Mayeta Clark
Mayeta Clark is an award-winning filmmaker and journalist at the ABC. She specialises in non-narrated documentary filmmaking and recently won the 2019 Online News Association Award in Explanatory Reporting for multimedia work on gas drilling in West Virgin, USA, for ProPublica.
Mayeta works in long form TV — directing, producing and shooting for Australian Story. Her most significant work was the film Final Call, an investigation into the murder of Gayle Woodford, an outback nurse. As a result of Mayeta's reporting, the state agency SafeWork SA reopened their investigation into Mrs Woodford’s death.
Mayeta holds graduate degrees in cinematography (Australian Film, Television & Radio School), and journalism (Columbia University, New York). Her films have been broadcast on the ABC and CBSN Originals, and screened at Docaviv, DOC NYC, Doc Utah, Darwin International Film Festival, and Melbourne Documentary Film Festival.
Latest by Mayeta Clark
'She's home': Inside the protest that got personal
The battle over the climate is escalating, and nowhere more than in Western Australia, where a new generation of protesters is prepared to break the law to make their point.
Cocaine is everywhere in Australia. Here's why
Follow the path cocaine takes from Colombian bush labs to your local suburbs — and the battle to intercept it.
If you're after an Australian visa and prepared to pay, you might hear about this woman
If you're a migrant wanting to stay in Australia, you might hear about "Tia". She operates in messaging apps and few have met her in person, though many have handed over tens of thousands of dollars in the hope of getting an Australian visa.
A 16-year-old visited Byron Bay on holiday. A night-time encounter with police left him searching for answers
Dylan says he still has questions about what happened to him.
They thought the smell was a dead rat. It was actually their neighbour
After almost two weeks of complaints to housing authorities, Pierre Gawronski learned his next-door neighbour had passed away. He says this tragedy is the symptom of a failing system.
'A theme park-type situation': National parks are getting a makeover, and many aren't happy
Rescuers had to chainsaw through trees to rescue hiker Bailey Seamer from a public campground. It's got some questioning whether National Parks services are more focused on tourism than managing land.
This principal wrote a frank letter exposing the teacher shortages at his school. The education department rewrote it
Teachers need permission to speak to media, but whistleblowers want you to know what’s really going on in NSW schools hit by staff shortages.
Jonno knows he's about to lose his job of 19 years — and he has no idea what to do next
Shock, denial, stress, anger. Workers are struggling to comprehend the early closure of Australia’s largest coal-fired power station and the plan for what comes next.
'Christmas Day probably killed a lot of people': Inside the toll Omicron had on our hospitals
Many healthcare workers are afraid of speaking to the media, but they are also desperate for the public to know what's been happening in our hospitals. As the Omicron wave peaked in Sydney last month, Background Briefing was following them. These are their stories — in their words — about what they saw.
'This is utter madness': The massive wind farms angering fans of renewable energy
In the ranges behind Cairns, bushland is being cleared in the name of climate action. It's pitting eco warriors against green energy projects.
Why a town at the front of the queue became one of Australia's least vaccinated
As Sydney's vaccination rate soared over 70 per cent, in Yarrabah it was still 24 per cent. How did this town get left behind?
The Accomplice
Behind the scenes of how police cracked Australia's largest insider trading case.
Duration: 31 minutes 58 seconds
This man had hurt women before killing his girlfriend, it's only now we can report his name
At a rural property, mum-of-four Kirra McLoughlin lay unconscious in her lounge room. Her partner didn't call an ambulance for over 15 hours. For the first time Australian Story reveals those triple-0 calls and why a coroner believes Kirra died at the hands of a "habitual perpetrator" of domestic violence.
The Road to Justice | Beenham Valley Road
A mother's battle to bring her daughter's killer to account pays off when a coroner's inquest leads to a breakthrough.
Duration: 32 minutes 40 seconds
Sophie's Choice | Li family
Mao’s Last Dancer Li Cunxin and his wife and daughter’s dramatic story of sacrifice, questioning and the painful journey towards reconciliation.
Duration: 30 minutes 52 seconds
These mums want you to check remotes in your home. The batteries running them can kill
Four trips to hospital in three weeks, a misdiagnosis and a preventable death. A button battery was inside Isabella Rees for almost three weeks before the toddler died. So why were her symptoms mistaken for a virus?
Sisters in Arms
There’s a hidden danger lurking in every home and these are the two mothers who’ve changed the world to protect our children.
Duration: 31 minutes
Finding Her Voice | Megan Washington
Megan Washington has a stutter but when she sings it’s something very special.
The singer-songwriter reveals how after she went public with a 'shameful' secret she quit music altogether and why the best art happens out of your comfort zone.
Duration: 30 minutes 39 seconds
Tamiqua thought she'd killed someone. Then she received a text that changed everything
For years, Tamiqua had been led to believe by her brother that she was responsible for the death of his girlfriend, Kirra McLoughlin. Then she received a confession via text. But it's up to a coroner to determine the truth.
Beenham Valley Road - Part 1
When Jamie Pultz left the police, there was one case he couldn’t drop: the suspicious death of young Queensland mum Kirra McLoughlin. His podcast investigation turned up some startling discoveries.
Duration: 29 minutes 58 seconds
Out of the Woods
The next chapter in the amazing comeback story of former rainforest-dwelling hermit Gregory Smith.
Duration: 29 minutes 52 seconds
How a suburban mum 'broke the internet' by simply loving her body
It's a story all too familiar for many mums — the post-pregnancy body blues. After having three children, Taryn Brumfitt loathed her body and booked in for surgery. But after an epiphany, she learned to love the skin she's in and kickstarted a worldwide movement in the process.
The Skin You're In
How one Australian mum is motivating women across the world to embrace their bodies and love the skin they’re in.
Duration: 28 minutes 51 seconds
The rainforest hermit who returned from the wild
Beetles, worms and lizards — Gregory Smith ate just about anything to stay alive in the forest. From a homeless hermit, to a university lecturer, he's proven you can truly overcome anything in your search for a safe place.
Out of the Woods
From a homeless alcoholic living in the wild to academic success, this is the inspiring comeback story of forest-dweller Gregory Smith.
Duration: 30 minutes 3 seconds