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Friday dilemma: Why don’t academics answer the phone?

The Punch Team

by The Punch Team

15 Jul 05:58am

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Filed under: Academics, Communications, Friday Dilemma, Telephones

144 comments

It’s infuriating. Here at The Punch, we regularly call all sorts of academics for their opinions on various things. You wouldn’t believe how hard it is to get through.

Hello, I'd like a 25 year extension on my essay

Seriously, their phones just ring and ring and ring. And if you leave a message, good luck hearing back from them before next week. By which time the issue du jour will be well and truly fish and chip wrapping.

Why is this the case? Surely academics have fewer meetings than the rest of us. Surely they are at their desks more, right by that clunky old landline. They have mobiles too, right? With that newfangled voicemail stuff, and all.

Heck, some of them even have email. Come to think of it, wasn’t email invented as a way for academics to stay in touch?

Just this Monday, one Puncher emailed an academic who we know is in town this week. Haven’t heard back yet. Wasn’t urgent, but all the same.

So here’s the dilemma. Can we attribute the condition of Academicus Incommunicado to:

a) slackness
b) sheer ineptitude
c) a case of academics being lost in such unbelievably complicated deep thought that they are far too busy to deal with the trivialities of telecommunications, or;
d) all of the above

Over to you. Luckily, we know you guys will be super quick to respond…

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144 comments

Show oldest | newest first

    • fairsfair says:

      12:28pm | 15/07/11

      e) they are that far up their own arse.

      They are just trying to demonstrate how important and busy they are.

      Reply

    • Shane* says:

      01:29pm | 15/07/11

      Academics knows more and more about less and less until eventually they know everything about nothing.

    • No 1 Rosie says:

      02:45pm | 15/07/11

      Ring! Ring! sorry too busy brushing up on my intellectual ability to impress those out there how smart I am.

    • MarK says:

      02:46pm | 15/07/11

      I agree FF that 50% would fall into this category. The remaining 50% can’t find the phone but if they could e) would be applicable.

    • Rocksteady says:

      03:14pm | 15/07/11

      Actually academics just have better things to achieve than talking to a journalist. Normally it involves teaching people who listen (nudge nudge)

      This quote says it all:
      “good luck hearing back from them before next week. By which time the issue du jour will be well and truly fish and chip wrapping.”

      May not be an issue for you in one week, but for them it’s lifelong.
      More of a reflection on how superficial your profession really is.

      Attacking the easy broad target of academics is a good way to work up some commentators though, another job well done by the Punch Team!

    • Shifter says:

      06:02pm | 15/07/11

      f) they are doing their day job…and are busy?

      If someone was to wring me up asking about an issue to do with my work, unless it’s a boss of or a stakeholder in what I’m doing, responding to that person is going to be a fairly low priority. My company has PR and customer engagement types for that sort of thing.

    • Matthew says:

      09:42pm | 15/07/11

      As an academic I would like to make it clear we work extraordinarily hard. Sometimes we can’t be near the phone due to lab work, students, meeting, and the list continues.
      Actually make an effort to understand the situation before you bad-mouth a profession.

    • acotrel says:

      08:31am | 16/07/11

      There probably isn’t a book available to instruct academics how to answer a phone, and they’ve never had real jobs to find out another way?  If you want opinions, you might do better to ring the research laboratories of the big corporations, and the government?

    • Damian says:

      08:37am | 16/07/11

      have you heard of email?

    • Mariane says:

      06:24pm | 17/07/11

      We actually work really damn hard, just like you. We’re often in meetings, teaching, marking, researching and filling out useless forms, like most ‘benchmark’ orientated professions.

    • Coop says:

      06:42pm | 17/07/11

      Interesting FF.  Im a little surprised. Thought you were more considering in your opinions generally.

      Werent you explaining how you really wanted to use your education and get yourself into a more relevant place?

      Who designed and provided you with this education and quailification that will apparently make you valuable in the job you want.

      Just who is up where?

    • Carz says:

      12:30pm | 15/07/11

      Or perhaps academics are working, just like you? Maybe they have more important things going on in their lives than to return calls to journalists who may or may not accurately report their response, who may or may not take and report things in their proper context.

      Perhaps one way around this would be to build relationships with academics in all different types of fields so that when you do need or want a comment, response, opinion, or whatever you already have a contact. If there is a little trust there to begin with then the academics may be more inclined to return calls.

      Reply

    • Swingdog says:

      12:40pm | 15/07/11

      This.

      Perhaps they trust some news sources more, like The Conversation (http://www.theconversation.edu.au) because not every subject needs to be a shrill media squealing match.

    • Kate says:

      01:34pm | 15/07/11

      Couldn’t agree more. People aren’t at your beck and call. A lot of the time in newspaper articles it’s painfully obvious that the writer has taken the one sentence that the expert has said that agreed with the story they wanted to write and ignored the rest. But since they can quote an ‘academic’, the story looks more credible. I’m not saying all writers do this at all, because many don’t. But would someone with a professional career to worry about really want to lend their name to an article that may completely distort their point and make them look bad? It’s a big risk.

