Monday 6 November 2006

Story Teller Awarded As Innovator

Deborah Fleming, creator and producer of the ABC’s Australian Story, has been recognised as an innovative Queenslander.

The visionary producer of one of TV’s most acclaimed shows was awarded the 2006 Medal for Management Innovation at the Management Excellence Awards State Final.

Ms Fleming accepted the Medal on behalf of the entire Australian Story team saying, “any achievement here is a collective one.”

“It is especially gratifying to receive an acknowledgement like this from people who make a living in the cut and thrust of the commercial world,” Ms Fleming said.

Fisher and Paykel once again sponsored the Medal for Management Innovation.

“If there is one common driver shared by both Fisher & Paykel and the Australian Institute of Management, it’s our joint commitment to innovative living,” said Marion Barron, National Learning and Development Manager for Fisher & Paykel.

“We aim to innovate in all we do, from the big ideas through to the detail. And that’s the determined approach we have observed in previous medal winners.”

When asked to create a credible and worthy current affairs show more than nine years ago, Deborah turned traditional thinking on its head.

Dispensing with the reporter’s presence and voice-over, she asked her journalists to focus on the human side of events and to tell the tale purely through the voices of interviewees…the result was Australian Story, an innovation in Australian television and a new journalistic genre.

Deborah nurtured her team to bring the subject close to the audience, using their own words and telling their own story. It was a new idea, a bold move, a risk, an outstanding success…a quiet moment of innovation.

Australian Story has established a reputation for integrity and evenhandedness. The trust that is inspired has seen subjects, who are often unwilling to speak to other media, divulge their most sensitive and personal stories. The program regularly makes news by breaking stories and contributes to public debate in Australia.

The creation and success of Australian Story has enabled the ABC to outwork its charter of providing leading edge, relevant and uniquely Australian current affairs. The team work and journalistic balance demanded in this form of story telling has required the highest editorial standards and provides a model of ethical television social commentary, both nationally and internationally.

Deborah’s work is an outstanding example of management innovation. All managers can learn from the manner in which she has taken a different perspective. She has led a team wisely and creatively and she has taken appropriate risk to create a change that adds value.