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After gaining a Bachelor of Science (BSc) from the University of Sydney, Kate began working as a broadcaster at the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), where she produced radio, television and online content.

During her time in this role, she began her second degree, a Bachelor of Arts (BA) in Philosophy at the University of New England.

“After leaving the ABC and achieving honours, I went on to complete a PhD in Communication and Media Studies, starting a position as a lecturer in Media and Journalism at the University of Tasmania during my last two years of part-time study,” Kate shares.

“While in Tasmania, I was also a board member at Wide Angle, an independent, for-purpose, not-for-profit organisation that has encouraged, developed and supported the Tasmanian screen sector.”

Kate then moved to the UK, spending nine years in various roles at the University of Leeds, becoming Professor of Media and Communication.

She’s now back in Australia and has been the Dean and Head of the School of Humanities, Creative Industries and Social Sciences at the University of Newcastle since May 2023.

A school focused on humanity

The School of Humanities, Creative Industries and Social Sciences is incredibly diverse, says Kate, with students studying everything from filmmaking and creative writing to history, languages, social work, and social sciences.

“We answer fundamental questions about being human, such as how do we make meaning in the world? How have we and how do we relate to each other? And how can we take care of each other?”

“Researchers in the school are tackling critical challenges, including understanding how we can better support young people who use violence, understanding how the arts might help us as we age, or young people experience debt.”

“They’re also helping us to understand who we are by exploring Indigenous histories and their ongoing impacts, our experiences of health and illness and how we communicate.

Kate herself is very active in connecting with organisations, schools, and individuals working in Newcastle's creative sector.

Delving into documentaries

While the areas of research in her faculty are broad, Kate’s personal research is more narrowly focused on factual media—media that documents actual events and people, in particular, documentaries.

It has two dimensions. Firstly, she’s interested in how stories about the world help us to think and talk about complex issues and shape our responses to contemporary challenges.

“I’ve spent several years researching the relationship between documentary media and digital technologies and how this might change our relationship to social issues,” she shares.

“I’m also very interested in documentary audiences and what they make of documentaries both individually and collectively.”

Secondly, she’s interested in the documentary industry. Who gets to tell stories, and what kind of stories do they get to tell?

Complex ethical questions

Kate’s interest in documentaries began during her time working at the ABC.

Her PhD project grew from her reflection on her own work and the complex ethical questions often thrown up when filming with people over an extended period.

“What I was really struck by in this project was how important it is to think about the media in terms of both how it is made (the industry and the processes that shape stories) and the stories themselves (how they are taken up and come to resonate for different audiences).”

How factual films affect us

Kate’s goal is to help us understand the impacts that documentary media can have. She shares that this has become increasingly important as we face complex social challenges like climate change.

“Documentaries can be an important way for us to think about these challenges, and they can help to motivate us to respond.”

At the same time, documentaries can shape our views and motivate us in less positive ways. She gives the example of how, during COVID-19, many documentaries promoted conspiracy thinking.

Supporting the film industry

She’s also very keen to support documentary makers and the broader industry to understand how they are responding to different challenges and opportunities— from the rise of streaming platforms to the impacts of AI—so that they can continue to have a vibrant documentary culture.

“One of the big challenges is ensuring that people from a range of backgrounds are able to make and show documentaries,” says Kate.

“Like many who work in the media industries, documentary makers tend to be male, white and middle class. That’s changing, but understanding the barriers to people getting into documentary making and staying in the industry is vitally important.”

Turning research into impacts

One of the projects Kate is currently working on looks at a training scheme run by a prominent UK broadcaster. The scheme aims to provide a way into the television industry for people who are currently under-represented.

Alongside a team of UK academics, she’s been working with the trainees to understand their experience of the traineeship. While it’s a single scheme, trainees’ experiences can vary greatly depending on their cultural background, dis/ability, resources, gender, sexuality and/or health.

“At the moment, very little is known about the intersections of these different factors and how they might shape opportunities for on-the-job learning and for progression in television,” says Kate.

“Our recommendations will provide an evidence base for improving the various schemes running in the UK to support diversity in the industry.”

She’s confident it will improve the experiences of trainees and may also have future impacts in Australia.