biancanogrady

biancanogrady, 11 days ago to journalism

Another damning indictment of the state of Australian journalism: fossil fuel company Ampol is the platinum sponsor of our pre-eminent journalism awards, the Walkeys.
And the foundation that administers these awards is refusing to answer questions on that sponsorship, despite a growing threat of boycotts of the awards.
Good work by Nick Feik in Crikey: https://www.crikey.com.au/2024/05/07/walkley-foundation-awards-fossil-fuels-ampol-boycott/
#journalism #ClimateChange #TheWalkleys

biancanogrady, 15 days ago to journalism

So in news that will come as no surprise to any Australian journalists, Australia has dropped 12 places on the World Press Freedom Index to 39th place, because, “Press freedom is not constitutionally guaranteed in this island-continent of 26 million people, but a hyperconcentration of the media combined with growing pressure from the authorities endanger public interest journalism.” https://rsf.org/en/index #journalism #WorldPressFreedomDay

biancanogrady, 1 month ago to random

Thinking of delivering online workshops in freelance journalism. Anyone got recommendations for good platforms to use for this sort of thing?
#training #workshops #WritingWorkshops

biancanogrady, 1 month ago to random

Absolute bloody genius.
Fantastic work by the Climate Council: https://youtu.be/sOnSocz4amY

biancanogrady, 1 month ago to menopause

To HRT or not to HRT?
The question of how to manage menopause is one that half the population will grapple with at some point in their life.
And if a science journalist who's written extensively about women's health and hormones is struggling to answer it, what does that say about how well society is supporting people through this transition?
#menopause #perimenopause #HRT #MHT #hormones #womenshealth
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2024/apr/01/perimenopause-symptoms-what-are-they-how-to-treat

biancanogrady, 2 months ago to random

A Tale of Two Headlines: aka Why We Need Science Journalists.
(left is the Guardian. Right is Herald Sun).

Headline reads: 'Shock new Covid jab health risk finding'. Subhead: A worrying study by researchers in Australia and New Zealand has revealed the risks of Pfizer, Modern (sic) and AstraZeneca vaccines.

biancanogrady, 3 months ago to science

Why does science journalism matter?
Because a healthy democracy needs a science-informed public, and that needs good #ScienceJournalism.
It matters to #science too, because science journalism holds science and scientists to account, shines a light in the dark and hidden corners, and reports on the policy and funding issues that matter both to scientists and the general public.
So I had a rant about this for The Brilliant: https://thebrilliant.com/opinion/why-does-science-journalism-matter/

biancanogrady, 5 months ago to climate

Appalled that fossil fuel company Ampol sponsors an award at my kids' regional highschool.
The tentacles of this insidious climate-wrecking beast stretch very far indeed.
And their corporate reputation-laundering is straight out of the tobacco industry playbook.
#FossilFuel #ClimateChange #Climate #Greenwashing

biancanogrady, 5 months ago to climate

Well this ain't good:

https://www.afac.com.au/docs/default-source/bushfire-seasonal-outlook/summer-2023/afac-seasonal-bushfire-outlook_summer_2023.pdf
#bushfire #wildfire #summer #climatechange #elnino2023

biancanogrady, 5 months ago to SciComm

New Zealand microbiologist Associate Professor Siouxsie Wiles is suing her employer, the University of Auckland, for not doing enough to protect her from the online/IRL abuse and harassment she endured as a high-profile scientist-communicator during the pandemic.
The case includes discussions of academic freedom, and the importance of institutions supporting academics to exercise their role as 'critic and conscience'.
But the counter is whether health and safety considerations pose a limitation to academic freedom.
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-023-03518-0
#pandemic #ScienceCommunication #scicomm #AcademicFreedom

biancanogrady, 5 months ago to climate

It's a triple-whammy summer for the Southern Hemisphere this year, with the combination of climate change, El Niño and the Indian Ocean Dipole promising extreme heat, drought and rainfall events: https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-023-03547-9
#ClimateChange #ExtremeWeatherEvents #summer #ElNino #climate

biancanogrady, 6 months ago to random

As the grand-daughter of Holocaust survivors, I condemn in the strongest possible terms the #genocide being perpetrated by the Israeli government against the Palestinian people.
There is no excuse – not ever – for the extermination of an entire people.
You'd think of all the governments on this planet, the Israeli government would have that unbreakable principle coded in their DNA.
#Gaza #genocide

biancanogrady, 7 months ago to random

If you don't know ... read this.
https://www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/news/indigenous-affairs/2023/10/14/marcia-langton-whatever-the-outcome-reconciliation-dead
#VoteYES #VoteYes23

biancanogrady, 8 months ago to random

That whole 'If you don't know, vote no' so perfectly encapsulates what's wrong with conservatism: if you don't understand it, rather than make the effort to try to educate yourself, just switch on that good 'ole knee-jerk ignorant fear reaction and reject it. #Yes23

biancanogrady, 8 months ago to random

9pm at the end of a long day of work and I'm reading about flippases, floppases and scramblases and thinking some molecular biologist is really taking the piss here.

