PNG’s own magazine breaks new ground

For four years, Papua New Guinean based publication Stella magazine has been challenging the status quo in media.

And this week, the magazine has burst through a paper ceiling to launch indigenous voices from the region into 400 Australian outlets nationwide.

Indigenous people everywhere are typecast and pigeonholed on a daily basis, always left holding the onus to prove oneself in mainstream society.

This week, while defending her calls to change the Australian Racial Discrimination Act, One Nation leader Pauline Hanson stated that, “There’s no definition of an Aboriginal…”, disregarding eons of Aboriginal heritage and by the same brush, eons of indigenous culture worldwide.

Stella is a quarterly lifestyle magazine that brings together indigenous voices from across the Pacific region, including Australia and New Zealand. Stella magazine publishes stories, interviews, poetry, photography, art and practical tips with an overall aim to inspire readers and create positive stereotypes.

Founder and editor, Amanda Donigi, says, “Reaching this milestone is a great reward for and testament to the collaboration and hard work that goes on behind the scenes in independent publishing.

“I’m really proud of the quality of features and columns contributed by some great talent in our region to dispel the negative myths. And I’m excited because this new distribution is just the first step of the next phase in the development of Stella and the strengthening of our indigenous voices in media.”

The seventeenth issue is currently on sale with the headline “Kick like a girl” and features the host nation at the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup currently taking place in Papua New Guinea’s capital, Port Moresby.

“Comparative to men, globally, women in sport receive far less funding and sponsor support and it’s no different in Papua New Guinea, so this is a significant tournament for our host team and all sixteen competing women’s teams,” says Donigi.

Challenging and changing indigenous stereotypes is a key ingredient in every issue of Stella, and readers will not be disappointed by the fashion and beauty on exhibit in the new issue, alongside notable high-ranking female police officers, corporate managers and partnerships to eradicate family violence.

As in each issue, the new edition also offers recipes, book reviews, health columns, poems, travel tips, art, and permission to dream big and act bigger.

With this new issue, distribution of Stella has also expanded to reach New Zealand, Fiji, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, and the United Arab Emirates.

Stockists are listed at www.stellamag.com/stockists and readers can subscribe at www.stellamag.com/subscribe

#ireadstella #indigenousvoices #defineaboriginal

(Stella's latest edition on a magazine rack)

Author: 
Gloria Bauai