Our Journalists

Douglas SmithIndigenous affairs reporter

Douglas Smith is an award-winning journalist and broadcaster – including being part of the team that won a Walkley Award in 2023 for the podcast Dying Rose, which investigated the police response to the deaths of six Indigenous women around Australia. Douglas has worked for SBS and NITV as a video journalist, and now covers Indigenous affairs for The Advertiser.

@smith_dougy

Douglas Smith

Latest

Dying Rose

500 messages, 45 calls: Teen’s turbulent final hours

Rose’s shocking death was discovered hours after an extended and volatile argument with a male friend. Her mum turned detective to try and uncover the truth.

Dying Rose

Neighbour heard man ‘arguing’ with teen before her shock death

Neighbours say police never questioned anyone at a tightly-packed unit block after a “bright, bubbly” teen’s death in a backyard shed – but they might have heard her final words.

Dying Rose

Missing Charlene ‘treated disgracefully’ after her body was found

An “appalling” search for mum Charlene Warrior has haunted her family for two years. Who was Charlene – and how was she left missing in plain sight?

EXCLUSIVEDying Rose

Lewis Schulz, the farmer who owned a paddock next to where Charlene Warrior's body was found. Picture: Supplied

Charlene twist: Cops said farmer was sick – but he’d been dead for weeks

In stunning revelations, a Bute farmer police described as “in hospital” was in fact already dead – raising more questions over search efforts for Charlene Warrior.

EXCLUSIVEDying Rose

Dying Rose podcast: Rose Hunter-Hebberman

Teen’s shocking death and final pleas revealed

Bright, bubbly and fiercely independent – until she was found dead in a backyard shed. Who was Rose and why has she grabbed the nation’s attention?

EXCLUSIVEDying Rose

A CFS volunteer coordinated an ad hoc search for Charlene Warrior before her death.

Police blame big dogs for Charlene’s search failure

Documents reveal a tiny town launched into action after an anonymous caller feared for Charlene’s welfare – but police missed a chance to find her due to dogs in a neighbour’s yard.

EXCLUSIVEDying Rose

Charlene Warrior's police report for the coroner.

Bombshell police report unveils how Charlene went unseen

For the first time, police have broken their silence on how Charlene Warrior could have been missing in plain sight – and revealed the startling reason she wasn’t found earlier.

EXCLUSIVEDying Rose

Dead in a tree: What really happened to Charlene?

That Charlene Warrior’s body was found 100m from where she was last seen still haunts her family. Then their own investigations revealed something even more baffling.

EXCLUSIVEDying Rose

‘How I knew something was wrong’: Charlene’s final call

Charlene Warrior’s family say they filed a missing persons report with police – but it fell on deaf ears. Thirteen days later, she was found dead.

Dying Rose

Mystery over 15 days before mum’s death

A young mum sent a haunting last message to her sister before she disappeared – but family pleas for help from police fell on deaf ears.

Original URL: https://www.adelaidenow.com.au/journalists/douglas-smith/page/22