biancanogrady, 8 months ago to Insurance

We live in a highly bushfire-prone area in Australia. These are our annual house insurance premiums in the past six years:
2018 - $2645
2019 - $2745
2020 - $3124
2021 - $3396
2022 - $4069
2023 - $5582
If #insurance becomes unaffordable unless you live in a low-risk area, a significant percentage of Australians will be unable to insure their homes because of #bushfire, #flood, #cyclone risk.
So what does that mean in a future where these #climate events are more likely and more severe?
If the insurance industry decides a significant percentage of Australians are uninsurable, and that same percentage are highly like to experience extreme weather events, whose responsibility is to to support those individuals when the inevitable happens?
Sure, we could argue that people shouldn't live in fire/flood prone areas, but when those areas include entire towns eg Lismore, or suburbs of major cities eg Canberra, that argument doesn't work. We can't all live in CBD high-rises. So where are we going to live in a #climatechange future?
I don't have answers here. I'm assuming that our home will burn in my lifetime. I'm privileged that - for the moment - we can afford these premiums. But this price rises are going to create an uninsured underclass, who will be already disadvantaged economically, and who will bear the brunt of climate-change impacts.

biancanogrady, 9 months ago to random

A sad day for #ScienceJournalism with the death of Egyptian science journalist Mohammed Yahia. He was a courageous and brilliant #journalist and editor at
@Nature and most recently at Chemical & Engineering News. Vale.
https://cen.acs.org/people/obituaries/CEN-editor-in-chief-Mohammed-Yahia-dies-at-age-41/101/web/2023/08

biancanogrady, 9 months ago to random

Mary-Louise McLaws was a beacon of calm, clear, rational scientific communication during the #covid #pandemic. As a journalist, I was grateful she always responded to my requests for comment, making herself available when I'm sure her phone was ringing off the hook day and night.
She was so dedicated to her work, to helping everyone – especially the general public – make sense of what was such a terrifying, confusing time. She gave so much of herself to that, even when it brought a storm of trolling, harassment and abuse down on her head.
My deepest sympathies to her loved ones, and I hope they know how many other people around the country and world will be grieving her loss as well. Vale #MaryLouiseMcLaws
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-08-13/mary-louise-mclaws-renowned-epidemiologist-dies/102724932

biancanogrady, 9 months ago to journalism

So happy to see three fantastic science journalists make the
finalist list for the Eureka Prize for Science Journalism this year: Nicky Phillips at Nature, Michael Slezak at ABC and Jo Chandler at Griffith Review. Go read/watch their stuff - they're brilliant.
https://australian.museum/get-involved/eureka-prizes/2023-eureka-prizes-finalists/
#ScienceJournalism #Journalism #Science

biancanogrady, 10 months ago to climate

Four years ago, I would have thought a catastrophic #summer like the one currently devastating the northern hemisphere would precipitate drastic action on #ClimateChange
Then Australia had its 2019/2020 Black Summer of #bushfires and #drought, millions of hectares burned, record-breaking heat, billions of animals died, hundreds of homes destroyed ... and within a few years our government was approving new coal mines and gas extraction.
Maybe the EU/US won't repeat our stupidity ... but I'm not optimistic.

biancanogrady, 1 year ago to random

In this job, you occasionally come across people facing truly tragic scenarios. I'm always awed by the strength and courage these people manage to find to keep going, doing what they have to do.
This story is one such case: meeting the parents of children with childhood #dementia.
It's a condition that claims more young lives in Australia than childhood cancer, yet receives 1/20th of the funding.
Meet Ethan, Ronin and Emily: https://www.theguardian.com/society/2023/may/15/you-mean-theres-nothing-the-families-fighting-for-their-children-with-dementia
#ChildhoodDementia #SanfilippoSyndrome