My digital career: Rae Johnston

[Image appears of a split circle and photographs of various CSIRO activities are shown in either side, and then the circle morphs into the CSIRO logo]

[Image changes to show Rae Johnston talking to the camera]

Rae Johnston: My name is Rae Johnston and I am a STEM journalist and broadcaster. That’s the short version.

[Laughter can be heard and the image changes to show Rae smiling, and text appears: My Digital Career, Rae Johnston]

[Images flash through of Rae working in various roles in news, radio, a website, a newssheet being printed, Rae hosting a show, Rae giving a talk, and Rae interviewing a male]

So, I work in television, radio, I make podcasts, I write for online and print, and I also give live talks and host panels.

[Image changes to show Rae talking to the camera]

So, absolutely my career is a digital career.

[Images move through of the NITV news desk, Rae having hair and makeup done, Rae talking at the SBS World News desk, Rae working on a computer, a busy highway, and a stream running over rocks]

And then moving over to NITV, and SBS I was really able to focus on Indigenous Science, and the integration of Indigenous traditional knowledge into modern science,

[Camera pans over the ferns along the stream, and then the image changes to show a small caterpillar on a tree stump]

and point out how the two belong together.

[Images move through of a view looking down on waves breaking on a rocky reef, and then Rae talking to the camera]

To be able to see yourself and your ways of learning represented in media is a luxury that we haven’t really been afforded. It means a lot.

[Images move through of Rae taking notes and working at a laptop, a close view of preserved insects, Rae working on a laptop, a close view of a microphone, and a cat resting and looking at the camera]

I was always a bit of a nerd growing up. I was never the one that was good at sport.

[Image changes to show Rae talking to the camera]

I was the one reading encyclopaedias for fun.

[Images move through of Rae on a Smartphone screen talking, Rae in the background while different nature items pop up in the foreground on Smartphone screens, and a close profile view of Rae]

So, now I’m in a position where I get to talk about all that fun, cool, nerdy stuff I was reading about all those years ago, and it’s my job somehow.

[Images move through of different social media screens popping up showing Rae, Rae talking to the camera, and then Rae walking along a footpath towards the camera]

I’d say the problem that I’m trying to solve in the world is battling that misconception that science and technology is just for super geeky, nerdy people that are incredibly smart and already understand it all.

[Images move through of a close view and then side view of Rae walking along the footpath, and then Rae talking while holding up a Smartphone to record herself]

And it’s important that we be aware of advances that are happening in these areas and that we are able to understand them.

[Images move through of a satellite orbiting the Earth, a close view of a pelican, and camels resting on a clifftop]

They’re not boring topics, they’re exciting topics.

[Images move through of different views of Rae recording herself on a Smartphone, a facing view of Rae talking to the camera, and then a rear view of Rae recording herself, and Rae looking up]

And I may be a little bit biased but, you know, STEM communication is always an option as well to be able to communicate to the world the cool things that are happening in science. That’s always available to you as well.

[Images move through of Rae recording herself and then smiling at the camera]

I think that the limit is only where your imagination is. And I don’t think we’re confined to those traditional media outlets anymore.

[Image changes to show Rae wearing a headset and talking into a microphone, and then the image changes to show Rae sitting at the desk]

I think podcasting allows you to tell stories in a completely different way.

[Images move through of Rae talking to the camera, a close view of text on a laptop screen, and then different views of Rae talking into a microphone and recording]

I know I have listeners that will listen to me while they’re going on a run or while they’re driving to work, and just knowing in the back of mind that I’m part of their daily routine is, is really lovely.

[Image changes to show Rae talking to the camera]

So, now I make as many podcasts as humanly possible.

[Image changes to show webpages flicking through of different podcasts, and text headings appear on the pages: Fierce Girls, Hear+Beyond, Look at Me, Queens of the Drone Age]

I think I’ve got four out at once right now.

[Image shows the Queens of the Drone Age webpage flicking through]

Queens of the Drone Age is an absolute passion project.

[Images move through to show Rae and other tech journalists posing for various photos]

I make it with three other female tech journalists.

[Image shows the group posing for a photo with a dog in the front, and then images move through of Rae talking to the camera, and then various tech journalists at work recording]

I think means we’re like a quarter of all the female tech journalists in the country because we are so underrepresented.

[Image changes to show Rae talking to the camera]

The representation of women in tech journalism in particular has improved dramatically over the last ten years.

[Image changes to show a view through lush bushland, and then the image changes to show a hand pulling a frond from a fern]

When I started I could count us all on one hand basically.

[Images move through of Rae and her colleagues walking through the bushland, their legs walking along a path, Rae talking to the camera, and Rae and her colleagues having a coffee in the bush]

And I think it’s incredibly important to address this because the more diverse your teams are, the better the end product is going to be, not just through university learning,

[Image changes to show Rae talking to the camera]

but also traditional Indigenous knowledge as well.

[Camera zooms in on Rae talking to the camera, and then the camera zooms out slightly as Rae talks, and then images flash through of different people at work in different environments]

So, we really need to see workplaces ensuring that they provide safe, and supportive environments, and that they appoint those underrepresented people in power positions, decision making decisions, not just at the bottom rungs.

[Image changes to show the CSIRO logo on a white screen, and text appears: Digital Careers, digitalcareers.csiro.au]