Matthew Ricketson
Matthew Ricketson is an academic and journalist. He is head of the Communication group at Deakin University. Before that, he was inaugural professor of journalism at the University of Canberra between 2009 and 2017. For three years before that he was Media and Communications Editor for The Age. He ran the Journalism program at RMIT for 11 years and has worked on staff at The Australian and Time Australia, among other publications. He is the author of a biography of Australian author, Paul Jennings, a textbook about feature writing (updated with a co-author for a second edition in 2017) and a monograph, Telling True Stories: Navigating the challenges of writing narrative non-fiction. He co-edited Upheaval: Disrupted lives in journalism, and, in 2022, co-authored Who Needs the ABC? Why taking it for granted is no longer an option. He has edited a collection of profile articles and, in 2012, Australian Journalism Today. In 2011 he was appointed to assist former Federal Court judge, Ray Finkelstein QC, in the Independent Media Inquiry which reported to the federal government in 2012. He has been a chief investigator on four Australian Research Council grants which are examining the impact of largescale newsroom redundancies on journalists, business models for local and rural media, and, more broadly, on the future of journalism. He was president of the Journalism Education and Research Association of Australia for six years and chair of the board of directors for the Dart Centre Asia-Pacific for seven years. He has been the Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance’s representative on the Australian Press Council since 2016.
Recent Posts by Matthew Ricketson
Journalists covering the Türkiye-Syria earthquake may face moral injury
When journalists capture images and share the stories of traumatised survivors of the Türkiye-Syria earthquake they face a moral dilemma: Should they put down their notebook or camera and offer to help? It seems like an obvious choice; what kind of person doesn’t want to help someone who is suffering? But journalists have a job to do, and it’s a different job to doctors and rescue workers.
Why do Institutions Fail to Protect Children?
December 18, 2017 by Matthew Ricketson, Jennifer MartinAs Australia's Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to child sexual abuse hands down its final report, what have we learned so far about the dynamics of abusive institutions?
Pulitzer Prize Centennial Examines Impact of Trauma Coverage
October 21, 2016 by Matthew RicketsonThe Dart Center teamed with three Oklahoma universities and the Oklahoma City National Memorial to put on a two-day trauma and journalism conference, commemorating the centennial of the Pulitzer Prize. Dart Asia Pacific Board Member Matthew Ricketson reports from Tulsa.
The Art of Trauma Reporting: Pulitzer Prize Winners Reflect
In the summer of 2016, in advance of a two-day conference commemorating the centennial of the Pulitzer Prize, Dart Center researchers interviewed 10 Pulitzer Prize winners from the past 20 years who were honored for their coverage of traumatic events or investigative reporting on trauma-related issues. Navigate through sections of this article to find pieces by: Alex Hannaford, who wrote on the relationship between Pulitzer winners and their sources, and on the impact of Charles Porter's 1996 Prize-winning photo; Elana Newman, who gathered advice from honorees on best practices in trauma reporting, and created teaching notes for the classroom with Matthew Ricketson and Autumn Slaughter; Matthew Ricketson, who also wrote a conference recap for those who could not be in attendance.
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