    • Tony of Poorakistan says:

      01:37pm | 15/07/11

      I agree. 
       
      It annoys me when some scribbler puts ‘‘So-and-so was unavailable for comment’’ in an article. 
       
      Show a bit of patience; maybe he was doing *his* job, or taking his kids for a kick of the footy or eating dinner or something. You people are no more important than anyone else and far less so than most.

    • MarK says:

      02:41pm | 15/07/11

      The conversation….LAWL

    • Dave says:

      02:44pm | 15/07/11

      What utter bollocks, broiled in a paste of self-entitlement, the ‘Punch Team’ offer us here. This may come as a shock, but the world does not revolve around your little blog. Personally, I reckon all academics should read this obnoxious little whine and put The Punch on a comment ban. I’m thrilled to hear they all have better things to do than talk to a bunch of entitled, moaning bloggers. Funny how no-one dared put their actual name to this piece - you’d look like a total wanker.

    • Rocksteady says:

      03:17pm | 15/07/11

      Nice link Swingdog, good site hey.
      Punchers won’t like it though, reason is the enemy of the rant.

    • sol says:

      03:11am | 17/07/11

      maybe you should offer them more money for their comment and time ... like, more than nothing.

    • stockinbingal roo says:

      12:32pm | 15/07/11

      They know that on the other end is a journo who will distort, lie and manipulate everything they say to meet some silly personal vendetta. Renewed my News Ltd subscription today and on the back of the invoice it states that they have a climate change initiative, which makes the Australian and the Daily Telegraph complete hypocrites. Better contact an acedemic for confirmation.

      Reply

    • acotrel says:

      08:42am | 16/07/11

      I was always under the impression that academics tailor their teaching to the needs of industry, or alternatively to helping problem solving.  I’ve never seen evidence of either happening!  For example the subject of project management is a fundamental issue in industry, yet it is not taught to our engineers. Most Project Managers in Australia are self-taught, and consequently highly stressed.  Many do not even know how to use the available software!  At Goulburn Ovens TAFE in NE Vic, it is only taught as part of an IT course - not much use to farmers? But what can you expect from academics who’ve never had a real job?  It’s the blind leading the blind!  So why do we have monumental stuff-ups in government projects? - INEPT ACADEMICS - they cost Australia dearly.

    • pietro says:

      12:33pm | 15/07/11

      Maybe they equate you with News Limited.

      Reply

    • Tenure? says:

      04:29pm | 15/07/11

      You have hit the nail on the head.

      After you see your words twisted in order for the journalist to write the story they want to write (regardless of what you actually told them) you become a little more discerning about which ones you will speak to.

      This goes hand-in-hand with journalists who only want a quote or two so they can generate debate on their pages (sound familiar?) or those journalists who can’t understand every subject isn’t reducible down to 6 paragraphs.

      Good journos, from good publications, get called back. Get over it, or work someplace reputable.

    • stephen says:

      06:25pm | 15/07/11

      A quote from an Academic ?
      What the hell for ? They can’t even agree on the weather.

    • acotrel says:

      10:12am | 17/07/11

      @tenure?
      ’ those journalists who can’t understand every subject isn’t reducible down to 6 paragraphs.’

      Next you’ll be telling us that you don’t get tied up in your own bullshit ?

    • kirsty says:

      12:34pm | 15/07/11

      I will hazard a guess at b with a sprinkling of a.
      Though I have seen this with people in an office environment as well.

      Reply

    • Jayne says:

      12:39pm | 15/07/11

      Why can’t these academics just sit by the phone and provide free content for you? Why can’t they drop whatever research they are doing and immediately respond to you? Maybe showing them more respect and as Carz suggests, build relationships, so they aren’t treated as one night stands.

      Reply

    • Jordan Rastrick says:

      01:34pm | 15/07/11

      I know! The politicians who run our country spend a large portion of their working lives accommodating the needs of the news media - surely lesser mortals such as academics should be obliged to do so as well.

    • Jordan Rastrick says:

      01:34pm | 15/07/11

      I know! The politicians who run our country spend a large portion of their working lives accommodating the needs of the news media - surely lesser mortals such as academics should be obliged to do so as well.

    • acotrel says:

      10:20am | 17/07/11

      @Jayne
      When we have dills like Abbott spreading misinformation and scare, perhaps input from academics is needed to balance debate?  Look at it as a service to humanity - some things are worth doing simply because they are good things to do!  When you reach old age and look back, what do you think you will see as your achievements?  Will you have changed anything for the better? Academics should be anxious to provide their help!

    • acotrel says:

      10:24am | 17/07/11

      @Jordan
      ‘I know! The politicians who run our country spend a large portion of their working lives accommodating the needs of the news media - surely lesser mortals such as academics should be obliged to do so as well. ‘

      Is this a cringe and whinge ? Don’t be so arrogant!

    • jeffb says:

      12:41pm | 15/07/11

      Or perhaps they have no interest in your organisation completely misrepresenting their opinions?

