Science Media Centre

Director of the UK Science Media Centre, Fiona Fox, discusses the interplay between universities, journalists and editors in the wake of her presentation to the Leveson inquiry. From her blog on science and the media. An excerpt (read in full here): Dodgy science headlines: PR can share the blame Two weeks ago I was called [...]

In the New Zealand Herald, Auckland based writer Graham Reid uses the release of The Best Australian Science Writing 2011 as an opportunity to look at the difficulties of reporting on science. An excerpt (read in full here): Book Review: The Best Australian Science Writing 2011 Science is a problem for mainstream media. It isn’t [...]

Writing in the Press, Prof John Fairweather of Lincoln University shares some of his insights into how innovation works in New Zealand. Prof Fairweather undertook a Government-funded research programme to identify conditions under which socio-technical networks best foster technology development, adoption and commercialisation. His perspective article in the Press gives an idea of what is [...]

An editorial in this week’s Waikato Times highlights the issue of commercial fisheries in the Antarctic. The topic was also raised last month,  when South African ecologist Professor Steven L  Chown gave a lecture in New Zealand arguing that our government should seek special marine protection status for the whole of the Ross Sea in [...]

An article published in the New Zealand Herald highlights the battle between scientists and sceptics, with NASA scientist James Hansen noting that increasing scientific evidence is competing with industry spin. Jim Hansen toured New Zealand earlier this year, singling out lignite mining as an industry New Zealand must abandon if it aims to reach it [...]

A new opinion article in Cosmos magazine examines nanotechnology regulation – an issue which was the focus of a recent NZ government report. Nanotechnology is becoming more and more prevalent in our daily lives, but are there risks being overlooked? In the latest issue of Cosmos Magazine, the problems posed by this emerging technology are [...]

Two of  NIWA’s principal  scientists have launched a “primer” for their proposal to create a New Zealand Climate Change Atlas to help scientists and policymakers probe the major ramifications of a changing climate for both coastal and offshore waters around New Zealand. Researchers Philip Boyd, an  adjunct professor of ocean biogeochemistry at Otago University and [...]

Decisions on where to invest more public money in research are “political”,  says the head of the national science academy, Dr Garth Carnaby. As president of the Royal Society, he had tried to set out for politicians the different “value propositions” for public intervention in alternative areas. “There are a wide range of views in [...]

Scientists and other researchers in the nation’s primary-production sectors canvassed the role of science and innovation in Wellington during a forum which also featured warm-up head-butting by politicians preparing for November’s general election. Excerpts from recorded highlights of some presentations delivered at the Institute of Agricultural and Horticultural Science forum are available for playback. Dr [...]

In the lead up to the election, the Dominion Post has quizzed National and Labour on what the key issues are in the agricultural sector. Excerpts (read in full here): Big issues loom over agriculture With Parliament rising on Thursday, and campaigning for Election 2011 getting under way in earnest, the parties were asked to [...]

According to Prof Sir Paul Callaghan, the Kiwi media are doing OK, but could do better in science coverage – especially regarding the environment. Scientific accuracy and the New Zealand media have been publicly discussed in in the wake of a recent fiasco arising from an error about the distance of a supernova from the [...]

The Science Media Centre’s latest Heads-Up newsletter is out – bringing you the latest science and tech news and a peek at what’s coming up in the week ahead. Click on the image below to read the Heads-Up.