The Conversation (website)
Encyclopedia
The Conversation is an independent, not-for-profit, news and information service sourced from the university and research sector, delivered straight to the public.
Professionally edited by journalists, The Conversation offers news, views and analysis on current or relevant issues, as well as the latest research and breakthroughs.
The site covers a broad range of topics broken down into five sections: Business + Economy, Environment + Energy, Health + Medicine, Politics + Society and Science + Technology.
The Conversation was co-founded by Andrew Jaspan
and Jack Rejtman and launched in March 2011. The operating company, The Conversation Media Group, is a not-for-profit educational charity owned by The Conversation Trust.
(2004–2008), Andrew Jaspan met Glyn Davis
, Vice-Chancellor at The University of Melbourne, and discovered a mutual concern for the future of quality journalism. In turn this led to the discussion about the possibility of the university and the newspaper working more closely together.
Shortly after leaving The Age
, Davis invited Jaspan to review the university’s engagement with the public through its various “knowledge transfer” initiatives. Davis is deeply committed to the notion of a public-spirited (and funded) institutions playing a fuller role in sharing their knowledge, expertise and wisdom with the public. In short, delivering tangible value back to the community.
Building on those conversations, Jaspan recommended a new approach to allow the university to communicate direct to the public through a news and commentary website. Directed by a team of professional editors, the university would become ”a giant newsroom” with the academics and researchers providing authoritative and informed content that engaged with the news cycle and the big issues of our time. In short, a new media channel.
Although the December 2009 report was broadly accepted, it was put on hold due to the severity of the Global Financial Crisis, which impacted the university’s ability to fund the initiative.
In February 2009, Jaspan was introduced to Jack Rejtman through a mutual contact. Rejtman had just arrived in Melbourne from Los Angeles, where he led product strategy for the US 2008 Election website at Yahoo! News
. Their first meeting at a coffee bar in Balaclava, Melbourne, quickly turned to a discussion about the “crisis in journalism” that was taking its toll on every newsroom in the world with layoffs, shut-downs and constant cutbacks affecting the quality of journalism.
A few coffee meetings later, Jaspan outlined the Melbourne University concept to Rejtman. He agreed that the idea could help address the growing need for quality content, particularly if it were extended beyond one university to the broader research sector. Rejtman also suggested integrating aspects of professional networking and social media to make the site a starting point for the public to engage with the academic and research community.
Together, Jaspan and Rejtman went back to Davis in June 2009 with an expanded proposal that Melbourne University be one of several university content partners. Davis agreed that extending the concept would provide a better service, help establish independence and secure funding.
Jaspan and Rejtman then received critical support from Pat Freeland-Small, Melbourne University Chief Marketing Officer, and Chris Brown, a corporate finance specialist, who joined the project as chief adviser and later became chairman of The Conversation Trust. Between October and December 2009, seed funding was secured from CSIRO, Melbourne University, Monash University, the State of Victoria and National Australia Bank to develop a proof-of-concept and business plan.
In January 2010, Michael Morris joined the project and led development of the prototype, which proved critical to securing the first round of funding in November 2010. The Conversation Media Group opened its Carlton office that month, and Morris hired four developers (Xavier Shay, Ben Hoskings, Mat Holroyd and Justin Morris) to build the Beta site.
Managing Editor Misha Ketchell joined the project in December, and 11 professional editors began working on Feb 1, 2011.
The Beta site launched to the public on March 24, 2011.
, The Scotsman
, Scotland on Sunday
, and Sunday Herald
in the UK. He was invited in 2004 to be Editor-in-Chief of The Age
and The Sunday Age in Melbourne, Australia. He is Asia-Pacific
Director of Innovation Media International, on the Board of the RMIT Global Cities Institute, a speaker and participant in the Australian Davos conference, a participant in the 2020 Ideas Summit, and regular contributor on ABC radio
.
Jack Rejtman previously worked as a crime and government reporter at The Tampa Tribune
and a technology columnist, business writer, and crime, corruption and politics reporter at The Miami Herald
. He worked as a digital strategy consultant at Diamond Management & Technology Consultants
(now part of PwC
Diamond Advisory Services) for Fortune 500
clients, including Diageo plc, Goldman Sachs
and Visa. He then led product strategy and development for the 2008 US election website at Yahoo! News
.
Ross Garnaut
; Professor of Government and International Relations at University of Sydney John Keane; Professor, Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Vice-President (Research) at University of Technology, Sydney Attila Brungs; Professor of Higher Education at the University of Melbourne
Simon Marginson; Professor of Journalism at Queensland University of Technology
Brian McNair and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Melbourne
Glyn Davis
.
