Elaine Jung’s career has taken her across continents, languages and newsrooms, but it has always been guided by the same instinct: to understand people and take responsibility for how their stories are told. 

Elaine began her career in broadcast journalism after completing studies in Mass Communications at Murdoch University. She chose Murdoch deliberately, drawn to a course that offered hands‑on, practical training across television and radio at an undergraduate level. 

I was looking for something that felt close to the real world. Murdoch was offering a simulated newsroom environment where you rotated through roles – reporting, camera, editing, presenting. That mattered to me.

In her final year, students worked as if they were part of a functioning newsroom, learning how stories were shaped from multiple angles. For Elaine, that experience provided skills and confidence that kick started her career. 

She put them to work during a short work experience placement at Channel Seven, where she shadowed journalists, wrote her own scripts, and – when time allowed – asked for opportunities to record them on camera. 

That initiative didn’t go unnoticed in the newsroom. It was also picked up on by her senior lecturer and course coordinator, Mia Lindgren. 

WIN Television, a regional network expanding its news operation in Western Australia, had approached Perth universities to recommend graduates. Mia called Elaine and immediately put her name forward. 

“That call meant everything,” Elaine said. “I owe the start of my career to her belief in me – and maybe to a belief in myself that didn’t fully exist yet.” 

It was intense work, especially for an entry‑level role, but university had prepared her for it. She was soon offered a role in Albany. 

At WIN, Elaine worked as a video journalist, before later stepping into a newsreader position, while also freelancing for Channel Nine on weekends. It was fast‑paced, demanding work – often juggling multiple roles at once – and it sharpened her sense of responsibility early. 

After several years, it was time to move on and Elaine and her partner bought a one‑way ticket to London that turned into more than thirteen years abroad. 

Following long stints of backpacking, teaching English across Europe, and editing a magazine in Berlin, her growing interest in global affairs led her to London where she joined BBC World News.  

There she worked across broadcast journalism for several years before moving into long‑form storytelling with the BBC World Service, supporting 40 language services to take deeply local stories to a global audience while also pitching and reporting for BBC 100 Women (now Global Women).  

One investigation became a defining moment: while directing a documentary about a historic Danish birth control campaign in Greenland, Elaine uncovered evidence of involuntary contraception practices continuing into the 2010s.  

She insisted on conducting interviews in Greenlandic rather than Danish, building trust through language, cultural respect and transparency.  

“There was a level of trust and openness that came from people speaking in their mother tongue,” she said. “It fundamentally changed the dynamic.” 

Her care for the women she interviewed extended well beyond filming. Elaine would follow‑up to check on them, always sought informed consent to share their conversations, and took responsibility for how the stories were ultimately shared. 

Her reporting on the more recent cases was more than news – it was the catalyst for a national inquiry which later led to a formal apology, and compensation for those affected.  

“Storytelling isn’t just about visibility,” she said. “It comes with responsibility.” 

That belief now underpins her work at UNICEF Australia, where Elaine works in partnerships and philanthropy. Care shows up in quieter ways – in restraint, in stewardship, and in protecting children’s dignity over time. 

Care now is less about a single story and more about the ecosystem around storytelling. It’s in what we choose not to say.

At UNICEF, that can mean not reducing children to their most vulnerable moments, allowing stories to preserve dignity and complexity.  

Looking back, Elaine sees a thread weaved through each chapter of her career. 

“I would never have predicted this path,” she said. “But each step taught me how to listen better, and how to carry responsibility.” 

For Elaine Jung, care lives in how stories are told, and in the commitment to stand by the people who trusted her to tell them. 

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