Deborah Richards - ABC
2005 ABC Science Media Fellowship
For six weeks in 2005, I had the opportunity to become a rooky journalist within the Science Unit at the
Australian Broadcasting Commission (ABC) in Harris St, Ultimo, Sydney. I started with a week of intensive
training learning about writing press releases, briefings, news articles and other science stories for TV,
radio, newspaper, magazines and new media (online). During training I practised how to conduct an interview;
the what, why, where, when and how of stories and how to write a lead paragraph that made you want to read
on. I watched the frantic and amazingly synchronised manouvers involved in talk-back radio on LifeMatters and
JJJ; found out that studio makeup artists spend 1 hour preparing women and 20 minutes preparing men (why is
that?), and got to meet in the flesh (actually fur and cloth) Big Ted and Jemima from Play School, see the
photo below.
More background Media
Maven in the Making - Macquarie University Staff News
Read or listen to some of the segments I was involved in for Radio National. There is
more material to come, so watch out for it. Comments welcome.
Life Matters
10 November 2005 - Artificial Intelligence - How Smart
Life Matters
25 November 2005 - Maths the Great Divider
The
Science Show
10 December 2005 - Maths Anxiety Just Doesn't Add Up
The Science Show
28 January ]2006 - The Water Cooler Effect
Perspective
10 February 2006 - Surviving Year 12 - A parent's viewpoint
Perspective
28 April 2006 - Where have all the scientists gone?
Games
and Emotions - interview with Grant Travinor at the "Interactive
Entertainment" Conference 2005, Sydney
Games
and Ethics - interview with Pippin Barr at the "Interactive
Entertainment" Conference 2005, Sydney
Photos
Debbie Richards
Associate Professor
Computing Department
Division of Information and Communication Sciences
Macquarie University,
Sydney 2109, AUSTRALIA
Email: richards@ics.mq.edu.au
Telephone: +61 2 9850 9567
Facsimile: +61 2 9850 9551
E-mail me: richards@ics.mq.edu.au