In addition to commissioning original content, The Conversation summarises research findings from Australian institutions and international partners and then links back to those institutions.
.
The system enables academic authors and professional editors to collaborate on articles in real time. Articles link to author profiles and include disclosure statements allowing for greater transparency into author credentials and motivations. Authors have their own personal dashboards that show engagement with the public.
; CSIRO; Monash University
; The University of Melbourne; University of Technology, Sydney
; and The University of Western Australia.
The full list of content partners can be found here
, Commonwealth Bank of Australia
, Corrs Chambers Westgarth
, Ernst & Young
, the Commonwealth Government’s
Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations, and the State of Victoria Department of Business and Innovation.
Professionally edited by journalists, The Conversation offers news, views and analysis on current or relevant issues, as well as the latest research and breakthroughs.
The site covers a broad range of topics broken down into five sections: Business + Economy, Environment + Energy, Health + Medicine, Politics + Society and Science + Technology.
The Conversation was co-founded by Andrew Jaspan
Andrew Jaspan
Andrew Jaspan, a British journalist, was appointed in October 2004, as Editor-in-Chief of The Age, a broadsheet daily newspaper published in Melbourne, Australia. Prior to this appointment, he was the founder and editor of the Sunday Herald in Scotland from 1999 to 2004...
and Jack Rejtman and launched in March 2011. The operating company, The Conversation Media Group, is a not-for-profit educational charity owned by The Conversation Trust.
History
While editing The AgeThe Age
The Age is a daily broadsheet newspaper, which has been published in Melbourne, Australia since 1854. Owned and published by Fairfax Media, The Age primarily serves Victoria, but is also available for purchase in Tasmania, the Australian Capital Territory and border regions of South Australia and...
(2004–2008), Andrew Jaspan met Glyn Davis
Glyn Davis
Glyn Conrad Davis, AC is the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Melbourne.- Early life :Professor Davis was educated at Marist Brothers College, Kogarah...
, Vice-Chancellor at The University of Melbourne, and discovered a mutual concern for the future of quality journalism. In turn this led to the discussion about the possibility of the university and the newspaper working more closely together.
Shortly after leaving The Age
The Age
The Age is a daily broadsheet newspaper, which has been published in Melbourne, Australia since 1854. Owned and published by Fairfax Media, The Age primarily serves Victoria, but is also available for purchase in Tasmania, the Australian Capital Territory and border regions of South Australia and...
, Davis invited Jaspan to review the university’s engagement with the public through its various “knowledge transfer” initiatives. Davis is deeply committed to the notion of a public-spirited (and funded) institutions playing a fuller role in sharing their knowledge, expertise and wisdom with the public. In short, delivering tangible value back to the community.
Building on those conversations, Jaspan recommended a new approach to allow the university to communicate direct to the public through a news and commentary website. Directed by a team of professional editors, the university would become ”a giant newsroom” with the academics and researchers providing authoritative and informed content that engaged with the news cycle and the big issues of our time. In short, a new media channel.
Although the December 2009 report was broadly accepted, it was put on hold due to the severity of the Global Financial Crisis, which impacted the university’s ability to fund the initiative.
In February 2009, Jaspan was introduced to Jack Rejtman through a mutual contact. Rejtman had just arrived in Melbourne from Los Angeles, where he led product strategy for the US 2008 Election website at Yahoo! News
Yahoo! News
Yahoo! News is an Internet-based news aggregator provided by Yahoo!. It features Top Stories, U.S. National, World, Business, Entertainment, Science, Health, Weather, Most Popular, News Photos, Op/Ed, and Local news....
. Their first meeting at a coffee bar in Balaclava, Melbourne, quickly turned to a discussion about the “crisis in journalism” that was taking its toll on every newsroom in the world with layoffs, shut-downs and constant cutbacks affecting the quality of journalism.
A few coffee meetings later, Jaspan outlined the Melbourne University concept to Rejtman. He agreed that the idea could help address the growing need for quality content, particularly if it were extended beyond one university to the broader research sector. Rejtman also suggested integrating aspects of professional networking and social media to make the site a starting point for the public to engage with the academic and research community.
Together, Jaspan and Rejtman went back to Davis in June 2009 with an expanded proposal that Melbourne University be one of several university content partners. Davis agreed that extending the concept would provide a better service, help establish independence and secure funding.
