULETTE WHITTON - HOST OF BLACKCHAT PROGRAM
Weekday's 9 - 12noon
Paulette hosts Koori Radio's flagship program, Blackchat, airing weekdays from 9am to 12pm. Previously she has worked for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) as a Researcher on the TV program Message Stick and radio producer on AWAYE! and local radio in Victoria. Beginning her broadcast career at Radio Redfern in 1987, Paulette later went on to complete a BA Communications (Journalism) degree at Charles Sturt University-Mitchell in Bathurst.
Paulette lives and grew up in Darug country, but her mob come from Goodooga and the Gamilaroi nation of northwest NSW. Her father grew up in the notorious Kinchela Boys Home in Kempsey making Paulette a self-confessed ‘Kinchela kid’. When she's not presenting Blackchat, Paulette sits on her local council's Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Advisory Committee.
BLACKCHAT
The Blackchat Program airs 9am – 12noon weekdays on Koori Radio and covers Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander News and Current affairs across Australia.
Each day the Blackchat program has a theme. They include Employment and Education, Health and Lifestyle, Politics and History, Law, Arts and Culture. We also have a team of monthly and fortnightly regular guests who contribute to the show.
One person who appears on the show is Political commentator, Professor Larissa Behrendt. Professor Larissa Behrendt is a Gamilaroi/ Yuwaalaraay woman and is the Director of Research at the Jumbunna Indigenous House of Learning at the University of Technology, Sydney. On Blackchat Larissa provides her opinion on Political matters relating to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander issues Now if you’ve heard her speak on the show then you will know she’s a pretty straight talker! Among others, Larissa has provided insight into Government policy surrounding the Northern Territory Intervention, The National Apology to the Stolen Generation and critiqued some of the candidate’s policies for past state and federal elections our listeners to choose their political representatives.
Some of our other regular guests include the NSW Aboriginal Education Consultative Group, a team of doctors from the Australian Indigenous Doctors Association, Gamilaroi man Ronald Briggs with tracing family history and Vicki Grieves with the 'All My Relos' Family history segment.
The Blackchat program is brought to the airwaves of Koori Radio by the Presenter/Producer, Paulette Whitton, with some support from UTS student volunteer, Jessica Tapp.
The Blackchat team is committed to entertaining listeners and staying connected to the community by covering community events and promoting them among the listening audience.