      The opinion of News Ltd is so low in the academic community thanks to the anti-intellectual, anti-science stance they have taken. If you take personal offence to that then perhaps you should work for a reputable news organisation instead.

      If you want people start start respecting you and returning your phone calls perhaps you should respect them, you reap what you sow.

      Try looking in the mirror before you throw insults.

      Reply

    • sam says:

      12:57pm | 15/07/11

      Bingo.
      Sadly News ltd is the bastion of the anti academia, as it does not fit the agenda of the people who equate smart = arrogant.
      And besides, why should they talk to any journo? Like you guys have a reputation to uphold….

    • Warren says:

      01:19pm | 15/07/11

      Well said @jeffb

    • Ben81 says:

      01:26pm | 15/07/11

      Ah yes, excruciatingly smug condescension, that’ll get people listening.
      /end sarcasm

      Opinions of academics go further than what we should do about climate change and into fields completely unrelated to science by the way if that’s what you’re getting at, and they should be questioned just like anyone else with an opinion who has an influence on politics. 

      You know, tough ‘hate media’ questions as Bob Brown would put it that certain others won’t ask on that topic like “What impact do you calculate this tax will actually have on climate change?”

      If you don’t like it go read only what you want to read and live in your own little world.

    • jeffb says:

      01:59pm | 15/07/11

      @Ben81, I’m not sure what you think I’m “getting at”, perhaps you should put your neat conspiracy theory out on the table for everyone to see. Science is not an opinion, it is science, a body of work contributed to by the scientific community. It is not politics either, it is just science.

      If you had paid attention to what Bob Brown actually says instead of the select quotes used in News Ltd’s articles you would see his problem does not lie with the questions but with how his answers are twisted and cut up so much that they no longer resemble what he said. These misquotes are then built upon to create a story for News to pursue.

      Perhaps you should look over the real circulation figures for all the mainstream papers in Australia, we already left. You stay in your own little world reading ‘news’ from an organisation that openly declared itself “centre right” and we’ll keep living in the real world were problems aren’t as simple as left or right.

    • Ben81 says:

      02:41pm | 15/07/11

      Seems like what you’re getting at is that they shouldn’t be questioned Jeff, and that you have a very narrow view of the fields and opinions academics can represent, at least for this argument.  At the very least it’s clear that anything you don’t want to read or anyone using something an academic says for a position you don’t agree with is a misrepresentation to you.
      If that’s not what you’re getting at you shouldn’t try so hard to come across that way, .  So should Bob Brown, whose opinions on people in the media who disagree with him are extremely concerning.

    • jeffb says:

      02:54pm | 15/07/11

      @Ben81, what the hell are you talking about… do you not understand what a misquote is? You should stop trying to read a hidden meaning into everything and just read what I wrote…

      No one is complaining about being asked a question, people are complaining about their answers being misrepresented. How is that hard to understand…

    • Ben81 says:

      03:13pm | 15/07/11

      Garbage, Bob Brown isn’t ‘misrepresented’ any more than any other politician by any news source.  He shouldn’t say things he doesn’t want to stand by now that he’s playing with the big boys, he has to learn that he’s being held accountable now.
      Tony Abbott and Julia Gillard know what happens when they put their foot in their mouth, don’t go crying that Brown hasn’t learned.

    • jeffb says:

      01:16am | 16/07/11

      Oh come on… rolling out that same old argument given to you by a lazy journalist… playing with the big boys… like they always have.

      Despite what you read in the papers the Greens have always been accountable, that little senate stunt they pulled? They’ve pulled it at the begin of of every senate for as long as I can remember, it shows they don’t control it. Has anything changed? No, Paul Kelly is just going to shout louder.

    • Ben81 says:

      12:47pm | 16/07/11

      “rolling out that same old argument given to you by a lazy journalist… playing with the big boys… like they always have.”

      Well no I don’t really need a journalist to point out to me that Bob Brown has effectively gone from minor annoyance to a defacto leader of the country who can’t handle people scrutinising his bad policy.

    • The righteous one says:

      12:41pm | 15/07/11

      Because most of them are to busy writing stuff you post here and then reading the replies from their adoring fans.  They never professed that they would be sitting there waiting for you to call.  You could pay them for the info you want.  no wait,  that’s been tried before without much success in the long term in other quarters.

      Reply

    • Tim says:

      12:45pm | 15/07/11

      Why don’t you pay academics in different fields a retainer so that they are available for comment to you when you want?
      Oh I forgot, it’s much easier to cold call someone for comment, not give them anything and then whinge when they don’t get back to you.

      Reply

    • Tony of Poorakistan says:

      01:41pm | 15/07/11

      Yep. And have you noticed News Ltds policy on submitted content such as photos? They don’t pay you, they own it and can resell it and they may credit you if they are in the mood.

    • jeffb says:

      12:45pm | 15/07/11

      Furthermore, the arrogance of this little article goes some way to showing just why we need a full inquiry into the media in this country.

      While it may not be involved in criminal activity, it is morally bankrupt and is failing to keep the public properly informed, preferring to spread opinion, which is the very reason a free press exists.

