Paula Doneman is an experienced crime and investigative journalist, author, and true crime podcaster.
Paula’s been in the news industry for over three decades now reporting mostly on crime in Queensland, which makes her one of the state’s most experienced and still-active journalists. She made a name for herself while still a student at the University of Queensland, breaking major stories on the state’s prison drug trade and deaths in custody which led to a Commission of Inquiry, a huge achievement for anyone, let alone a university student.
Since then, Paula’s covered high-profile murders, written a book – Things A Killer Would Know - on serial killer Leonard Fraser, and produced several true crime podcasts including Little Girl Lost about the unsolved murder of Leanne Holland and Pendulum, about the unsolved murder of Margaret Kirstenfeldt. Paula’s career has covered print and broadcast journalism and she's won a Walkley award for her reporting on an Australian Defence Force sex ring.
Our conversation touches on Paula’s experience at UQ’s Weekend Independent newspaper under the tutelage of journalism veterans Bob Bottom and Evan Whitton, and where her exclusive yarns on the prison drug trade led to a commission of inquiry, Paula being stalked on campus, and blowback from government ministers; her latchkey childhood in Brisbane in a big family with a police officer father and a psychologist mother; her frosty newsroom reception at The Courier-Mail after the paper headhunted her following her success while at university; her involvement in the investigative team at the paper with the likes of Michael Ware and Paul Whittaker; the time she worked at The New York Post and had to track down Jerry Seinfeld; the dangers of being an investigative crime reporter; her investigation into serial killer Leonard John Fraser and the incredibly unusual story of missing woman Natasha Ryan; what motivates Paula to do the hard-hitting, dangerous and often intense investigative reporting that she does; and her advice to young journalists today.
Paula's full of cracking tales about her time in journalism which we couldn't possible cover in a single hour. If you're interested in learning more she featured on a great episode of ABC Conversations with Richard Fidler, which you can find here: https://www.abc.net.au/listen/programs/conversations/conversations-paula-doneman/8491366
For a full episode transcript and links to Paula’s work visit our website: http://bylinespodcast.com
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Sound production by Jonathan Koster: https://www.instagram.com/djjonnysounds