Postgraduate, Journalism, Media and Communications
| Contact Campus | Sandy Bay Campus |
| Building | Humanities Building |
| Room Reference | c/- 557 |
| Telephone | +61 3 6226 2255 |
| Claire.Konkes@utas.edu.au |
In 2009 a 12-year-old child and ward of the state was sold for sex in Hobart. The case became a political scandal that tested democratic institutions across Tasmania, including the news media organisations that reported on them. While some of Tasmania’s institutions responded to the public outcry and attempted to address the systemic failures that led to the abuse, other institutions escaped media scrutiny and the challenge of responding to public criticism. Unveiling the official and unofficial factors that influenced the news media coverage of the case lies at the heart of my investigation, which ultimately seeks to investigate how news media can provide the ‘socially useful coverage of a problematic reality’ (McNair 2006).
Claire Konkes has worked with The Australian, Daily Telegraph, Mercury and Tasmanian Country reporting general news, business and as a columnist and feature writer.