      Reply

    • Ben81 says:

      01:31pm | 15/07/11

      Can we start with the ABC?  That’s what you’re referring to isn’t it?

    • jeffb says:

      01:45pm | 15/07/11

      By all means, I think you would find that the ABC is one of the only news organisations in this country that actually enforces its code of conduct though, might not be what you want to hear.

      It could very well be time for the ABC to start publishing a newspaper to break up the monopolies and provide some accountable journalism to the people of Australia.

      It could very well be time for the ABC’s funding to dramatically increase allowing them to do better journalism and stop relying on third party news aggregators.

      Don’t forget Ben81, you are free to submit complaints to the ABC and by law they must respond, on the other hand posting random aspersions on this site is going to get you nowhere.

    • Ben81 says:

      01:54pm | 15/07/11

      Not interested in their code of conduct jeff, just that it is often “failing to keep the public properly informed, preferring to spread opinion”.

      “posting random aspersions on this site is going to get you nowhere. “
      I guess we’re both wasting our time then, does that only apply to me and not your post further up?

    • jeffb says:

      02:39pm | 15/07/11

      The ABC is by far the best news reporting organisation in this country, the only one that doesn’t pollute their news with opinion. They always also provide factual information with regards to public policy, like for instances the climate change mini-site they provided complete with info-graphics.

      I’m guessing that you’re wilfully mistaking The Drum for a news site, it is obvious to everyone that looks at it that not only is it openly opinion, they also publish articles from the public to increase the diversity of opinions. Why anyone would mistake The Drum for actual news is beyond me.

      Perhaps you should spell out where exactly you think the ABC news reporting is flawed so I don’t have to guess.

      Ben81, my post further up is in direct response to the articles it is replying to, also this website belongs to News. If I were complaining about News on the ABC’s website you would have a point. It sounds very much to me that you do have a problem with the ABC’s code of conduct, otherwise you wouldn’t have made those claims in the first place.

    • Ben81 says:

      03:01pm | 15/07/11

      You’re assuming i’ve never written to the ABC Jeff, which I have a fair few times and gotten the same generic responses.  I’m posting here because I feel like it, if that’s ok with you.

      I don’t think I need to write you a short essay about the opinions coming from their “chief political writers”, talking heads and radio hosts who don’t ask the questions that would keep the public properly informed that other media asks.

    • Dave says:

      10:06pm | 16/07/11

      @ Jeff - “The ABC is by far the best news reporting organisation in this country, the only one that doesn’t pollute their news with opinion”. What planet are you on? Are you really so ignorant and misinformed that you believe the lies and prejudice spouted by the left-wing ABC? This (taxpayer-funded) is so out of step with the community. You obviously can’t see the anti-Liberal Party bias of media watch. Or you just agree with it and turn a blind eye.

      How many conservative presenters does the ABC have? How poorly was the Howard government treated by all and sundry at the ABC for over a decade?

      By the way, I’ve tried to submit comments on the Drum in support of Tony Abbott, but they never get published. No exaggeration. Never. Talk about censorship!

      The sooner the ABC is stripped of all funding the better.

    • James In Footscray says:

      12:47pm | 15/07/11

      @stockinbingal roo and pietro, aren’t we overegging the News Ltd thing a bit? Australians aren’t as dumb and easily manipulated by the Herald Sun as Punch and Drum readers seem to suggest. Cheers

      Reply

    • stockinbingal roo says:

      03:17pm | 15/07/11

      Yes I’m overegging, this is not the UK. Papers and televison don’t have as much power over our minds as they would like to think. I wonder if there are any young journos these days who don’t have an acedemic background and started as a cadet?

    • DP says:

      12:48pm | 15/07/11

      Slackness and social ineptitude are the main reasons.  Narrowness of specialty and thought leads to media shyness in many.  Guilt too.  I never answer my phone without screening the calls in case it is a coauthor wondering why I haven’t replied to their last ten emails.  Or worse, some admin wonk making me miserable because I couldn’t be bothered to submit my $3.00 petty cash claim in quadruplicate hard copy after filling in the online form.

      All that said my work is highly applied and I love hearing from the people who use it and fielding questions from the occasional media bod.

      Reply

    • BFair says:

      12:48pm | 15/07/11

      If you think that it’s hard as a journalist to get an academic on the phone, you should try being one of their graduate students.  Sometimes I would go months without seeing or hearing from my PhD advisers.  What were they doing when not talking with me or returning my emails?  Meetings with other academics, venture capitalists, government officials, press, university faculty.  Sometimes they would teach a class.  Sometimes they would spend time with family.  That academics don’t return your emails does not mean that they are aloof, inept or slacking; it means that they have more important concerns than you.  Get used to it.  I had to.

      Reply

    • hot tub political machine says:

      12:50pm | 15/07/11

      Oh, that’s very easy.

      You wouldn’t believe how low News Ltd stock is amongst the academics.

      The once bitten twice shy principle applies here too with misquotes. One of my colleagues is the only one in Australia in her position which will offer quotes to the Australian – her interstate counterparts flat out refuse on the basis of deliberate misquoting. I can imagine its similar for academics.

