Kerry McCallum is Director of the News & Media Research Centre at the University of Canberra (UC) where she leads a team of researchers to advance public understanding of our changing media environment. Her research in political communication specialises in the relationships between changing media and Australian social policy, particularly in indigenous affairs.
Kerry is a lead professor on the ‘Breaking Silences: Media and the Child Abuse Royal Commission’ project which is the first Australian research document to explore the connection between media and commissions enquiries in the digital era.
Kerry is a major contributor to the field of communication and media studies in Australia and internationally, notably as former President of the Australian and New Zealand Communication Association (ANZCA). She is also a member of the Australian Institute for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies.
Kerry has implemented a complex curriculum development and change management process at faculty, university and national levels, notably as UC’s inaugural Academic Director (Dean) of Graduate Research from 2017-19. Her career has been supported and grounded by nearly a decade of professional experience working in federal parliament, political and media advisory roles.
Discussed in this episode:
- Kerry’s transition into academia
- The combat sport of politics
- Reflecting on life in parliament, with David and Kerry
- Kerry’s advice for Ministerial Advisors
- ‘Breaking Silences’– The impact of digital media on modern royal commissions
- Why the commission into child abuse was so groundbreaking from a communications perspective
- How journalism is currently evolving, and the role of the modern journalist