Recently my colleagues and I announced the discovery of a remarkable planet orbiting a special kind of star known as a pulsar. Based on the planet’s density, and the likely history of its system, we concluded…
MEDIA & DEMOCRACY: On the final day of The Conversation’s series on how the media influences the way our representatives develop policy, John Keane examines how the relationships between politicians…
MEDIA & DEMOCRACY - Stephan Lewandowsky and Ullrich Ecker have some tips on how avoid being fooled by the media. Bad media can do considerable harm. Professor Stephen Kull has been keeping track of…
MEDIA & DEMOCRACY - Natalie Latter wonders if there are some subjects that don’t really require balance. There’s a principle of balance that applies to news reporting. It’s important for journalists…
MEDIA & DEMOCRACY - Tim Lambert wants to know why we’re always asking a man in Speedos for his expert opinion. There is a scientific consensus on global warming – 97% of active climatologists agree…
MEDIA & DEMOCRACY: Today, Alyce McGovern and Elaine Fishwick look at how the impact a tabloid campaign has had on the law as part of The Conversation’s week-long series on how the media influences…
MEDIA & DEMOCRACY: Today, Anne Tiernan looks at how voters have become consumers of political marketing, as part of The Conversation’s week-long series on how the media influences the way our representatives…
MEDIA & DEMOCRACY - Michael Ashley investigates the national paper’s op-ed policy. The “event horizon” of a black hole is one of the most mind-boggling concepts in astrophysics. The black hole’s stupendous…
MEDIA & DEMOCRACY - Ove Hoegh-Guldberg dives into the media’s coverage of an Australian icon’s future. One of the most straightforward climate change storylines is the link between global warming and…
Interesting to read AFL CEO Andrew Demetriou’s thoughts on the next broadcasting rights deal, given that the league has yet to work out how to divvy up the money from the deal it recently negotiated with…
General Comment No. 34 on Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights may sound like something from a bureaucratic nightmare, but it drags your right to freedom of expression into the digital…
The mining industry, led by the Minerals Council of Australia, has written to members asking for funds to under take a new advertising campaign to attack the carbon tax. In his letter to members, Minerals…
You just have to turn on the television or catch a glimpse of a magazine newsstand to see how girls are being thrust into adulthood earlier and earlier. But does biology match societal change? Are girls…
Debates have raged in the media in the aftermath of recent events in News Ltd UK. Curtailing the freedom of the press; the ethics of methods used to source stories; quality of media reporting; and the…
Who would have predicted there would be serious talk of a statutory privacy tort in Australia, giving private individuals who feel their privacy as been breached the right to sue? But then again, who would…
On Tuesday, the ACT government held Australia’s first virtual community cabinet using Twitter. Four ministers faced a barrage of tweets in an hour long question and answer session held with the electorate…
The discovery of an Australian link to the horrifying murders of dozens of people by Anders Breivik in Norway has demonstrated the reach of connection in today’s globalised world. As a result of the ability…
While “Murdochgate” rolls on, the question of what it means for Australia has inevitably been attracting considerable attention. In this discussion, News Ltd itself has played a leading role. For those…
It’s a cliché to say that we like em’ dying young. Marilyn Monroe, James Dean, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin. A cliché, yes, but a beseeching one nevertheless. Amy Winehouse’s death over the weekend – untimely…
When injustice is done, when the innocent are threatened, a common expression of sympathy is “I am one of you”. So, as the famous movie line goes, “I am Spartacus,” or a little more recently, “Ich bin…