      Reply

    • Jem says:

      12:50pm | 15/07/11

      They could actually be too busy to respond. In my experience, academics generally don’t like the media, and often feel distaste or intimidation towards the media. Generally, they are GENUINELY too busy to respond as it’s not just coming up with theories that they do, but also teach classes, and a multitude of other things on a daily basis. I think the media, and academics need to create a more trusting relationship.

      Reply

    • Soames says:

      01:53pm | 15/07/11

      Ah yes Jem, it’s the historically proven event of group ‘journalistic’ opinion versus unknown public citicism, that fuels these articles, to gauge a result. A softshoe attempt to garner sympathetic reader approval, whilst dancing around the real subject matter, i.e, ‘academics’, a softer word than ‘scientists’, don’t seem to want to “prove” the science of climate change, or utter the words ‘carbon tax’. Totally transparent, and unworthy. C’mon Punch Team, lift your game!

    • Shane* says:

      12:52pm | 15/07/11

      I know the answer from experience, if we’re talking scientific academics anyway.

      Most scientific academics (Yes, most) are NOT personable. It’s not in their nature to engage in conversations with non-academics. They are much more comfortable doing research or talking to other Professors and other PhDs and even the odd Masters student.

      95% are uncomfortable with journos, regardless of how much media training they’ve had.

      Remember the shy nerds at high school? Super-smart but socially awkward? The ones more likely to discuss Warhammer board games than to kick a footy? Well not a lot changes by the time they hit 50. They’re still uncomfortable around outgoing people, or anyone who can’t meet them halfway intellectually.

      Don’t take it personally. They’re nerds. We need them around. Just don’t expect too much from them socially. Their default social setting is “avoid conversation with unknowns.”

      Reply

    • Shane* says:

      01:27pm | 15/07/11

      Oh, and the whole “they only ignore News Ltd” theory might be a minor factor, but in general it’s all media. It could be the local rag or the New York Times - the nerds aren’t comfortable.

    • Markus says:

      01:58pm | 15/07/11

      If anything it gets worse after they leave school, as they are no longer forced to regularly challenge their social comfort zone, tailoring their curriculum and profession to suit their antisocial needs.

      I do need to correct one line though “or anyone who can’t meet them halfway intellectually IN THEIR FIELD”.
      Ask them a question regarding their field being applied to an economic standpoint (as an example), and watch the ensuing confusion and discomfort.

    • Shane* says:

      02:42pm | 15/07/11

      Good points Markus.

      I spoke with a pretty distinguished phychiatrist about this topic recently. She made a very interesting point.

      In the past, socially-stunted nerdy kids with an obsession in one field were encouraged to focus on that field and eventually they rose to become academics. In hindsight, many of them probably suffered from undiagnosed autism-spectrum disorders.

      With the increased awareness (and some would argue overzealous diagnosis) of ASDs today, are we medicating and counselling the next generation of academics out of existence? Will we see a plateau in the number of ridiculously-high-achievers?

      I thought that was an interesting point, anyway.

    • AM says:

      05:02pm | 15/07/11

      ahh how we like to stereotype people….. I have been a scientific academic and *shock horror* have a personaility and are an extrovert! and I have many collegues that are also!

      Maybe they just have no respect for journo or don’t have the ego….

    • Sceptic says:

      12:53pm | 15/07/11

      @ The Punch

      Well Friday’s dilemma is going VERY well!

      Reply
    • Anthony Sharwood

      Anthony Sharwood says:

      01:50pm | 15/07/11

      Yeah, the funny thing is, when we call them, and when we finally get through, they are always happy to talk to us. Never had the News Ltd knock back and never had the misquoting issues others mention here

    • jeffb says:

      02:05pm | 15/07/11

      So even though you know how busy and why it takes time for them to get back to you, you still felt the need to publish this article?..

      The misquoting issue is discussed widely, if you haven’t heard of it you haven’t looked.

    • N8 says:

      04:20pm | 15/07/11

      @ Ant - Most people aren’t so direct as to say they don’t want to talk. In my line of work I have often had to tell Journalists that we aren’t interested in involving ourselves. Usually this has caused either irritation at best or public criticism at worst (and I know that every group has their bad eggs that make the rest look bad). It would be far easier for me to simply not answer phone calls but I don’t operate that way, but you can hardly blame people for not wanting to speak to the media when their reputation is frequently well earned.

    • hot tub political machine says:

      01:53pm | 18/07/11

      Must agree with jeffb, if you don’t know about misquoting being an issue - you need to talk to an academic who isn’t afraid to mention the emporer’s lack of clothes.

    • Oliver says:

      12:56pm | 15/07/11

      This article would have found a more receptive audience on 2GB or the Daily Mail however you probably don’t want to disturb their current crusade against the PM and the carbon tax.

      Reply

    • James says:

      12:57pm | 15/07/11

      Well I can say as a student this is not suprising and if it bothers you guys, well, suck it up princesses. 

