Jacqui Bealing
Senior Press Officer
Global coverage recently given to research and accredited to the University of Sussex about the falling pay of cocoa farmers was actually work carried out by the Institute of Development Studies with Cadbury.
As happens sometimes with media coverage, the key research group or institution fails to get that crucial name check. We’re trying to put the record straight!
We can genuinely take the credit for plenty of other media mentions, however. Global, if not universal, coverage was given to Dr Mark Hindmarsh’s discovery of the hint of “cosmic string”. The Times of India (22 January), Canada Free Press (20 January), New Scientist (21 January) and BBC Online (23 January) were among the many that ran stories about what the research could tell us about these lines of pure mass energy.
Also garnering media attention last month was Professor Ladislaus Löb’s account of the “Hungarian Schindler”, Reszö Kasztner. He made a double-page spread in the Argus (28 January) and has been interviewed by the new-look Times Higher Education.
Speaking of which, Professor Joanne Wright was quoted in the THE on the subject of teaching-only academics (24 January) and Andy Medhurst’s book, A National Joke, was given a glowing review (24 January).
Among those appearing on the television recently have been Professor Dora Duka, who contributed to BBC2’s ‘Horizon’ (5 February) on the physiological harm of binge drinking; Professor Erik Millstone, who was on Channel 4’s ‘Dispatches’ (17 January) discussing policies to tackle obesity; and Professor Naser Sayma, who was on BBC's ‘Newsnight’ (18 January) talking about engines and the Boeing 777 crash.
Soundbites for BBC Southern Counties Radio included Dr Clive Webb on ‘Super Tuesday’ of the US presidential contest (5 February) and Dr Mark Hindmarsh once again on cosmic string (22 January).
Dr Jamie Ward talked about synaesthesia in art, specifically in connection with the composer and synaesthete, Olivier Messiaen, on BBC Radio 3’s ‘Nightwaves’ (28 January).
For all the bits I’ve missed, see January’s ‘Sussex in the News’ at www.sussex.ac.uk/pressandcomms/1-4-6.html.