Below are a few examples of issues that the Australian Science Media Centre has been involved with in some way. If you are not familiar with the way we operate, this page provides a few snapshots of the type of issues we deal with and the way we can assist journalists ‘behind the scenes.’
You can also find out more about the topics and issues we’re working on right now by visiting the Latest News section on our homepage.
Japanese Earthquake, Tsunami and Nuclear Incident
March 2011
Photograph courtesy of US Navy
On Friday 11th March a massive magnitude 9 earthquake struck off the coast of northern Japan. This in turn triggered a devastating tsunami that swept across the coastline of 18 prefectures obliterating whole towns and villages in its path and killing tens of thousands of people.
The AusSMC went immediately to work contacting the experts in seismology and tsunami warnings amongst other fields and rounding up scientific analysis and comment to ensure the media, and through them the wider public, were supplied with accurate scientific information to help comprehend the causes and consequences of such a devastating natural disaster.
And when the news broke that a fire had sarted at the Fukushima nuclear plant and a major nuclear incident loomed, the AusSMC again provided the media with constant reactions, analysis and opinions from a wide range of nuclear and radiation experts on all aspects of the incident such as the emergency measures being put in place to contain the incident, the effects of radiation on human health and the potential impact on the agricultural and fishing industries.
Starting immediately on the afternoon of March 11 right up until April 13 the AusSMC distributed eight detailed email alerts containing expert analysis and commentary to our database of over 400 journalists, published three blog posts written by scientific experts, and held two online briefings attended by over 100 journalists. A conservative count found Australian experts who provided comments through the AusSMC were quoted 3,359 times on the nuclear incident worldwide. 889 of these quotes featured in the Australian media and 2,470 internationally including newspapers in countries as far and wide as Japan itself, the US, Germany, UK, France, Hong Kong, Ireland, New Zealand and Spain, as well as online sites in the Philippines, Iran, Ireland, Taiwan, India, Indonesia, China and Nigeria amongst others. From March 11 to April 13 we also received 103 media enquiries on the topics of nuclear power and radiation and 31 media enquiries on the topics of earthquakes and tsunamis. Throughout it all the AusSMC liaised closely with their counterpart organisations; the Japan SMC, the UK SMC and the New Zealand SMC thus providing a 24/7 international flow of communication between the media and scientists across continents.
Examples of coverage
8000 times more energetic than NZ [The Australian]
Another huge quake likely [The Sydney Morning Herald]
Chat: Kevin McCue [Sixty Minutes - Nine MSN]
Japan Sends 50,000 Rescuers to Quake Area; Death Toll Rises [Bloomberg Businessweek]
Ocean Acidification, climate change’s ‘evil twin’
April 2011
Ocean acidification (where the water becomes more acidic) is often called ‘the evil twin of climate change’ and is considered by many to be as great a problem as increasing temperatures. The oceans not only support the nutrition and livelihoods of millions of people but also play an incredibly important role in locking down carbon, and scientists are concerned about the impact that acidification may have on marine life and future climate change. In April 2011 the AusSMC ran an online briefing at Greenhouse 2011, the science of Climate Change conference in Cairns, featuring four expert speakers associated with the conference. This included a scientist telephoning in live from her research centre in Tasmania. These experts released a new report card on the Southern Ocean based on two years of research and discussed in depth the impact on coral reefs.
As a result of this briefing, AusSMC output was directly associated with 95 news stories of which 33 were print articles including national coverage in The Australian and The Age, and 10 of which featured in overseas media content including print articles in the New Scientist and Asian News International. Content from the briefing was also featured on TV broadcasts including ABC News 24/7 and seven regional ABC channels, and on three local ABC radio stations.
Examples of coverage
Southern Ocean’s ‘fizz’ a threat to marine life ]The Age]
10 year window to save reef: expert [Gold Coast Mail]
Expert warns of reef climate change deadline [ABC Brisbane]
Ocean acidification, climate change’s ‘evil twin’: report [Climate Spectator]
Swine flu outbreak
Swine flu outbreak
April 2009
Photograph sourced from Wikipedia
The news of a swine flu outbreak in Mexico once again launched science onto the front page. As the news first broke we contacted several flu experts over the weekend and put them in touch with journalists. With panic spreading, experts were able to directly answer journalists’ questions and getting this expertise into the media very quickly changed the shape of the story. In the week that followed we sent out 3 round-ups of comments giving journalists updated quotes to use as the story unfolded and the news angles changed. By day 5 of the outbreak journalists were desperately seeking a new angle on the story and we were able to conduct an online briefing to launch a new Australian study into universal flu vaccines. This briefing generated a front page story in the Adelaide Advertiser as well as items for ABC TV, Nine News and Ten News and page 4 and 5 stories in the Courier Mail, Sydney Morning Herald and Canberra Times. The coverage of AusSMC activities during this period was substantial, with around 700 media items directly taking comments from AusSMC round-ups or featuring the experts in interviews. Our activities contributed to 10 overseas print articles, 47 Australian print articles, 66 radio spots and 45 TV stories.
