At various times over the past 20 years, Trina McLellan has been involved as a part-time or full-time educator in tertiary journalism and communication courses across South-East Queensland.
She has also delivered workplace training and industry workshops here and interstate.
Griffith University (Queensland College of Art)
- Sessional lecturer & tutor
- Transmedia Storytelling
Supervised a group of eight graduating photojournalism and photography students producing a special online climate change edition of The Argus in September 2019. A wide selection of their 30 stories for The Argus was reposted on the national Junction Journalism website for tertiary journalism students.
University of the Sunshine Coast
- Course co-ordinator, lecturer & tutor
- The Writer and the Law
- Guest lecturer
- Editing for the Communications Professional
Over six semesters until early 2016, Trina worked as a sessional academic in USC’s School of Communications, working to improve the learning of journalism and communications students.
Course content included systems of government, how laws function, current state and federal laws in the news and publication pitfalls (laws to be aware of)
University of Queensland
Trina has had two stints at UQ, the first a two-year contract with the School of Journalism and Communication, teaching combined undergraduate and postgraduate classes.
- Course co-ordinator, lecturer & tutor
- PR Writing (U/g) /PR Media Production (P/g)
- Internet Studies I (U/g) / Communication Design for PR (P/g)
- Internet Studies II (U/g) / Web Design for PR (P/g)
- Elements of Writing & Grammar
- Guest lecturer:
- Advanced Reporting
- Photojournalism
- Journalism Ethics & Issues
- Tutor:
- Journalism 101 (U/g) / Intro to Journalism (P/g)
Her most recent stint at UQ was in 2013, where she worked for one semester in the School’s final-year capstone research course.
- Tutor:
- Journalism and Communication Research
While at the University of Queensland, Trina designed, delivered and updated undergraduate and postgraduate journalism and communication courses full-time for three of those years.
She was responsible for forging cross-disciplinary education links in an innovative program that successfully married undergraduate and postgraduate students of journalism, communication and information technology, their small group output being well-researched websites for community groups.
University of Southern Queensland
In 2004, Trina spent a year co-ordinating the print program in USQ’s Journalism program that was being delivered on campus and externally.
- Course co-ordinator, lecturer & tutor (incl. external students):
- Introduction to Journalism
- Feature Writing
- Publication Layout & Design
- Journalism Publication
Queensland University of Technology
Over a period of seven years to 2002 – Trina was in a full-time role editing corporate periodicals and managing media liaison for one of the country’s largest universities for six of those years – she completed her Master’s degree and taught a variety of journalism and communication courses part-time. She returned to QUT in 2014 as a sessional academic.
- Relief course co-ordinator (1995) & guest lecturer (1995-2001; 2004-2014)
- Newswriting & Reporting
- Magazine & Feature Writing
- Part-time lecturer & tutor (1995-2001)
- Journalism Ethics
- Crisis Communication
- Sessional academic (tutor, 2014)
- Sub-Editing
- Online Journalism
Invited guest lectures
Trina has presented – by invitation – specialist, research- and practice-based guest lectures at three South-East Queensland universities. These have included:
- trauma and journalism lectures for Griffith University’s Queensland College of Art photojournalism and photography students
- key safety preparation session for Griffith University journalism and photojournalism students ahead of the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games
- key safety preparation session for Griffith University journalism students covering the G20
- introduction to legal concepts for first-year journalism students at the University of Queensland
- trauma and journalism for journalism ethics students at the Queensland University of Technology
- trauma and journalism lecture and workshop for journalism diploma students at Brisbane’s JSchool
A committed lifelong learner, Trina’s academic research interests have centred on (a) the interface between journalists and victims/survivors of traumatic incidents, (b) surviving the challenges of reporting crises and disasters, (c) the language and readability of journalism and (d) the impact of technology on the craft of journalism.
She served as a foundation board member on the Dart Australasia Centre for Journalism and Trauma (now Dart Centre Asia-Pacific) from 2004 to 2009, organising in 2006 a series of special media outreach events – and an industry feature based on her own research – ahead of the 10th anniversary of the Port Arthur massacre.
In 2012-13, she co-authored an innovative online interactive disaster reporting course for remote delivery in developing nations on behalf of a global communication body, drawing on her own groundbreaking journalism research, industry awareness and workplace expertise.
Workplace and industry training
Trina has delivered workplace and industry training for:
- News Queensland
- documenting and teaching content management systems, blogging, technology transition)
- On behalf of the Dart Centre for Journalism and Trauma/Dart Centre Asia Pacific
- developing resilience workshop for Brisbane reporters and photographers
- Walkleys Forum presenter on Assessing media coverage of trauma & tragedy (Brisbane)
- hands-on workshops for Community Broadcasting Association of Australia conferences (Brisbane, Adelaide, Hobart)
- co-organiser/closing comments, public forum ahead of Port Arthur Massacre 10th anniversary, Hobart, in conjunction with the Press Council of Australia and the University of Tasmania
- co-trainer, AusAID’s Indonesia Australia Specialised Training Program (week-long journalism & trauma module for 16 Indonesian journalists) at RMIT University (Melbourne)
- co-presenter, half-day workshop, Journalism & Trauma: Minimising Harm
at MEAA Freelance Conference, Newcastle, in conjunction with MEAA, QUT Creative Industries and Bond University - co-presenter, half-day workshop, Trauma & Photojournalists/TV camera crews
at MEAA training rooms, Redfern, Sydney, in conjunction with MEAA and QUT Creative Industries - co-presenter, Internet, Media & Mental Health Conference – The media will eat you if you don’t provide palatable information (Brisbane)
- presenter, Symposium: Trauma & the World of News Media – What victims experience, at Westin Hotel, Melbourne (Dart’s Australian launch activity in 2004)
- For a tourism industry training session
- co-presenter, Working With The Media (UQ Faculty of Business, Brisbane)
- For the Journalism Education Association
- co-presenter, Three decades on: Has tertiary education changed news? A comparison of readability (Sydney)
- co-presenter, Trauma & Journalism: Best practice reporting & minimising harm – the win-win approach (Sydney)
- presenter, Traumatic incidents challenge traditional newsroom culture
at Hilton Hotel, Perth
- Presenter, Traumatic incidents or ‘media events’ – fair game or fair go?
at 3rd International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies World Conference, (Melbourne) - Presenter, Queensland Ambulance Service Priority One Seminar
(Brisbane) - Presenter, How prepared are you for a crisis on campus? at Australian Vice-Chancellor’s Committee Annual PR Conference, Edith Cowan University, Perth
- St Rita’s College and Ipswich Grammar School
- What’s it like to be a journalist/study journalism