Kate Kyriacou is the crime and courts editor for The Courier-Mail and the author of The Sting: The Undercover Operation That Caught Daniel Morcombe’s Killer.
I met Kate last year at a journalism bootcamp hosted for first-year journalism students at the University of Queensland. I was familiar with her work before then - her book on the police covert operation that caught Daniel Morcombe’s killer, The Sting, is a masterclass in investigative journalism. Crime is her bread and butter; her most recent investigation examines cults in Queensland and New South Wales explores the fine line between lifestyle choice and group coercive control.
Our conversation touches on her investigation into these cults and their members; why journalists shouldn’t talk about their sources; what a day as a crime and courts editor for a metro newspaper involves; her love of English and writing; her experience as a crime reporter in Mildura doing death knocks; why she thinks good crime reporting is important; the story that still affects her to this day; how she manages her emotions reporting on such horrific events; the police operation that caught Daniel’s Morcombe’s killer; how she ‘de-stresses’ through competitive surf boating; and why she still stays in the crime beat two decades after starting journalism.
For a full episode transcript and links to Kate’s work visit our website: http://bylinespodcast.com
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Sound production by Jonathan Koster: https://www.instagram.com/djjonnysounds