Dr Jeannine Baker

Lecturer

School of Humanities, Creative Ind and Social Sci

Email:jeannine.baker@newcastle.edu.au
Phone:0240550910

Career Summary

Biography

I am an award-winning feminist media historian. My research focuses on gendered labour and technology in the Australian and British media industries, especially broadcasting.

In 2021 I was awarded the Media Studies Grant from FIAT/IFTA to produce a series of multimedia online articles about women in early Australian television in partnership with the National Film and Sound Archive of Australia - winner of the 2022 Oral History Australia Media Award. In 2018-19 I was a British Academy Visiting Fellow at the University of Sussex, where I worked on the AHRC-funded 'Connected Histories of the BBC' project and co-curated (with Kate Murphy) the '100 Voices That Made the BBC: Pioneering Women' website. In 2017 I was awarded the biennial Ferguson Prize for Labour History for my article ‘Women journalists and the pretence of equality’ (Labour History, 2015), and I was awarded the 2014 Dennis-Wettenhall Prize at the University of Melbourne for my PhD thesis about Australian women war reporters in World War II.

My first book, Australian Women War Reporters: Boer War to Vietnam (NewSouth) was published in 2015. With Michelle Arrow and Clare Monagle I co-edited Small Screens: Essays in Contemporary Australian Television (Monash University Publishing, 2016). I have co-edited three special journal issues, Women's History Review: 'Labour, Media and Technology' (2022), with Kaitlynn Mendes and Kate Terkanian; Feminist Media Histories: 'Transnational Broadcasting' (2019) with Kate Murphy and Kristin Skoog; and Media International Australia: ‘Gendered labour and media’ (2016) with Justine Lloyd.

I have extensive experience in the media and museums sectors as a producer/director, researcher, writer, and curator. I produced Holding a Tiger by the Tail: Jessie Litchfield (Earshot, ABC Radio National, 2015), about the Darwin newspaper editor and journalist Jessie Litchfield, and Fler and the Modernist Impulse (Hindsight, ABC Radio National, 2011) about the impact of modernism on the Australian home. I wrote and directed the television documentary Our Drowned Town (SBS TV, 2001) about the flooding of the NSW town of Adaminaby for the Snowy Mountains Scheme.

I was Deputy Director of Maquarie's Centre for Media History (2016-2019), and Centre Manager: Research and Engagement of the Creative Documentary Research Centre (2022). I served on the judging panel for the Lowy Institute’s 2017 Media Award.

Qualifications

Doctor of Philosophy, University of Melbourne
Master of Arts, University of Technology Sydney

Keywords

Australian History
Feminist media studies
Labour History
Media history
Media production
Production studies
Storytelling
Women's History

Languages

English (Mother)

Fields of Research

Code	Description	Percentage
470107	Media studies	40
430309	Gender history	30
470106	Media industry studies	30

Professional Experience

UON Appointment

Title	Organisation / Department
Lecturer	University of Newcastle School of Humanities, Creative Ind and Social Sci Australia

Academic appointment

Dates	Title	Organisation / Department
1/2/2017 - 1/2/2020	Macquarie University Postdoctoral Research Fellow	Macquarie University Faculty of Arts Australia
1/4/2014 - 31/3/2016	Postdoctoral Research Fellow	Macquarie University Department of Media, Communication, Creative Arts, Language and Literature Australia

Professional appointment

Dates	Title	Organisation / Department
1/4/2022 - 31/12/2022	Centre Manager: Research and Engagement	Macquarie University Creative Documentary Research Centre Australia

Awards

Award

Year	Award
2022	Oral History Australia Media Award Oral History Australia
2017	Ferguson Prize Australian Society for the Study of Labour History

Prize

Year	Award
2014	Dennis-Wettenhall Prize University of Melbourne

Teaching

Code	Course	Role	Duration
CMNS2900	Documentary Filmmaking School of Humanities, Creative Industries and Social Sciences \| University of Newcastle	Course Coordinator	28/7/2024 - 7/11/2025
CMNS3333	Multiplatform Journalism School of Humanities, Creative Industries and Social Sciences \| University of Newcastle	Course Coordinator	20/2/2023 - 6/6/2025
CMNS1100	Foundations of Media Production University of Newcastle	Course Coordinator	17/7/2023 - 14/11/2025
CMNS3150	Radio & Podcasting University of Newcastle	Course Coordinator	20/2/2023 - 6/6/2025

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Publications

For publications that are currently unpublished or in-press, details are shown in italics.

