Warwick Daily News reporter Jessica Klein named Caroline Jones Young Journalist Award winner
The Toowoomba-born reporter took out the prestigious Caroline Jones Young Journalist Award, in recognition of her coverage of issues affecting woman in regional Queensland.
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Telling the stories of rural women surviving homelessness, domestic violence and the perils of the aged care industry has led to high praise for Warwick Daily News reporter Jessica Klein.
The Toowoomba-born woman has been named the Caroline Jones Young Journalist Award winner for 2024, just one year after embarking on her career in journalism.
Ms Klein said growing up in a rural community led her to appreciate how easily issues affecting those communities often saw them left behind.
“When I entered the journalism industry I was clear on one thing — I would endeavour to never shy away from social injustice,” she said.
“Exposing domestic and family violence in rural communities was important to me because those women deserve to have their voices heard and I hoped it would instill courage into others who were too frightened to seek help.
“I wanted to help break the stigma in those communities.”
Run with the support of Bond University and the National Press Gallery, the Caroline Jones Women in Media Young Journalist Award recognises tenacity and passion for the craft of journalism from young women working across rural and regional Australia.
As the 2024 winner, Ms Klein will spend a week working out of the National Press Gallery in Canberra and will receive a generous bursary to support her professional development.
Ms Klein’s winning submission consisted of three pieces that were published in the past year.
They included the story of Emma Lenz, a Sydney woman who fell into homelessness and was living in an old bus with little to no power, and Kim Sutton’s fight for justice after her father passed away in aged care.
The centre piece was an investigation into domestic violence in farming communities that was built around the painful and deeply personal story of one woman who married in a home scarred by three-generations of abuse.
Ms Klein is a graduate of the University of Southern Queensland and worked for McConnell & Saldumbide Criminal Lawyers before embarking on her career in journalism.
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