      As students we get this all time, no replies to emails, meetings rescheduled due to clashes etc etc. Why? Because they’re busy! Some that i have worked with are so busy you have to schedule a 15 minute meeting several weeks in advance.  But we deal with it because we respect that fact they have their own work to do in addition to many other commitments and can’t comment on everything. Maybe the punch team should learn to do the same.

      Reply

    • hugh says:

      01:56pm | 15/07/11

      Busy doing what???
      All sitting around in a circle playing ‘who gets to eat the soggy weetbix’? (sit in a circle for a group masturbation session onto a weetbix. Last one to finish has to eat said weetbix)

      Far out - some people clearly think they are God’s gift to the world - and shitloads more important than everyone else.
      No wonder the rest of society think they are a bunch of uppety wankers.

      Honestly, they’re probably choking on the fact that the ‘educated person’ that they are earns 50k, yet the dopey builder they hired to renovate their piece of shit Northcote 2 bedroom shithole is charging them at a rate of 200k p.a

    • James says:

      02:51pm | 15/07/11

      @Hugh,
      The answer is Research. Its that thing which some people do, not to earn lots of money, but rather to further the understanding of an area in which they see a need….
      Next time you go to the doctors you can thank the academics and scientists for publishing the knowledge that could save your life, shorten your cold or vacinate your child.

    • John Dobbin says:

      12:58pm | 15/07/11

      What a good question, I could never get through to my lecturers / tutors.

      Reply

    • kris says:

      12:59pm | 15/07/11

      hahaha… didn’t get the response you hoped for? I hope they do put television cameras in the boardrooms. ABC cops a lot of criticism for being left but heck, anyone looks like a leftie next to News Limited.

      Reply

    • Old Man Emu says:

      01:01pm | 15/07/11

      There’s an easy solution - stop asking academics their opinions. They are, afterall, irrelevant and ill-informed. Those who can do, those who can’t become academics.

      Reply

    • Expat Ozzie says:

      01:18pm | 15/07/11

      Really Old Man Emu. So did you chisel your comment on a stone tablet and have your runner bring it in so someone could put your comment up for you? You do know that academics have contributed greatly to the very machinery that you used to put you comment up here don’t you?

    • Gavin Hodge says:

      03:46pm | 15/07/11

      Old Man Emu’s severe intellectual inferiority complex is no doubt borne from the fact that Old Man Emu is intellectually inferior.

    • stephen says:

      04:15pm | 16/07/11

      Is that the Gavin Hodge from Countdown ?

    • AM says:

      01:02pm | 15/07/11

      Having worked as one, the answer is e) none of the above.
      Work ‘time’ was spent teaching, preparing lectures and tutes, seeing students, meetings, attending others’ lectures, setting assignments, writing exam questions, reading journal articles, writng papers, conducting research, correcting papers and theses, reviewing papers and books, answering emails and checking phone etc etc etc.
      I have done many jobs over the years but working as an academic was the hardest with the longest hours; and only survivable if prioritisation occurred. Journalists are often the lowest priority (for many reasons!).

      Reply

    • Alva says:

      04:07pm | 15/07/11

      I agree AM, as a past academic I can only say it was a poorly paid position considering all the teaching, lesson planning, marking, research, publications, pastrol care of students etc… although hughly rewarding in watching students learn. The media was a low priority for me as they would report what they wanted and not the truth edited versions). Those academics who seek the media limelight are usually light weight and egotistical.

    • CJ Morgan says:

      06:24pm | 15/07/11

      AM’s experience concurs exactly with mine when I was an academic.

    • DP says:

      01:09pm | 15/07/11

      From the looks of this it’s because we’re too busy reading The Punch to return your call.

      Reply

    • nihonin says:

      01:15pm | 15/07/11

      All the Fairfax readers are coming out now lol, so what gives with Fairfax hacking into the ALP database, or is that different somehow.  Still a breach of privacy and protocol as far as I’m concerned.

      Reply

    • jeffb says:

      01:47pm | 15/07/11

      Is reading a newspaper similar to supporting a sports team?..

    • Kassandra says:

      01:18pm | 15/07/11

      Brace yourself for a shock. For the average academic
      a n s w e r i n g c a l l s f r o m t h e m e d i a i s n ’ t t h a t i m p o r t a n t .

      Also, not all academics are the same. They vary, like, ohh, journalists say.

      Also, you could be calling the wrong sort of academic, or the wrong academic.

      Reply

    • NP says:

      01:23pm | 15/07/11

      Hmmm…. I enjoy reading the punch, but this article sums up everything that is ignorant about journalists !!!! Everyone else in the world isn’t there to write your story for you, they have lives and work and shouldn’t be belittled and treated as dirt just because they aren’t on call for free for you 24/7. All I can say is grow up.

      Reply

    • Ian1 says:

      01:30pm | 15/07/11

      Did you try paging them in the library?

      Reply

    • Dan says:

      01:31pm | 15/07/11

      Waiting for a reply on the phone…...why don’t you just hack their phones ?
      (It’s an internets comment, so cheap shots are allowed / plus it is Friday!)

      Isn’t the term “Academic” sought of the same as a “Know-all”.

