The Breaking Silences: Media and the Child Abuse Royal Commission project analyses the role of media, journalism and social media activism in the ground-breaking Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse (2013-17) (RCIRCSA).
Through an investigation into the impacts of a rapidly changing media environment on this national ‘listening’ exercise, this is the first major Australian research to explore the nexus between media and commissions of inquiry in the digital era.
The project, which is funded through the Australian Research Council Discovery Program and is based at the University of Canberra, provides governments, journalists, victims advocacy groups, future commissions of inquiry and researchers with knowledge and tools to understand and manage the role of a rapidly transforming media environment and the public inquiry process.
A case study approach is used to critically analyse the role of a transitioning local, national and social media in triggering, reporting on and keeping alive the findings of the royal commission, ensuring victims of institutional child sexual abuse are heard, and justice is upheld.
Project links
- Waller, Dreher, Hess, McCallum & Skogerbø (2019) Media Hierarchies of Attention: News Values and Australia’s Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, Journalism Studies (online first).
- Project website
