Katrina Clifford

Katrina Clifford is an Associate Professor in Communication in the Faculty of Arts and Education at Deakin University, currently on academic secondment to the University's Office of the PVC Graduate Employment (July-December 2025). She specializes in media criminology, bringing together criminological concepts with media practices. She is a member of Deakin University's Advancing Rural, Regional Culture and Society research group and a Research Associate at UNE Centre for Rural Criminology. Previously, she was a Visiting Fellow at Cardiff University's School of Journalism, Media & Cultural Studies in 2015.

Dr. Clifford holds a PhD from the University of Canberra, a Master of Research from the University of London, and a BA (Hons) from the University of Wollongong. With over 10 years of industry experience as a journalist, magazine editor, and communications consultant, she has worked with organizations including the Australian Institute of Company Directors and Suicide Prevention Australia. Her diverse professional background informs both her teaching and research approaches.

Her research interests focus on media criminology, framing theory, policing and mental illness in media, social justice, trauma and media witnessing, visual politics, communications ethics, and graduate employability. She has published two books: 'Policing, Mental Illness and Media' and 'Media and Crime' (with Rob White), along with numerous articles exploring the complex relationships between media, crime, and justice. Her work consistently examines how media representations shape public understanding of crime, justice, and social issues.

Dr. Clifford's publication portfolio demonstrates consistent scholarly output across multiple areas including true crime podcasting, police use of force in mental health crisis situations, media framing of environmental controversies, and representations of drug use in rural communities. Her interdisciplinary approach bridges criminology, media studies, and communication theory to address pressing societal issues.

She has received recognition for her educational contributions, including the 2023 Faculty of Arts and Education Award at Deakin University for curriculum innovation. She serves on the editorial board of the Australian Journalism Review and is a member of the Mindframe for Universities Advisory Group (Journalism Education).

As Director of Employability for the Faculty of Arts and Education (2021-2024), she led the development of employability units within the Bachelor of Arts program, demonstrating her commitment to connecting academic research with practical applications in media and communications. She actively supervises doctoral students working on projects related to true crime storytelling, illicit drug media analysis, and investigative journalism.