      Reply

    • David Scott says:

      01:38pm | 15/07/11

      Have you tried contacting the media or PR unit of the University in question? Very often they have ways of getting in touch with academics that you at The Punch are after.  Sometimes, they’ll even be able to find you someone more appropriate than who you were originally after, depending on the topic.

      I work at a University and I know I’ve never received a call from The Punch though I have from every other online opinion news site.  I’d be more than happy to help if I got one though.

      Reply

    • michael j says:

      01:48pm | 15/07/11

      You bin rigen the lazy bludgers that work for the ALP or LIBS i can understand
      but surly you must be plagued with these people ringing you from the Greens,,,,,,and why haven’t we had any NUCLEAR POWER article’s latley i m getting a bit sick of HOW TO KILL A COW   at least can we have one on the ETHIC’S of Gutting a Fish while its still alive or tearing the head off a tailor,,
      you would have to get an ackademic for a story on one of these ,,,,

      Reply

    • Dr. Sic says:

      02:25pm | 15/07/11

      As an above poster mentioned, we are actually…you know…working. Besides, I have the numbers of most media outlets posted beside my phone so if a worthy outlet rings me for a comment I will pick up. The Punch obviously has not made my list.

      Reply

    • Nick says:

      02:27pm | 15/07/11

      Shock, horror! someone dares not to be at beck and call of News Ltd?  What utter cheek

      Reply

    • maus says:

      02:32pm | 15/07/11

      Sucked in Punch. Great comments. I’ve been waiting for this day. You get spoon fed sycophantic comments ‘oh tory, you are A-Mazing. ICB too!’ blah blah blah, and finally the silent, intelligent majority are coming out of the woodwork. We don’t return your calls because you are as full of it. And I’d wager that most academics have no idea what the Punch is, or who you people are.

      Reply

    • Ben81 says:

      02:45pm | 15/07/11

      Yeah serves them right for all those times they’ve misrepresented academics.  Oh wait…

    • Greg says:

      02:35pm | 15/07/11

      Politicians need the media. Academics don’t.

      This article says more about the media’s self-importance than anything.

      Reply

    • stephen says:

      06:38pm | 15/07/11

      Academics had better like the media and that’s why Governments want to screw university departments for money because politicians take notice of the voters as numbers.
      Professional rote-learners who earn 80 grand a year plus the consultancy perks as university lecturers had better start talking to someone, (anyone, including the Journos’) elsewise the quadrangle at sandstone universities will be turned into skateboard parks…and I can think of a few tweed-coated twees who might get the guernsey at such a meet.

    • Tim Bennett says:

      02:36pm | 15/07/11

      I wish I’d arrived at this comments thread before it went to shit, because there’s a simple answer: Media enquiries are supposed to go through a university media and communications department.

      The M&C dept of a university is a liaison between the media and often-overworked academics who may have little or no media training. (Why do you want academics to have media training? Because they are regarded as experts, so their words have weight, and that’s dangerous if they misspeak.) And M&C will know which academics are most relevant to your enquiry and willing to speak on it.

      From the academic’s perspective, you’ve called them out of the blue in the middle of marking with a question that’s tangentially related to their research, phrased in a vague way that suggests you haven’t really put time into understanding the issue.

      And you wonder why they won’t do YOU the courtesy.

      Reply

    • Gerry Expozen says:

      02:38pm | 15/07/11

      1. they mightn’t all be there.
      2. check the staff room.
      3. check the cloak room
      4. check for cloaking devices
      5. send a cheque & try again
      6. try bpay or ebay
      7. i’m counting 6 for 2
      8. no,  the caf or the bar?
      9. because it isn’t in there work description
      10. they mightn’t be all there.

      Reply

    • Al Chunk says:

      02:48pm | 15/07/11

      They obviously have call ID and choose not to answer questions from dumb journalists who won’t remember the answer unless it involves a celebrity who sings in their knickers.

      Reply

    • Al Chunk says:

      05:36pm | 15/07/11

      I think Anthony is confused with where journalists sit in the food chain.  It certainly isn’t any link above academics but there is no shame in that.  Adding to the knowledge of humankind trumps trivial daily commentary.

    • Anthony Sharwood

      Anthony Sharwood says:

      02:51pm | 15/07/11

      To maus, to Dr Sic, and to all the other commenters who say who the hell are we to expect academics to talk to us, well now, here’s the thing.

      Every time - and I mean every time - we go to the trouble of ringing someone in academia to help us tell a story on this website, at least one commenter pipes up and says thank God for “real journalism”.

      So which is it?

      Is it intrusive and self-important of us to think an academic might help us understand, then enunciate, an argument?

      Or would you rather we rabbited on with a partial understanding when a simple phone call to an expert could greatly broaden our and your understanding - and all that while taking maybe 5 minutes of an academic’s time?

      Ya can’t have it both way, kids.

      Reply

    • jeffb says:

      03:02pm | 15/07/11

      Why are you trying to have it both ways?

      You know exactly why they can’t always respond in a timely manner yet you still felt the need to post this misleading article.

