Conversation starters

Picture of Alfred Hermida and Mary Lynn Young talking

Academic researchers today are increasingly encouraged to disseminate their findings to the broader public—but accurate and impactful media coverage can be hard to attract, especially for younger, emerging scholars. Enter The Conversation: a global non-profit initiative that features online news and editorial content from academics, guided by journalists, that is freely available for republication by other media outlets.

“The Conversation breaks down the barriers between academia and journalism, which has traditionally been a relationship where one has been reporting other,” explains UBC Graduate School of Journalism director Alfred Hermida, who, with associate professor of journalism Mary Lynn Young, co-founded the Canadian edition of the site.

“The Conversation said, ‘What about if have them as partners working together? That’s essentially what it is: a partnership between journalism and academia.”

The Conversation began in Australia in 2011, where it started as a university-funded project. The venture quickly took off, expanding to include editions in the UK, Africa, the US and France. The most recent expansion has been the Canadian edition, which launched as an independent non-profit in June 2017 with support from federal grants, two foundations and partner universities.

It was no simple feat to bring about: “What we discovered is the journalism side is almost the easy part. It’s the everything else—fundraising and setting up the non-profit,” notes Alfred. He and Mary Lynn first applied for, and received, a SSHRC (Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council) Connection Grant for a feasibility study. That was followed up by a SSHRC Partnership Development Grant, which provided the seed capital to hire staff and launch the site.

In addition to funding, says Alfred, there was the legal side: “We had to create a non-profit society, and we had to figure out contracts with Australia, because we’d licensed the brand and technology from them.” He and Mary Lynn credit former UBC President Stephen Toope, UBC Vice-President, External Relations Philip Steenkamp, and UBC’s Associate University Counsel, Mark Crosbie, with helping support their efforts internally.

The Conversation breaks down the barriers between academia and journalism, which has traditionally been a relationship where one has been reporting other
Alfred Hermida

Today, The Conversation Canada is an unmitigated success, having attracted over 17 million page impressions since its launch. It has published more than 1,000 articles by Canadian academics, many sparking lively discussions in the comments section (the site has almost 9,000 comments to date). Many academics who write for The Conversation see their contributions gain traction online, with pieces republished under Creative Commons license in prominent outlets that include Maclean’s, Toronto Star, National Post, Daily Mail, The Guardian, The Washington Post and CNN, among others. When articles are republished, The Conversation stipulates that they cannot be altered or edited in any way, providing piece of mind for the authors.

“Many academics have unfortunately had experiences being misquoted in the media,” says Mary Lynn, noting that a couple of bad experience can turn an academic off media interviews altogether. With The Conversation, they appreciate having a sense of control, and can fulfill their duties in knowledge translation. “One of the reasons some of the big universities sign on is to develop early career scholars and develop their public communication capacity and interest,” she adds.

The Conversation Canada does have a staff of six editors, who not only help academics refine their contributions but also pitch articles to other media outlets. That’s of particular help to early career academics looking to attract notice. “This can help to develop the profile of doctoral students,” Alfred observes. “After publishing articles, some of them will get calls from other academics to work on projects or will get asked to speak at conferences, so it raises their profile within their field—as well as developing communication skills.”

Ultimately, The Conversation presents a new model for journalism that provides advantages for all parties involved: academics gain a platform for disseminating their research; mainstream media gain a source of new and intriguing content; and the public gains access to new information. And, best of all, it’s free of click-bait. Says Mary Lynn: “This is high-quality explanatory journalism content that moves globally, nationally and locally, supporting as wide access as possible to important and under-covered research.”

To join in The Conversation Canada, visit: www.theconversation.com/ca