The Informer

On this episode of The Informer we explore the themes of social media bullying further as we look at what it means as well as how it is being combated. We speak to victims, experts and activists that use the internet as a way to express and explore themes in our communities and how we can guard ourselves against that being portrayed in a negative light.

Michal Whealan, leader of the Sexually Adventurous Men project is the manager of DownandDirty.org – a website which gives men the opportunity to interact and ask the questions that they have always wanted to ask in regards to different sexual practices has to use the internet and social media to engage, so we ask him about how he manages that.

So how do you handle bullying on social media when you use it as a way to express yourself. When adult film actress August Ames was reported in LGBTIQ media in the past weeks, it was because she tweeted she did not want to have sex with someone who had shot gay porn.

After these comments she was relentlessly bullied on twitter for her views, and after someone tweeted she should commit suicide, that is what she did. Now there are more circumstances than just sending a tweet that lead to that moment, but it is an important reminder about how negatively using social media can have greater affects on everyone.

Using this as an example, The Informers Dan and Cait spoke with Andy Ruddack from the Monash University faculty of arts about how when it comes to sex and sexuality, social media can help just as much as it can hinder.

On this episode of The Informer we explore the themes of social media bullying further as we look at what it means as well as how it is being combated. We speak to victims, experts and activists that use the internet as a way to express and explore themes in our communities and how we can guard ourselves against that being portrayed in a negative light.

JOYs own Benjamin Norris, host of Word for Word knows about cyber bullying first hand after he won Big Brother back in 2012. He sat down with Dean to talk about what that was like, and how he combats that while still using social media as a platform for promotion and expression.

On this episode of The Informer we explore the themes of social media bullying further as we look at what it means as well as how it is being combated. We speak to victims, experts and activists that use the internet as a way to express and explore themes in our communities and how we can guard ourselves against that being portrayed in a negative light.

First up we speak to Lucy Thomas from the peer group Project Rockit, who, for over ten years have been empowering school students to stand up to hate instead of standing by and watching. Through the lens of cyber bullting, their workshops explore themes of diversity, belonging, respectful relationships, values and ethics while building student voices, leadership and empathy.

On this episode of The Informer we explore the themes of social media bullying further as we look at what it means as well as how it is being combated. We speak to victims, experts and activists that use the internet as a way to express and explore themes in our communities and how we can guard ourselves against that being portrayed in a negative light.

First up we speak to Lucy Thomas from the peer group Project Rockit, who, for over ten years have been empowering school students to stand up to hate instead of standing by and watching. Through the lens of cyber bullting, their workshops explore themes of diversity, belonging, respectful relationships, values and ethics while building student voices, leadership and empathy.

JOYs own Benjamin Norris, host of word for word knows about cyber bullying first hand after he won Big Brother back in 2012. He sat down with Dean to talk about what that was like, and how he combats that while still using social media as a platform for promotion and expression

So how do you handle bullying on social media when you use it as a way to express yourself. When adult film actress August Ames was reported in LGBTIQ media in the past weeks, it was because she tweeted she did not want to have sex with someone who had shot gay porn.

After these comments she was relentlessly bullied on twitter for her views, and after someone tweeted she should commit suicide, that is what she did. Now there are more circumstances than just sending a tweet that lead to that moment, but it is an important reminder about how negatively using social media can have greater affects on everyone.

Using this as an example, The Informers Dan and Cait spoke with Andy Ruddack from the Monash University faculty of arts about how when it comes to sex and sexuality, social media can help just as much as it can hinder.

Michal Whelan, leader of the Sexually Adventurous Men project is the manager of Down&Dirty.org – a website which gives men the opportunity to interact and ask the questions that thwey have always wanted to ask in regards to different sexual practices has to use the internet and social media to engage, so we ask him about how he manages that.

This episode for The Informer is hosted by Dean Arcuri on JOY 94.9.

The Australian Government along with the Australian Drug and Alcohol Federation announced today they would be allocating an extra $20,000 towards the Regional Victoria LGBTQI Drug Action Team. Darcy and Dan are joined by Harry McAnulty from Victorian AIDS Council to discuss what this funding means for regional Victorians and what services are available for improvement in the immediate future.

We hear from Artist Harry Clayton-Wright, who over the last few years has been on a path of discovery while figuring out why he was turning to drink and drugs to suppress some inner demons.

Harry joins The Informer to talk all things sobriety and also gives us an insight into how he uses social media for healing.

In an attempt to defame and draw a crowd, popular facebook blogger “Political Posting Mumma” today stole photos from personal facebook pages of staff at LGBTI Youth Charity, Minus 18. JOY’s own Delsi, host of Unicorn Youth, was the main target.

Delsi joins us first to give us their side of the story and to debunk any myths around Minus 18.

On this episode of The Informer we look at how we can lose out sometimes and win big other times on our social media platforms.

We start tonight’s episode hearing from JOY 94.9’s Mitchell Coombs about their experience with online bullying.

In an attempt to defame and draw a crowd, popular facebook blogger “Political Posting Mumma” today stole photos from personal facebook pages of staff at LGBTI Youth Charity, Minus 18. JOY’s own Delsi, host of Unicorn Youth, was the main target.

Delsi joins us to give us their side of the story and to debunk any myths around Minus 18.

Next up we hear from Artist Harry Clayton-Wright, who over the last few years has been on a path of discovery while figuring out why he was turning to drink and drugs to suppress some inner demons. Harry joins The Informer to talk all things sobriety and also gives us an insight into how he uses social media for healing.

The Australian Government along with the Australian Drug and Alcohol Federation announced today they would be allocating an extra $20,000 towards the Regional Victoria LGBTQI Drug Action Team. Darcy and Dan are joined by Harry McAnulty from Victorian AIDS Council to discuss what this funding means for regional Victorians and what services are available for improvement in the immediate future.

In case you didn’t hear, same sex couples can now legally marry in Australia, with the first same-sex couples registering their intent to marry this past weekend with same sex marriages starting from January 9th 2018.

In this episode of The Informer we find out what it was like the morning after Marriage Equal was legalised in Australia. Under the new marriage equality laws, previously gendered marriage forms have changed to be inclusive of all genders.

Since 2004 at all weddings the officiant has been legally bound to say that the wedding is a union of a man and a woman, to the exclusion of all others, but as of Saturday that has been dropped, with celebrants are now required instead to read, “Marriage, according to law in Australia, is the union of two people, to the exclusion of all others, voluntarily entered into for life.”

Dean speaks to celebrant and equal rights campaigner Jason Tuazon Mccheyne to find out what it was like to read out the new wording at a wedding he officiated on Saturday. But Saturday didn’t just mark the day that same sex couples could legally apply to marry.

At 12:01am Saturday 9th December 2017, same sex couples who had been married overseas were finally legally recognized as married under Australian law. I wondered what that felt like, exciting, confusing, bittersweet? Rachel Treverrow Dunham spoke to me eelier today about what it meant to finally wake up legally married.

The party planning has certainly begun, even here at JOY we have been getting phone calls asking for lesbian and gay DJs to play at upcoming weddings. JOYS own cub reporter from the Woods Robbie is one of those party planners. He and his husband Dave pledged vows to one another, cementing their union a few years ago, and now they get to celebrate in a different way when they legalise their union under Australian law.

This segment aired on The Informer on JOY 94.9 on 11th December 2017.