Jaspan and Rejtman then received critical support from Pat Freeland-Small, Melbourne University Chief Marketing Officer, and Chris Brown, a corporate finance specialist, who joined the project as chief adviser and later became chairman of The Conversation Trust. Between October and December 2009, seed funding was secured from CSIRO, Melbourne University, Monash University, the State of Victoria and National Australia Bank to develop a proof-of-concept and business plan.
In January 2010, Michael Morris joined the project and led development of the prototype, which proved critical to securing the first round of funding in November 2010. The Conversation Media Group opened its Carlton office that month, and Morris hired four developers (Xavier Shay, Ben Hoskings, Mat Holroyd and Justin Morris) to build the Beta site.
Managing Editor Misha Ketchell joined the project in December, and 11 professional editors began working on Feb 1, 2011.
The Beta site launched to the public on March 24, 2011.
Principals
Andrew Jaspan previously edited The ObserverThe Observer
The Observer is a British newspaper, published on Sundays. In the same place on the political spectrum as its daily sister paper The Guardian, which acquired it in 1993, it takes a liberal or social democratic line on most issues. It is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper.-Origins:The first issue,...
, The Scotsman
The Scotsman
The Scotsman is a British newspaper, published in Edinburgh.As of August 2011 it had an audited circulation of 38,423, down from about 100,000 in the 1980s....
, Scotland on Sunday
Scotland on Sunday
Scotland on Sunday is a Scottish Sunday newspaper, published in Edinburgh by The Scotsman Publications Ltd and consequently assuming the role of Sunday sister to its daily stablemate The Scotsman...
, and Sunday Herald
Sunday Herald
The Sunday Herald is a Scottish Sunday newspaper launched on 7 February 1999. The ABC audited circulation in April 2011 showed sales of 31,123.From the start it has combined a centre-left stance with support for Scottish devolution...
in the UK. He was invited in 2004 to be Editor-in-Chief of The Age
The Age
The Age is a daily broadsheet newspaper, which has been published in Melbourne, Australia since 1854. Owned and published by Fairfax Media, The Age primarily serves Victoria, but is also available for purchase in Tasmania, the Australian Capital Territory and border regions of South Australia and...
and The Sunday Age in Melbourne, Australia. He is Asia-Pacific
Asia-Pacific
Asia-Pacific or Asia Pacific is the part of the world in or near the Western Pacific Ocean...
Director of Innovation Media International, on the Board of the RMIT Global Cities Institute, a speaker and participant in the Australian Davos conference, a participant in the 2020 Ideas Summit, and regular contributor on ABC radio
Radio Australia
Radio Australia is the international broadcasting and online service operated by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation , Australia's public broadcaster.- History :...
.
Jack Rejtman previously worked as a crime and government reporter at The Tampa Tribune
The Tampa Tribune
The Tampa Tribune, published in Tampa, Florida, is one of two major newspapers published in the Tampa Bay area, second in circulation and readership to the St. Petersburg Times. The paper's tagline is "Life...
and a technology columnist, business writer, and crime, corruption and politics reporter at The Miami Herald
The Miami Herald
The Miami Herald is a daily newspaper owned by The McClatchy Company headquartered on Biscayne Bay in the Omni district of Downtown Miami, Florida, United States...
. He worked as a digital strategy consultant at Diamond Management & Technology Consultants
Diamond Management & Technology Consultants
Diamond Management & Technology Consultants was an independent management consulting firm founded in 1994, headquartered in Chicago, IL with satellite offices in Hartford, CT, New York City, Washington DC, London, and Mumbai. It was acquired by PwC in 2010...
(now part of PwC
PwC
PricewaterhouseCoopers is a global professional services firm headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the world's largest professional services firm measured by revenues and one of the "Big Four" accountancy firms....
Diamond Advisory Services) for Fortune 500
Fortune 500
The Fortune 500 is an annual list compiled and published by Fortune magazine that ranks the top 500 U.S. closely held and public corporations as ranked by their gross revenue after adjustments made by Fortune to exclude the impact of excise taxes companies collect. The list includes publicly and...
clients, including Diageo plc, Goldman Sachs
Goldman Sachs
The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. is an American multinational bulge bracket investment banking and securities firm that engages in global investment banking, securities, investment management, and other financial services primarily with institutional clients...
and Visa. He then led product strategy and development for the 2008 US election website at Yahoo! News
Yahoo! News
Yahoo! News is an Internet-based news aggregator provided by Yahoo!. It features Top Stories, U.S. National, World, Business, Entertainment, Science, Health, Weather, Most Popular, News Photos, Op/Ed, and Local news....
.
