Learning in both worlds : academic journalism as a research outcome

Works of journalism by journalism academics can be valuable outcomes of research without making the claim that they are scholarly works per se. In the discussion of the feature article Learning in both worlds that follows, I make a case for the importance of writing and publishing this piece of journalism as an outcome of my research on the interplay of news media and bilingual education policy in Australia’s Northern Territory 1988-2008. I also advocate the ‘experimental’ possibilities such works of journalism offer for ‘testing’ research findings, concepts and theories.

The sex factor : media representations of women and men in Australia

Guest edited and with an introduction by Janine Little, this collection of five scholarly articles deals with the Australian media's representation of women in coverage of some of the most controversial issues in contemporary society. The authors are from the disciplines of sociology, journalism and literary studies, with four from Deakin University and one from Flinders University, Adelaide. This enables the monograph to consider a range of phenomena arising from the way that Australia situates women and men as media subjects

'Catastrophic failure' theories and disaster journalism : evaluating media explanations of the Black Saturday bushfires

 In recent decades, academic researchers of natural disasters and emergency management have developed a canonical literature on ‘catastrophe failure’ theories such as disaster responses from US emergency management services (Drabek, 2010; Quarantelli, 1998) and the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant (Perrow, 1999). This article examines six influential theories from this field in an attempt to explore why Victoria’s disaster and emergency management response systems failed during Australia’s Black Saturday bushfires. How well, if at all, are these theories understood by journalists, disaster and emergency management planners, and policy-makers? In examining the Country Fire Authority’s response to the fires, as well as the media’s reportage of them, we use the 2009 Black Saturday bushfires as a theory-testing case study of failures in emergency management, preparation and planning. We conclude that journalists can learn important lessons from academics’ specialist knowledge about disaster and emergency management responses.

Journalism ethics and law: stories of media practice

Journalism Ethics and Law ignites the conversation about journalism ethics and the function of the law in today’s media. Emphasising a practical work-based approach to develop best practice multimedia journalism; this book presents a combined ethics and law experience for journalism students and uses stories and case studies to highlight the most significant questions for the practice of law and ethics today.

Journalism Ethics and Law offers readers a new way about thinking about journalism ethics and empowers future journalists to make good and ethical decisions in the field.