Social cohesion is spiralling, with a survey last year finding that Australians’ sense of belonging, national pride and trust were reaching all-time lows. Citizens are turning off the news in record numbers, undermining the media’s role in safeguarding democracy. And dozens of regional newspapers have been closing across Australia, or going online in a greatly reduced capacity, with some areas now considered parts of a ‘news desert’.

These are just a few topics connected to mediated trust that Professor Julianne Schultz AM has recently covered in her influential fortnightly column for The Guardian. She has had an exceptionally eminent and diverse career as a media practitioner, executive, board member, and most recently, academic at Griffith University. Julianne was the publisher and founding editor of the Griffith Review from 2003 to 2021, and is now Professor Emerita, Media and Culture at Griffith.

Among her many senior roles in industry, Julianne was the chair of The Conversation Media Group, and its editorial advisory board before that. She was also chair at the Australian Film TV and Radio School, and has served on the boards of the Copyright Agency, Grattan Institute and Australia’s national broadcaster, the ABC, where she formerly headed strategy and communications. Earlier in her career, she was a journalist for the Australian Financial Review and Courier-Mail.

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