Welcome to the latest edition of the University media digest, which covers major media appearances during the month of February.
In February, media appearances relating to the University created over 207 million opportunities to view and hear stories via print, broadcast and online outlets. A total of 2,948 news clippings were logged in media outlets based across 28 countries and tweets about press releases from the university twitter account reached over 170 thousand users.
Below is a selection of stories which reached regional, national and international audiences:
Carbon records make waves
Two pieces of research by Gavin Foster and colleagues in Ocean and Earth Science gained major international media coverage over a two week period. The first paper, looking at climate sensitivity during the Pliocene to predict future climate change, was covered by BBC News, The Washington Post, The Daily Mail, The Independent, International Business Times, Scientific American and The Belfast Telegraph, as well as numerous other outlets to create over 160 news clippings. The second paper, which suggested a release of carbon from the deep ocean helped to end the last ice age, also received coverage on the BBC News website and The Mail Online, as well as BBC Radio 5 Live, The Times of India, The Economic Times, The Business Standard, Business Insider (Australia), Fox News, The Irish Examiner and various other outlets.
Detecting dark matter
News of a proposed particle that may help detect dark matter was reported around the world including The Independent, The Daily Mail, NBC News (USA), Times of India, Wired magazine, Gizmag, Red Orbit and Tech Times. Lead author of the study, James Bateman, also conducted an interview with BBC Radio Solent.
World’s first real-time ‘mixed reality’ ski race
There was worldwide coverage for the world’s first real-time ‘mixed reality’ ski race including BBC Click , The Discovery Channel, and Electronics Weekly.
Eating disorders and financial issues
Research by Dr Tom Richardson into the relationship between financial problems and eating disorders was covered by The Independent, Fox news, ITV Meridian, BBC Radio Solent and several specialist websites. Tom was also interviewed on BBC Radio 4’s Women’s Hour programme.
A related piece of research into tuitions fees and mental wellbeing appeared in the Times Higher and the University Herald.
Academics on the airways
During February, Professor Mark Nixon appeared on BBC Newsnight talking about facial recognition software. You can view the feature here via the BBC News website.
Professor Jane Ball was interviewed on BBC Radio Four’s File on Four programme and Professor David Sear spoke with BBC Countryfile’s Matt Baker about the lost Suffolk town of Dunwich reaching an estimated 6.5 million viewers. Darren Naish’s interview about a new species of dinosaur featured across 36 local BBC radio stations.
Malaysia Campus Experts Featured
A series of articles featuring academics from the University of Malaysia Campus are currently featuring in The Sun newspaper in Malaysia. The latest academic featured is Dr Low Sow Yiong whose expertise lies in Electronic Systems, Circuits and Mathematics. The Sun reaches an estimated 305,000 readers in Malaysia every day.
The Conversation
University academics contributed 16 opinion pieces to The Conversation during February and March. These articles had a total readership of nearly 500,000 and were republished on popular websites including IFL Science, Business Insider and The Huffington Post. Top articles included Jorg Wiedenmann’s Revealed: why some corals are more colourful than others, Pia Riggirozzi’s What is going on in Argentina with President Fernandez de Kirchner? and John Dearing’s China farming boom has left ecosystems in danger of total collapse
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If you have a story, or are undertaking research that you think might be of interest to the press, please contact us on press@soton.ac.uk. You can also view a more comprehensive listing of the University’s latest media coverage at http://www.soton.ac.uk/mediacentre/news/in_the_news/current.shtml