Contributors
The Conversation’s authors are academics and researchers who work with professional journalists to write articles that are accessible to a general audience. Contributors include Nobel Laureate Peter Doherty; Vice-Chancellor’s Fellow and a Professorial Fellow in Economics at the University of MelbourneUniversity of Melbourne
The University of Melbourne is a public university located in Melbourne, Victoria. Founded in 1853, it is the second oldest university in Australia and the oldest in Victoria...
Ross Garnaut
Ross Garnaut
Ross Gregory Garnaut AO is a Distinguished Professor of Economics at the Australian National University and both a Vice-Chancellor's Fellow and Professorial Fellow of Economics at The University of Melbourne....
; Professor of Government and International Relations at University of Sydney John Keane; Professor, Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Vice-President (Research) at University of Technology, Sydney Attila Brungs; Professor of Higher Education at the University of Melbourne
University of Melbourne
The University of Melbourne is a public university located in Melbourne, Victoria. Founded in 1853, it is the second oldest university in Australia and the oldest in Victoria...
Simon Marginson; Professor of Journalism at Queensland University of Technology
Queensland University of Technology
Queensland University of Technology is an Australian university with an applied emphasis in courses and research. Based in Brisbane, it has 40,000 students, including 6,000 international students, over 4,000 staff members, and an annual budget of more than A$750 million.QUT is marketed as "A...
Brian McNair and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Melbourne
University of Melbourne
The University of Melbourne is a public university located in Melbourne, Victoria. Founded in 1853, it is the second oldest university in Australia and the oldest in Victoria...
Glyn Davis
Glyn Davis
Glyn Conrad Davis, AC is the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Melbourne.- Early life :Professor Davis was educated at Marist Brothers College, Kogarah...
.
In addition to commissioning original content, The Conversation summarises research findings from Australian institutions and international partners and then links back to those institutions.
Technology
The Conversation uses a custom publishing and content management system built in Ruby on RailsRuby on Rails
Ruby on Rails, often shortened to Rails or RoR, is an open source web application framework for the Ruby programming language.-History:...
.
The system enables academic authors and professional editors to collaborate on articles in real time. Articles link to author profiles and include disclosure statements allowing for greater transparency into author credentials and motivations. Authors have their own personal dashboards that show engagement with the public.
Founding Partners
Start-up funding was provided by the Founding Partners: ANUAustralian National University
The Australian National University is a teaching and research university located in the Australian capital, Canberra.As of 2009, the ANU employs 3,945 administrative staff who teach approximately 10,000 undergraduates, and 7,500 postgraduate students...
; CSIRO; Monash University
Monash University
Monash University is a public university based in Melbourne, Victoria. It was founded in 1958 and is the second oldest university in the state. Monash is a member of Australia's Group of Eight and the ASAIHL....
; The University of Melbourne; University of Technology, Sydney
University of Technology, Sydney
The University of Technology Sydney is a university in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The university was founded in its current form in 1981, although its origins trace back to the 1870s. UTS is notable for its central location as the only university with its main campuses within the Sydney CBD...
; and The University of Western Australia.
Content Partners
Content partners include the Founding Partners as well as the other Group of Eight research-intensive universities (The University of Adelaide, The University of New South Wales, The University of Sydney, and The University of Queensland).The full list of content partners can be found here
Strategic Partners
Strategic partners include the Australian Associated PressAustralian Associated Press
Australian Associated Press is Australia's national news agency. The organisation was established in 1935 by Fairfax and The Herald and Weekly Times.AAP employs more than 175 journalists who work in bureaux in all Australian states and territories...
, Commonwealth Bank of Australia
Commonwealth Bank of Australia
The Commonwealth Bank of Australia is a multinational bank with businesses across New Zealand, Fiji, Asia, USA and the United Kingdom. Commonwealth Bank provides a variety of financial services including retail, business and institutional banking, funds management, superannuation, insurance,...
, Corrs Chambers Westgarth
Corrs Chambers Westgarth
Corrs Chambers Westgarth is an Australian commercial law firm. It was founded in 1841.-History:Corrs Chambers Westgarth traces its history back to 1841 with the founding of the firm's first office in Melbourne. Corrs has offices in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, and Perth...
, Ernst & Young
Ernst & Young
Ernst & Young is one of the largest professional services networks in the world and one of the "Big Four" accountancy firms, along with Deloitte, KPMG and PricewaterhouseCoopers ....
, the Commonwealth Government’s
Government of Australia
The Commonwealth of Australia is a federal constitutional monarchy under a parliamentary democracy. The Commonwealth of Australia was formed in 1901 as a result of an agreement among six self-governing British colonies, which became the six states...
Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations, and the State of Victoria Department of Business and Innovation.