Daniel Clarke

2024 Kennedy Awards winner of Regional Broadcast Reporting and Outstanding Reporting on the Environment

Daniel Clarke, the 2023 South Australian Journalist of the Year, can now add not one but two Kennedy Awards to his long list of well-earned accolades, especially as he now has the precarious joy of being a freelancer.

In 2000 Daniel Clarke left school at the age 18 and took a job as a messenger at the Adelaide Advertiser newspaper.

Daniel: “I started out as a messenger, handing out faxes and making coffee. I was kind of the last, almost the last class of the messenger jobs and then I moved into a cadetship after about a year. That lasted three years and then I spent another two doing police and environment reporting.”

Daniel then took off in a campervan around Australia to ostensibly find himself.

Daniel: “I came straight out of school into full-time work, and it was a pretty intense environment, and I needed a bit of a break from the 24/7 workload, so I started some freelance work while I was driving around.”

To be honest, though, the great thing about my training at The Advertiser was that it was perfect for setting me up for a career in journalism. It toughened me and I learnt to apply myself. I was pretty lucky to get my foot in the door.”

How, though, at that age, did you have a clue what you wanted to do?

Daniel: “I’d decided by the end of school I wanted to be a journalist. I think I just loved the idea of finding stories and telling stories and the adrenaline of securing the story.“

Dan’s next adventure, driven by a new relationship, saw him in the remote 103 square kilometres of APY Lands in north west South Australia where the camera became a daily tool…

Daniel: “I had a video camera when I was in high school and I used to be one of those annoying guys carrying the camera around all the time and I basically picked up a camera again when I was living in the Aboriginal community of Pipalyatjara, in the northwest of South Australia, right on the border there. I started making short documentaries for NITV with the locals. It was great timing because NITV was just sort of taking off into its new era.

So yeah, it was kind of the perfect place to start filmmaking in some ways.

So we were telling stories about an abandoned community down there that they wanted to open up again and general stories about the Pipalyatjara community and how it was created after the people came out of that era of the missions.”

Why choose indigenous issues and an indigenous community that's had a chequered history in the middle of nowhere?

Daniel: “I had always been interested in Aboriginal issues and wanted to learn a bit more about it.  I didn't really go in there with any expectations of what I was going to do, but it just sort of fell in line with the NITV timing and I realised that they wanted to tell their fascinating stories, and I knew that would appeal to a wider audience. It was about educating the wider public.”

That mustn’t have been very easy though, with you as an outsider with no knowledge or language?

Daniel: “The language was a bit of a barrier and the shyness, so in some ways it was a really hard entry into documentary making - trying to get people to talk who don't really want to talk a lot of the time; they wanted their story told but talking to a camera and to this tall white guy, that took a bit of time. It all came down to trust and immersing yourself in daily life. But I learnt so much up there – it was really enlightening.”

So what does freelancing look like for you now ?

Daniel: “Mainly filmmaking, which is not an easy way of keeping the money coming in because it's very hard to find funding for independent documentaries. But I just enjoy the lifestyle of the freelance work – there’s a certain freedom to it.

I enjoy the fact that you can just choose a story and chase it whenever you want and there's no time limits on anything else you're doing. It's not easy, you’ve got to keep 10 balls in the air at the same time and hope one of them falls.

I've been really lucky recently because I accessed the Meta news funding over a couple of years. They were solid grants that allowed me to spend a couple of years making two different documentaries for Binge, Foxtel and the ABC.

It’s amazing isn’t it? If you give a journalist money and you give them time, they can turn up some really good stories!”

What's important to you when you're approaching a potential story ?

Daniel:“In the filmmaking process it’s the question of whether there is enough imagery and enough excitement to tell the story. Have you got the right characters? Is it intriguing?

All those aspects of the story come to bear and I guess the fact that you've got access. That's the biggest thing as a filmmaker. If you've got unique access that nobody else has or you've got a certain amount of trust with it from the people who are telling the story.”

What if you didn't have all those encouraging factors and you were simply faced with a story of injustice ?

Daniel:“Yeah, I'd still want to tell it. I still write the odd feature story so if it fits better for a newspaper, I’d pitch it that way.“

As Daniel was to later find, when he was doing the story that won him the Kennedy Award for Environmental Reporting; a lack of substantial backing meant he found himself threatened by those who didn’t want stories told and the truth revealed.