Book (2 outputs)

Year	Citation	Altmetrics	Link
2016	Arrow M, Baker J, Monagle C, 'Small Screens Essays on Contemporary Australian Television' (2016)
2015	Baker J, 'Australian Women War Reporters Boer War to Vietnam' (2015)

Creative Work (2 outputs)

Year	Citation	Altmetrics	Link
2022	Baker J, 'The women who made Australian TV' (2022)
2015	Baker J, 'Holding a Tiger by the Tail: Jessie Litchfield' (2015)

Journal article (17 outputs)

Year

Citation

Altmetrics

Link

2025

Arnold S, McCabe J, Andrews K, Badenoch A, Baker J, Ball V, Hendriks E, Jackson V, Murphy K, Sahu I, Skoog K, Terkanian K, Warner H, 'Women’s broadcasting histories and the archive: National, transnational and transmedial entanglements', Critical Studies in Television, 20, 240-266 (2025) [C1]

This provocation details varied perspectives of the International Women's Broadcasting Histories (IWBH) network on researching the role of women in broadcasting. T... [more]

This provocation details varied perspectives of the International Women's Broadcasting Histories (IWBH) network on researching the role of women in broadcasting. The conversational form allows us to roam across the topic widely, to express a range of discrete positions and distinct arguments, with the desire to bring dilemmas to the surface and explore their implications without reduction. Responding with a series of interventionist statements around the issues and challenges of doing archival research into women's work, we opt for retaining different viewpoints in a raw state, with the aim of provoking discussion about the methodological opportunities and limitations when working within and outside of archives.

DOI	10.1177/17496020251330853

2024

Baker J, 'Kylie Andrews, Trailblazing women of Australian Public Broadcasting, 1945-1975', Journal of Australian, Canadian, and Aotearoa New Zealand Studies, 4, 218-219

DOI	10.52230/zybf6682

2022

Baker J, 'Women's Activism Behind the Scenes: Trade Unions and Gender Inequality in the British Film and Television Industries', JOURNAL OF BRITISH CINEMA AND TELEVISION, 19, 109-111 (2022)

DOI	10.3366/jbctv.2022.0607

2021

Baker J, Mendes K, Terkanian K, 'Labour, media and technology: editors' introduction', WOMENS HISTORY REVIEW, 31, 533-541 (2021)

DOI	10.1080/09612025.2021.1944343
Citations	Scopus - 1Web of Science - 1

2021

Baker J, Hall N, 'Rigged against them: women camera operators at the BBC during the 1970s and 1980s', WOMENS HISTORY REVIEW, 31, 603-625 (2021) [C1]

DOI	10.1080/09612025.2021.1944348
Citations	Scopus - 2Web of Science - 2

2020

Baker J, Connors J, ''Glorified typists' in no-man's land: the ABC script assistants' strike of 1973', WOMENS HISTORY REVIEW, 29, 841-859 (2020) [C1]

DOI	10.1080/09612025.2019.1703539
Citations	Scopus - 5Web of Science - 4

2019

Baker J, 'Australian Women Working in British Broadcasting in the 1930s and 1940s', FEMINIST MEDIA HISTORIES, 5, 140-167 [C1]

This article analyzes the connections between gender, labor, and mobility by tracing the transnational careers of two Australian women who began working at the British ... [more]

This article analyzes the connections between gender, labor, and mobility by tracing the transnational careers of two Australian women who began working at the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) in the 1930s and 1940s: Peggie Broadhead and Muriel Howlett. Both participated in the production of media content aimed at British diasporic audiences while at the same time negotiating their own Australian national identity and sense of belonging, within an imperial framework. A close study of institutional and private archives reveals that these professional responsibilities and tensions resulted in the formation of a new transnational identity of "Dominions broadcaster."This article reveals the agency and adaptability of Australian women working in international broadcasting, and argues that through their labor and mobility they inscribed and made real the idea of imperial and Commonwealth networks.

