This podcast explores the major public health problems of ear disease and hearing impediments prevalent in Indigenous populations. The title plays on the double meaning of what it’s like living with hearing loss, and the wider issue of poor Indigenous hearing health we don’t hear enough about in mainstream media. For me, the ‘Constructive Journalism’ is in empathetically portraying the seriousness of the health issue through immersive ‘showing’ rather than ‘telling’, which the audio format allows. The piece shows that systemic and social change are needed to bring attention and justice to this major problem.

Emelie Watkins is a final year Bachelor of Arts (Media and Communications) at the University of Sydney.