Dr. Sharon Smith
Details
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Department: School - Media & Communication
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Campus: City Campus Australia
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sharon.smith@rmit.edu.au
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ORCID:
0000-0002-4101-4287
Open to
- Collaborative projects
- Industry Projects
- Join a web conference as a panellist or speaker
- Masters Research or PhD student supervision
- Mentoring (long-term)
- Mentoring (short-term)
- Media enquiries
About
Dr Sharon Smith is an early career researcher in the School of Media and Communication at RMIT University.
She has come to the academy after a long career as a multi award-winning commercial television news journalist.
Her PhD, entitled ‘Churn and burn’: A Snapshot of the Risk and Impact of Traumatic Assignments on Journalists in Australia from the University of South Australia is focussed on journalism and trauma, and is built upon her own experiences in newsrooms.
She is currently writing a book on journalism trauma which considers the phenomena of journalists being simultaneously news bearers and victim survivors of the same events, the intersections of trauma, burnout and stress and the practice of emotional labour in journalism. The use of news values in these areas is also of interest.
She is a member of the Journalism Education & Research Association of Australia, Media Entertainment & Arts Alliance and Melbourne Press Club.
Research fields
- 470105 Journalism studies
- 360203 Professional writing and journalism practice
Academic positions
- Associate Lecturer
- University of Sydney
- Media & Communciations
- Sydney, Australia
- 14 Jan 2020 – 20 Dec 2021
Non-academic positions
- Reporter
- Today Tonight
- Australia
- 2008 – 2009
- Reporter
- Seven News Adelaide
- Australia
- 2004 – 2013
- Reporter/Presenter
- ABC News & Current Affairs
- Australia
- 2002 – 2004
Teaching interests
Sharon has taught all aspects of journalism theory and practice, including radio, television and multimedia newsgathering. In recent years she has focussed on teaching journalism theory in newswriting in particular.
Research interests
Sharon's research interests centre on journalism trauma, with a particular focus on emotional labour and the intersection of other factors such as journalists' being simultaneous newsbearers and victims of the same events, burnout and occupational stressors. The application of news values as a means to evaluate potential trauma risk is also of interest.