DOI	10.1525/fmh.2019.5.3.140
Citations	Scopus - 6Web of Science - 5

2019

Baker J, Murphy K, Skoog K, 'Editors' Introduction Transnational Broadcasting', FEMINIST MEDIA HISTORIES, 5, 1-8

DOI	10.1525/fmh.2019.5.3.1
Citations	Scopus - 3Web of Science - 5

2018

Baker J, 'Australian Women in Advertising in the Twentieth Century', LABOUR HISTORY, 231-232 (2018)

DOI	10.5263/labourhistory.114.0231

2018

Baker J, '"Once a typist always a typist" The Australian Women's Broadcasting Co-operative and the Sexual Division of Labor at the Australian Broadcasting Commission', FEMINIST MEDIA HISTORIES, 4, 160-184

DOI	10.1525/fmh.2018.4.4.160
Citations	Web of Science - 3

2017

Baker J, 'Woman to Woman: Australian Feminists' Embrace of Radio Broadcasting, 1930s-1950s', AUSTRALIAN FEMINIST STUDIES, 32, 292-308 (2017) [C1]

DOI	10.1080/08164649.2017.1407643
Citations	Scopus - 1Web of Science - 18

2016

Baker J, Lloyd J, 'Gendered labour and media: histories and continuities', MEDIA INTERNATIONAL AUSTRALIA, 161, 6-17 (2016) [C1]

DOI	10.1177/1329878X16666686
Citations	Scopus - 9Web of Science - 12

2015

Baker J, 'Marginal Creatures: Australian Women War Reporters During World War II', History Compass, 13, 40-50 (2015)

Histories of war reporting have tended to overlook the role of Australian female journalists in covering World War II. During the war, 21 Australian women journalists w... [more]

Histories of war reporting have tended to overlook the role of Australian female journalists in covering World War II. During the war, 21 Australian women journalists worked as war reporters for the Australian press, including from overseas military areas. This article provides an overview of the historiography of Australian women war reporters of World War II within an international context. It discusses the benefits of examining the connection between gender and military policy on the accreditation of women war correspondents within a comparative framework. It argues that consideration of national differences in the ways that women journalists were officially perceived, defined and managed is particularly valuable for understanding the challenges faced by Australian women war reporters.

DOI	10.1111/hic3.12217

2015

Baker J, 'Australian Women Journalists and the "Pretence of Equality"', LABOUR HISTORY, 1-16 (2015)

Citations	Scopus - 1Web of Science - 10

2015

Baker J, 'Lines of Demarcation: Australian Women War Reporters in Europe During the Second World War', History Australia, 12, 187-206 (2015)

This article examines the diverse experiences of three Australian women journalists who covered the Second World War in the European military theatre. It analyses the w... [more]

This article examines the diverse experiences of three Australian women journalists who covered the Second World War in the European military theatre. It analyses the ways that military policy regarding the accreditation and control of women reporters reinforced gendered understandings of journalism and war. Despite this, the article shows that Australian women journalists reported the war in a variety of ways that extended beyond the home front and the 'woman's angle'. This article has been peer reviewed.

DOI	10.1080/14490854.2015.11668559
Citations	Scopus - 2

2015

Baker J, 'Australian Women Journalists and the "Pretence of Equality"', Labour History, 1-16 (2015)

Australian women journalists were granted equal pay for equal work in 1917, under the first federal award for journalists. This article analyses the role of women in Au... [more]

Australian women journalists were granted equal pay for equal work in 1917, under the first federal award for journalists. This article analyses the role of women in Australian journalism in the first half of the twentieth century and reveals that behind the appearance of gender equality is a history of persistent discrimination. Between the wars most women journalists were confined to work considered to be of lesser value, typically on the women's pages of daily newspapers, and had limited opportunities for advancement to higher paid positions. Although World War II enabled many women journalists to move into higher status positions, they continued to be perceived according to gendered assumptions about their roles, modes of behaviour and abilities. War also reinforced anxieties about the disruption of normal gender divisions within the newspaper office.

DOI	10.3828/labourhistory.108.0001

2010

Baker J, ''All the Glamour of the East': Tilly Shelton-Smith reports from Malaya, 1941', AUSTRALIAN HISTORICAL STUDIES, 41, 198-216 (2010)

DOI	10.1080/10314611003636556
Citations	Scopus - 4Web of Science - 2

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Grants and Funding

Summary

Number of grants	7
Total funding	$95,952

Click on a grant title below to expand the full details for that specific grant.

