Broadcast - a media review
When student success stories make it into the media, it’s a reminder to audiences beyond the campus community that the University is a place for discovery and adventure at all academic levels.
Jacqui Bealing, Senior Media Relations Manager
After finding a 2000-year-old arrowhead in the sediment of a lake in California during a field trip, geography student Mirea Lauria was surprised and delighted that her story was featured by ITV Meridian, Juice FM and Heart FM.
And Product Design students were made up when ITV Meridian, The Argus and Latest TV gave coverage to their innovative ideas showcased at their end-of-degree show.
At the upper end of academia, there were plenty of research stories making a national – and international – splash this month.
Dr David Reby’s study on the gender stereotyping ascribed to babies’ cries was picked up BBC Radio 4’s ‘All in the Mind’, while Professor Benjamin Sovacool’s analysis of the future of fossil fuels stoked energy arguments in Huffington Post and Newsweek and Professor Sriram Subraiman’s new ultrasound technology for turning our skin into a touch screen sparked the interest of Sky News and others.
Commentators on major news stories this month included Dr Paul Lashmar and Professor Dan Hough, who both discussed the Panama Papers revelations on tax avoidance schemes of the rich. Paul joined a BBC Radio 5 Live discussion on the value of such leaks in exposing corruption, while Dan noted for The Conversation that the government should use this an opportunity to lead the way in reforming global rules on financial transactions.
In the recent sad spate of celebrity deaths, The Conversation featured pieces by Andy Medhurst on treasured comedienne Victoria Wood, Richard Elliott on pop icon Prince, and Professor Lyn Thomas on Rob Titchener – not exactly a celebrity, but certainly the most evil character ever created in BBC Radio 4’s farming drama, ‘The Archers’.
Even though he died 400 years ago, there’s still plenty to be said about Shakespeare according to Professor Andrew Hadfield talking to The Irish Times, while Dr Odul Bozkurt reflected for The Argus on the demise of another institution, British Home Stores.
Bach to the future, a new era dawned at the Attenborough Centre this week with the arrival of a Steinway piano. Professor Ed Hughes told BBC Sussex that the instrument, bought through a donation from Genesis keyboard player Tony Banks, would create performance opportunities for music students as well as being a draw for some of the world’s greatest pianists.