Universities Australia logo

HIGHER ED.ITION

Share

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Email
1 April 2021

Australians turn to university experts during pandemic

University researchers provided expert commentary in 67,000 COVID-19 media stories, showing the scale of the expert-led information blitz during the pandemic.

From advice on mask wearing and vaccines to raising awareness around mental health and domestic violence, university experts were read, seen or heard up to eight billion times between 1 February 2020 and 31 January 2021.

The analysis, commissioned by Universities Australia and compiled by media intelligence organisation Isentia, highlights the role that expert advice played in contributing to better health outcomes.

The report says the advice on mask wearing in particular “served to normalise the behaviour and so contributed to a consensus about their use in Australia.”

The new research shows how Australians turned to trusted university experts during the crisis.

University-based experts explained everything from the goal of flattening the curve, to the mathematics of social distancing, and the dynamics of panic buying. And, in doing so, they helped us navigate the disruption and uncertainty.

The Isentia research also found that in March last year a third of all stories on vaccines, along with one in every five stories on masks and one in 10 stories on lockdowns included the voice of university experts.

Universities Australia Logo
©2021
Site by ED.
Universities Australia Logo

Sign up

I'm interested in

©2021
Site by ED.
Universities Australia Logo
HIGHER ED.ITION

Get in touch

  • 1 Geils Court, Deakin
  • ACT 2600 Australia
  • T: +61 2 6285 8100

Follow Us

  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • Facebook
Except where otherwise indicated, content published in HIGHER ED.ITION is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution – NoDerivatives 4.0 licence.
©2021 Universities Australia