Release of the cow genome
April 2009
After six years of painstaking work, a large team of Australian and international researchers released their analysis of the genome of the cow in the journal Science. The AusSMC was approached by one of the scientists involved in the study after hearing about our work launching the platypus genome sequence from a colleague. While the platypus genome had some quirky angles, the sequencing of the cow genome could have big implications for the cattle and dairy industries, biomedical research and food security. The three Australian authors involved with the analysis took part in an online briefing organised by the AusSMC. The briefing generated 160 media hits including the Sydney Morning Herald, The Australian, Canberra Times, Daily Telegraph, West Australian, The Chronicle (Toowoomba), The Daily Examiner (Grafton), The Geelong Advertiser, the Weekly Times, ABC radio and Channel 7 news
Examples of coverage
Research breakthrough paves way for ‘supercow’ [ABC Science Online]
Scientists bullish over cow genome study [The Canberra Times]
Greenhouse gas hope from cow genome map [Sydney Morning Herald]
Launch of Australia’s Alcohol Guidelines to Reduce Health Risks from Drinking
March 2009
Photograph sourced from Wikipedia
The AusSMC collaborated with the NHMRC to launch Australia’s new alcohol guidelines in March. In addition to running a media briefing to launch the report, the AusSMC also rounded-up independent expert comment and ran an online briefing for stakeholders immediately after the media event. The stakeholder event ensured GPs, regional drug and alcohol workers, medico’s and policy makers were well informed and helped to ensure informed media coverage as several of those attending the briefing were also key commentators on this issue in the media. The story received coverage on all TV stations and in regional, metro and national newspapers. In total it generated around 430 media articles, including the Herald Sun, Weekend Australian, Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, Advertiser, Canberra Times, Channel 10 news, Channel 9 News, Channel 7 news, ABC1 and over 60 radio spots. This briefing has set a great precedent for future collaborations with other government agencies and statutory bodies.
Examples of coverage
Three drink ‘binge’ a risk to your health [Daily Telegraph]
Drinkers given equal notice [The Age]
Council recommends [ABC, The World Today]
Victorian Bushfires
February 2009
Photograph sourced from Wikipedia
When a big story breaks out of the blue, the Australian Science Media Centre really comes into its own. The Victorian Bushfires were well and truly the biggest news story of the 2009 and a good example of the important role the AusSMC can play in times of crisis. The media frenzy surrounding the bushfires generated an extraordinary need for experts to help explain the ‘where, how, why’, and ‘what next’ following the tragic events of Saturday Feb 7 2009.The AusSMC was able to provide journalists with background information, evidenced based expertise, and a series of quotes from scientists to be used as a source of quotes, a list of potential interviewees or as a gauge of what the scientific community thinks about the breaking story. In total we rounded up comments from 23 experts with knowledge in areas as diverse as post-traumatic stress disorder, the psychology of arson, bushfire ecology, the welfare of wildlife and pets, fire behaviour and fuel loads, the design of houses and bunkers, bushfire burn treatment, the stay and defend policy, forensic identification and even some personal tales from experts caught in the fire themselves. Many of the experts we put the media in contact with went on to become key voices in the debates that followed. The coverage of AusSMC activities during this period included around 1700 media items directly taking comments from AusSMC round-ups or featuring experts whose interviews we had arranged. We took as many media enquires in the week after the fires as we had for the previous month. The experts featured everywhere from ABC’s Radio National to Mornings with Kerri-Anne and were used by every TV news outlet and daily newspaper in the country. Our activities generated at least nine overseas print articles, 48 Australian print articles, 77 radio spots and 39 TV stories. We took media enquiries from as far afield as the LA Times, BBC, Channel 4 (UK), Canadian Discovery Channel and Radio Netherlands.
Examples of coverage
Bushfires very hard to outrun: experts [NineMSN]
Proving murder in case of wildfire arson difficult [Seattle Times, USA]
Australians unprepared for bushfires [ABC Regional]
Cool change brought greater destruction, not relief [The Canberra Times]
Genetic variation linked to transsexualism
October 2008
Photograph sourced from Wikipedia
This story is a perfect example of how the AusSMC can inform the way the media covers potentially controversial science stories by heling experts engage openly and directly with journalists as a story is breaking. The AusSMC worked with Prince Henry’s Institute to launch potentially controversial new research which had shown specific genetic variations linked to transsexualism. It was both newsworthy and scientifically important but it was also highly sensitive. The AusSMC helped address some of the sensitivities by making the author available to directly answer journalist’s questions and explain his findings via an online briefing. We also sought broader scientific opinion by rounding up expert comment on the research. The resultant coverage was both balanced and accurate.
Examples of coverage
Genetic link to transsexualism [BBC News, UK]
Gene linked to transsexualism [Cosmos]
World’s biggest experiment to recreate big bang
September 2008
Photograph sourced from Wikipedia
The world’s biggest and most expensive scientific experiment – the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) began at CERN in Geneva on 10 September 2008. Scientists hoped that by smashing particles together at near the speed of light, the LHC would provide critical insight into origins of the universe including the mysterious ‘dark matter’ that occupies much of space. Some people feared the machine would instead create a mini-black hole that could tear the earth apart. Australia invested approximately $2.5 million in the project which was a collaboration of over 40 participating countries. The AusSMC gathered expert comment from nine of Australia’s top physicists, some of whom were involved in the experiment. They showed massive enthusiasm for the experiment, viewing it as the most significant event for the current generation of physicists. Far from being concerned about the safety of the experiment, experts rather asserted the project as an unprecedented opportunity to gain knowledge about our universe. The media displayed equal enthusiasm towards the event, with AusSMC expert opinion making 132 media appearances in print, radio, television and online. In Australia the coverage featured in The Australian, The Sydney Morning Herald, The Canberra Times, The Sunday Age and the ABC, while overseas the Hindustan Times and Fiji Times ran with the story, with many putting the project into perspective and allaying doomsday fears stories in what is often the quietest period of the year.
‘Big Bang’ experiment experiment hailed as scientific milestone [ABC Science Online]
You can also find out more about the topics and issues we’re working on right now by visiting the Latest News section on our homepage.