Daniel:“I had a few fears. I had a few threats of court cases and things like that – basically an attempt to threaten me out of doing the story. But that was also a good learning experience. It makes you stronger and more determined to make it.”

Daniel’s winning entry in the Environment category began with an ill-fated blue gum forestry plantation, terrible bush fires, the demolition of what remained and the butchering of koalas against a background of corporate malfeasance and political intrigue.

Daniel: “I basically told the whole story from start to finish and the fact that this was meant to be a huge industry that was going to help Kangaroo Island and they never build a port. They never worked out how to get the trees off the island.

Then there was political intrigue with the then Deputy Premier and the perceived conflicts of interest. And now we've got this horrible environmental scenario where the blue gums are spreading their seed everywhere and choking up the native bush.

Then we've got the koala problem as well, with the animals being killed and maimed during the logging process.

So the issues just go on and on and on – it’s a never-ending story.”

And Channel Seven got involved and Chris Reason gave you a hand?

Daniel:“Yes, Chris was fantastic. He supported me the whole way and involved me in his news gathering. It was great to work with the big boys again.”

Difficult?

Daniel:“It was probably the hardest film I've ever had to make in terms of the research, investigation and filming that needed to be captured. It was also a balancing act with having lawyers involved after receiving those threats, but it turned out really well. It was undoubtedly the best investigative film I've made.

There was certainly a lot of outside pressure and a lot of noise but I also knew that I had a lot of people sitting on my side as well and wanting the story out there.

And there were people involved with the story that were putting their careers on the line to get the truth out there. The whistleblowers were really brave. They're the ones that deserve the plaudits. I'm just telling the story really.”

Did YOU personally receive any threats ?

Daniel:“I received a couple of threats of legal action and there were comments made behind my back which were pretty disappointing. It can be hard to investigate stories in your own community as you’re obviously going to upset certain people – some people who you thought were your mates turn against you. I didn’t think they had to take it so personally – I was just telling the truth. But that’s life I guess.”

Did the story achieve its objective?

Daniel:“The koala story spread nationally and internationally and went viral on social media as well.

There was obviously a fair bit of uproar and it ended up in federal parliament. There were questions asked and the State Government created new legislation to give them extra powers over logging companies.

It certainly brought attention to the issue after a criminal investigation was opened and new rules were created to ensure the logging operations were better controlled and monitored.”

Sitting at your table at the 2024 Kennedy Awards Dinner, how did you feel when your name was called out, not just once but twice?

Daniel: “I was very surprised because I was up against some pretty strong teams from the ABC. I was really happy to receive the environment one specifically because obviously I've always been interested in environmental issues since I was young. I grew up in the Adelaide Hills and I was the environment reporter at The Advertiser.

So to be able to tell a big story like that and get the award for it was really exciting, especially with all the great reporting that goes on in the environment area. It was a massive honour.”

Do you remember the moment when your name was called out for the second time?

Daniel:“I was extremely pleased to take out both awards. I was happy with one, but two was even better!”

Have there been any particular career or personal consequences for you from receiving a Kennedy Award?

Daniel:“I couldn't say specifically but in the year since the awards I’ve been getting much bigger jobs, larger opportunities are coming up. Some of that's luck and some of that is probably a bit of reputation now, which is really important as a freelancer. So I have to thank the Kennedy Awards for rewarding the hard work.”

So, do you have Hollywood in your sights?

Daniel: “Oh, that'd be nice but there too many important stories in Australia to tell.”

What were your impressions of the Kennedy Awards night at Randwick Racecourse?

Daniel: “Oh, I loved it. I thought it was more enjoyable than most award nights; everyone was in a really good mood.

I love the way it was presented and the honouring of the elder statesman as well. It has a focus on really strong journalism and how important our profession is. It’s a great night and I'd love to get back if I can.”

Why is freelance journalism important to you ?

Daniel: “Having someone who can go out there and actually investigate and spend the time on these kinds of stories is vital for the public discourse. If I weren’t there as an independent freelance journalist, no one would have covered these stories because the large media companies are less able to send journalists to remote or expensive places these days.

So I think as an independent journalist it's vital that you can tell those stories within your own community and shine a light on the issues that might otherwise be ignored, especially in the regions.

No one knew koalas were flying out of trees until I went out there and filmed it.”