20242 grants / $8,500

CHSF 2024 New Start Scheme$5,000

Funding body: College of Human and Social Futures | University of Newcastle

Funding body	College of Human and Social Futures \| University of Newcastle
Project Team	Dr Jeannine Baker
Scheme	CHSF - New Start Scheme
Role	Lead
Funding Start	2024
Funding Finish	2024
GNo
Type Of Funding	Internal
Category	INTE
UON	N

CHSF 2024 Conference Travel Scheme$3,500

Funding body: College of Human and Social Futures | University of Newcastle

Funding body	College of Human and Social Futures \| University of Newcastle
Project Team	Dr Jeannine Baker
Scheme	CHSF - Conference Travel Scheme
Role	Lead
Funding Start	2024
Funding Finish	2024
GNo
Type Of Funding	Internal
Category	INTE
UON	N

20233 grants / $21,267

Women in NBN-3$9,604

Funding body: Janet Copley Bequest

Funding body	Janet Copley Bequest
Project Team	Dr JEANNINE BAKER
Scheme	School of Humanities and Social Science - Copley Bequest Pilot Research Fund
Role	Lead
Funding Start	2023
Funding Finish	2024
GNo
Type Of Funding	C3300 – Aust Philanthropy
Category	3300
UON	N

Women in New Zealand television production, 1960-1990$9,163

This research project aims to uncover the crucial contribution of women to New Zealand television production between 1960 and 1990.

Funding body: Royal Television Society

Funding body	Royal Television Society
Project Team	Doctor Jeannine Baker
Scheme	Shiers Trust Award
Role	Lead
Funding Start	2023
Funding Finish	2023
GNo	G2300815
Type Of Funding	C3500 – International Not-for profit
Category	3500
UON	Y

CHSF Conference Travel Grant$2,500

Funding body: College of Human and Social Futures | University of Newcastle

Funding body	College of Human and Social Futures \| University of Newcastle
Scheme	CHSF - Conference Travel Scheme
Role	Lead
Funding Start	2023
Funding Finish	2023
GNo
Type Of Funding	Internal
Category	INTE
UON	N

20211 grants / $7,871

Media Studies Grant$7,871

Women in Early Australian Television Production

Funding body: FIAT/IFTA International Federation of Television Archives

Funding body	FIAT/IFTA International Federation of Television Archives
Project Team	Dr Jeannine Baker
Scheme	Media Studies Grant
Role	Lead
Funding Start	2021
Funding Finish	2021
GNo
Type Of Funding	International - Competitive
Category	3IFA
UON	N

20181 grants / $58,314

British Academy Visiting Fellowship$58,314

Funding body: British Academy

Funding body	British Academy
Scheme	Visiting Fellowship scheme
Role	Lead
Funding Start	2018
Funding Finish	2019
GNo
Type Of Funding	International - Competitive
Category	3IFA
UON	N

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Research Supervision

Number of supervisions

Completed2

Current3

Current Supervision

Commenced	Level of Study	Research Title	Program	Supervisor Type
2023	PhD	How Do We Remember the Past? How Do We Understand One’s Family History Through the Telling of Connected Traumatic Events?	Med Studs Not Elswr Classified, University of Newcastle, Australia	Co-Supervisor
2023	PhD	How Do We Remember the Past? How Do We Understand One’s Family History Through the Telling of Connected Traumatic Events?	PhD (Cultural Studies), College of Human and Social Futures, The University of Newcastle	Co-Supervisor
2022	PhD	What Can We Learn from the Stories of Women with Complex Relationships in the NSW Public Health System?	PhD (Cultural Studies), College of Human and Social Futures, The University of Newcastle	Principal Supervisor

Past Supervision

Year	Level of Study	Research Title	Program	Supervisor Type
2023	Honours	Freedom of speech and Australian broadcasting and podcasting	Communication & Media Studies, University of Newcastle	Principal Supervisor
2020	PhD	Switched On: A History of Regional Commercial Television in Australia	Communication & Media Studies, Macquarie University	Co-Supervisor

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