Alexandra Wake

The visual tile shows an image of stethoscope lying on top of a blurry newspaper, with the text " New Research!" and "Feng, S., Li, X. (Leah), & Wake, A. N. (2025). Journalistic cultural competence for health journalists: a systematic review and overview of reviews using concept analysis. Media International Australia"

What is journalistic cultural competence? Find out in the latest @mediaintaus.bsky.social article by 3C's Shi Feng, Leah Li and @wakeinfright.bsky.social. Here: doi.org/10.1177/1329...

Contributor: Mass shooters aren't mentally ill people who suddenly snap. They decide to kill Don't make mental illness the bogeyman of mass shootings. It gets in the way of preventing attacks like the one at the Buffalo, N.Y., supermarket.

4/ Here's a piece I wrote for the LA Times specifically about blaming mental illness as the fundamental cause of mass shootings — wrong. www.latimes.com/opinion/stor...

Brief 🧵, as someone who has studied mass shootings for 13 years:

-gender does not cause them
-SSRIs, no
-mental illness, no
-internet/gaming, no

Above can be compounding factors—but motive is complex, often very. The most fundamental combo:

suicidality + rage + isolation + easy access to guns

In Andor, the real world political parallels are impossible to ignore In its second season, what happens in the acclaimed Star Wars thriller is hard to separate from what’s happening in Gaza now

In Andor, the real world political parallels are impossible to ignore

What would – and should – happen to the ABC under the next federal government? In Donald Trump’s America, public broadcasters have felt the full force of his swingeing cuts – it would be disastrous if the same happened in Australia.

'[Work of]Radio Australia & ABC Australia is vital, not only to bolster national security by providing trusted news & information about Australia & its allies, but by working alongside local #Indo-Pacific news organisations.' #journalism @wakeinfright.bsky.social theconversation.com/what-would-a...

What would – and should – happen to the ABC under the next federal government? In Donald Trump’s America, public broadcasters have felt the full force of his swingeing cuts – it would be disastrous if the same happened in Australia.

Why has there been immediate resistance to Opposition Leader Peter Dutton’s statement that a Coalition government would “reward excellence” and “keep funding in place” if the ABC is “being run efficiently”? #abc #funding #efficiency

theconversation.com/what-would-a...

From a source: “Just had a co-presenter for a buildings research conference bow out. She’s a dual citizen and the FBI came knocking to ask her about her involvement in coauthoring chunks of the Paris Agreement.

Climate science is being literally (and I mean literally) criminalized.”

Cardboard placards containing handwritten messages: “Stop Climate Change” and ”Stop Global Warming”. The text is: New research! Wake, A., & Smith, S. (2024). Reporting hunger strikes in the context of climate action. Media International Australia.

Check out the latest edition of Media International Australia for an article by 3C’s @wakeinfright.bsky.social with Sharon Smith: “Reporting hunger strikes in the context of climate action”. Read it here: doi.org/10.1177/1329...
#journalism #hungerstrike #climatechange

Anyone know people who work at EY in Wellington because it seems a really bad to have every light on with no one in the building. Next door the Reserve Bank has its lights off. #ErnstYoung #Wellington #lightsout

not against bikes as transportation but it’s often not safe

Anyone else thinking it’s time for a bike strategy on #metrotrains ? Bike carriages, pay for a ticket,
not allows at times: tired of falling over bikes -
particularly e-bike couriers - at peak hour. #melbourne

Fighting Fires—and the Rumor Mill—as L.A. Burns ‘The worst I’ve ever seen.’ Skyrocketing misinformation is forcing public officials to adopt a new playbook when tragedies hit their communities

Kind of crazy that this week, of all weeks, was the one when so much of Silicon Valley gave up on fighting lies. www.wsj.com/us-news/los-...

Can You Tell Me How to Get Someone to Save 'Sesame Street'? With its Warner Bros. Discovery contract about to expire, TV critic Alan Sepinwall explains why the beloved children's series deserves to survive.

We have larger concerns heading into 2025, but I can't let go of the idea that the next season of Sesame Street could be its last. So I wrote about why the kids' TV institution is still vital after more than 50 years:

4/4 Here is the article if you are interested. #climateaction #hungerstrike #journalism #mainstream #reporting

“Reporting hunger strikes in the context of climate action” is now published and is available at doi.org/10.1177/1329...

3/4 We concluded mainstream news media shouldn't be ignoring climate-action hunger strikes because they are, at their heart, political actions, but we are concerned about the impact on potentially vulnerable groups (such as children) and have suggested warnings do need to be included.

2/4
We wanted to understand why mainstream newsrooms weren't covering it (was it because of concerns about copycats?) We took a deep dive into a case study and jumped into the literature. While we aren't 100% sure we have the answer right we do hope we start a conversation based on evidence.

Final journal article out for the year. My colleague Sharon Smith and I were interested in the increasing number of Australians who are taking hunger strike action in an attempt to raise concern about climate change. 1/4 #climateaction #hungerstrike #journalism #mainstream #reporting

The dismissal…
my mother was outraged

the academic urge to nod encouragingly at flight attendant giving safety demonstration

Absolutely thrilled that the govt has put money into journalism through the News Media Assistance Program! Now if the Education Minister can cut the cost of journalism degrees I'll do a happy dance down Burke St!

www.infrastructure.gov.au/media-commun...

Fact checkers at increasing risk of abuse, report says In an age of increasing distrust in mainstream media, fact-checkers, who are tasked with clarifying and debunking misleading claims, now also find themselves the targets of that same distrust. #EuroVe...

Fact checkers more often targeted by hostile actions, shown in new @edmo-eu.bsky.social report.

Worrisome data fitting in pattern of higher risks for journalists and disinformation scholars 😔

www.euronews.com/my-europe/20...

this is super worrying

Trump and His Picks Threaten More Lawsuits Over Critical Coverage The small flurry of threatened defamation suits is the latest sign that the incoming Trump administration appears poised to do what it can to crack down on unfavorable media coverage.

Seeing a president-elect and his team threaten journalists and media companies over their (critical) coverage is not a good sign.

Chilling effects are real. #commsky

www.nytimes.com/2024/12/15/b...

Now out in Convergence - Kun He, myself, and @mjbroersma.bsky.social study the socially and culturally ingrained visual semiotic resources found in 'weaponized' memes that are used in online and bottom-up national populist protests. Read more here: doi.org/10.1177/1354...

did you have to bring that energy here …

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Accidentally said a rude word out loud while listening to an excellent presentation from Casey Briggs and Mark Andrejevic from #ADMS at #RMIT about the power and potential of hyper local personalised marketing in elections. Wow.

ADMS is huge - nine Australian unis based at RMIT, 280 researchers, 21 industry partners. All working on the big questions that we are facing from automated decision making. #RMIT #ADMS

Delighted to be at the ADMS's workshop today 'Are fair elections possible in the age of AI?' with guests from USC at @RMIT's Council Chamber. #Ai #elections #ADMS #RMIT Prof Julian Thomas asking the big questions including: How do we address the challenges of verifying & reporting on elections?

Very pleased to be at a launch of this book last night - already turning pages fast! #journalism