Relationships Between the Media and Academe

April 16, 2010

Graeme Orr, University of Queensland School of Law, has published Academics and the Media in Australia, at 52 Australian Universities’ Review 23 (2010). Here is the abstract.

Little has been written about the relationship between academia and the media. This essay describes, from a legal academic’s perspective, three models through which academics can engage with the media. (1) Generalist or public intellectual; (2) Advocate or activist; (3) Educator of sub-disciplinary expert. It couches these models within both the traditional wariness of academia towards the media and changing landscapes such as the rise of blogging and the ‘corporate’ university. Legal academics, chiefly being sub-disciplinary specialists, are more suited to the activist or educator models than public intellectualism. Ultimately the essay argues that engagement with the media is a valuable form of academic service, if practised within an ethic of self-restraint.

Download the essay from SSRN at the link.