Sarah-Jane O'Connor • Apr 02, 2020 •
Today has felt surreal. I was all set to touch base online with my science communication students when a colleague shared the news that Bauer Media would be shutting down its publications immediately. The first link I saw implied it was Woman’s Weekly affected, and even that shocked me. But when I realised it was everything – The Listener, North … Read More
Sarah-Jane O'Connor • Feb 03, 2020 •
Lately, my morning routine includes opening up our work email and checking the latest World Health Organization coronavirus situation report. It’s sobering to see the numbers increasing so rapidly – about 2,500 new confirmed cases every day and about 45 reported deaths. But I’m also reminded of the stark contrast between this outbreak and previous situations in terms of how … Read More
Guest Author • Jan 17, 2020 •
Hemakumar Devan Around three million New Zealanders access news media (both paper and online) every week. Yes, you heard that right! So, the potential for news media to shape public health beliefs is common sense. As chronic pain affects one in five New Zealanders, we wanted to find out how New Zealand’s news media have reported chronic pain by … Read More
Sarah-Jane O'Connor • Aug 31, 2018 •
Spring is just around the corner which means the Science Media Centre team have been enjoying late winter vacations. Here’s a double-issue instalment of the great science journalism we’ve enjoyed during July and August. Seen, read or listened to anything you think we’ve missed? Let us know in the comments below. High Hopes: Who Will Benefit From NZ’s Legal … Read More
Sarah-Jane O'Connor • Jun 29, 2018 •
From human stories about the impacts of meth testing, to whether or not to debate scientific facts, here are some of the stories that caught our eye at the Science Media Centre this month. Seen, read, listened to anything great? Let us know in the comments. NZ’s natural born killer: Inside our war on stoats Jamie Morton, NZ Herald … Read More
Sarah-Jane O'Connor • May 31, 2018 •
It may come as no surprise that at the Science Media Centre we consume a lot of media; it’s very much our job to keep abreast of what’s happening in New Zealand particularly in the science scene. But we also know that for those of you who aren’t eyes-deep in media on a daily basis, it can be hard to … Read More
Guest Author • Mar 23, 2018 •
Jennifer Beckett, University of Melbourne and Monica Whitty, University of Melbourne This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article. Six months after the explosive allegations of sexual harassment against Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein came to light, giving impetus to the #MeToo movement, this series looks at the aftermath of … Read More
Guest Author • Mar 20, 2018 •
Tamar Carroll, Rochester Institute of Technology and Lara Nicosia, Rochester Institute of Technology This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article. Movements like #MeToo are drawing increased attention to the systemic discrimination facing women in a range of professional fields, from Hollywood and journalism to banking and government. Discrimination is … Read More
Guest Author • Mar 09, 2018 •
Babak Abedin, University of Technology Sydney This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article. Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey took to the social platform last week to announce a call-out for ideas about how to measure the health of online conversations. The initiative follows recent demands for government to regulate the … Read More
Jean Balchin • Jan 17, 2018 •
‘Every journalist who is not too stupid or too full of himself to notice what is going on knows that what he does is morally indefensible.’ This is the opening line of Janet Malcolm’s sharp, analytical book The Journalist and the Murderer. Published in 1983, the book still challenges journalists these days. Malcolm is a cunning, insightful journalist. Read More