      You regularly publish stories which are wilfully ignorant when it comes to science yet you expect people to love you for the token good piece of journalism you do.

      So what is it going to be Anthony, you can’t have it both ways. Are you going to continue to try and raise the standards of journalism on The Punch or just continue on with the odd good article and a whole bunch of misleading, ignorant, boring, dull shit?

    • Zeta says:

      03:20pm | 15/07/11

      Let’s kick the ballistics - fact is, the average academic isn’t going to help you understand or enunciate an argument better than Wikipedia.

      But if you cited Wikipedia as a source in a story, you’d be laughed at. So you’re not really looking for an academic to come down from their lofty, neck bearded perch atop the lonely Virgin Mountains and deposit gleaming nuggets of truth to the waiting mass of stupids - you’re looking for a third party endorsement for a fact you’ve probably already looked up on Google.

      I reckon a lot of academics don’t want to talk to the media because they don’t want to be tarred with the brush Michael Carr Gregg uses to paint himself successively more violent shades of outraged with.

      And another thing - why can’t you just cite their papers? If an academic has a thought worth repeating in a news story or op-ed, they probably already put it in a journal. Can’t you guys just reference that stuff? Footnotes are sexy.

    • Greg says:

      03:27pm | 15/07/11

      It’s all about intention.

      Real journalism seeks academic perspective to explore fact.

      Most Australian (and almost all News Corp) journalism seeks an academic grab that they can twist into their own context for the sake of some pointless (fish and chip wrapper) story.

      Hit a nerve much?

    • stockinbingal roo says:

      03:33pm | 15/07/11

      I thought that this was just a little bit of fun on a Friday arvo, so I also stirred the pot, but now I realise that the column was serious and I’m feeling non plussed.

    • Carz says:

      03:57pm | 15/07/11

      Yes, it is intrusive and self-important for you to just contact an academic because you think they might help you understand. They aren’t at your beck and call. Perhaps if you tried ringing uni media and communications units, or professional bodies related to the issue you are looking at, then you might receive a better response. B8ut they way you have put it in the article, and your comment, is that you expect them to drop everything because you need them. You wouldn’t expect the same of a plumber, or lawn maintenance company or anything like that. Why do you feel so entitled to get it from the academic world?

    • Coop says:

      05:09pm | 16/07/11

      Seriously Ant. Where does this sense of entitlement coming from? Where did you get the idea that it’s someone else’s responsibiity to make you look good?

      You took the trouble?,,,, try taking the trouble to call your local plumber for free advice and see how long that conversation lasts.

      Are these lazy academics like the ones who guided you through your studies on journalism and hepled transform you into the people you are today? It’s very fashionable in Australia to rip on the people who educate. It’s a very honourable profession and they are revered for their contributions in many many other countries

    • Sleve says:

      02:54pm | 15/07/11

      Academics who do respond promptly, quickly become “media commentators” and often attract criticism from within their own profession

      Reply

    • Michael Carr-Gregg says:

      03:07pm | 15/07/11

      Thats a very good point.

    • stephen says:

      06:59pm | 15/07/11

      But then if they answered quickly enough their mystique would turn to radio slut or maybe TV floozy.
      Academics are circular : someone, probably a bad and frustrated teacher told them when they were pimply and hornrimmed that they were smart and needed an ego, then they got a PHD, then they got a real ego, then they got hornrimmed again, (but got one of their students pimply) and now the common man is supposed to tip their bloody hat at someone who sits on their arse all day with books who can’t make up their minds what causes fat, or storms, or depression, or success, or wheat failures, or fission, or suicide, or how small or big anything really is and if there are 9 dimensions or only 3.
      Stick to cup-cakes, and leave us be.

    • Jon says:

      02:56pm | 15/07/11

      “Surely academics have fewer meetings than the rest of us. Surely they are at their desks more, right by that clunky old landline. They have mobiles too, right? With that newfangled voicemail stuff, and all. Heck, some of them even have email.”

      Clearly you have no idea about life in academia. Fewer meetings? Pffffttt - most academics are lucky enough to get out of enough admin, committee or any other flavour of meetings to get the desk time required to fulfil their research obligations.

      Admin support has been essentially stripped from Australian unis due to funding cuts, meaning that academics now have to do this too.

      Most of them will have an overburdened teaching load that keeps them even further away from their desks.

      In all, you’ll be lucky to find an academic at an Australian university that already works less than 60-70 hours a week.

      Perhaps they just have better things to do than wait at the phone in the hope that some hack will call them, interview them, and then take whatever they say horribly out of context and misquote it to suit their arguments.

      And of course some just know better after previous treatment by journalists.

      Reply

    • Gordicans says:

      03:00pm | 15/07/11

      Two possible reasons:
      1) they’ve got News Limited phone numbers programmed into their phones and are wise enough not to answer and/or
      2) too busy watching/reading the latest remarkable event unfolds as News International implodes
      ie ask a silly question get a silly answer

      Reply

    • Occam's Blunt Razor says:

      03:02pm | 15/07/11

      If the media contacted me it would be rare for me to prioritise returning the call very highly.

      Reply

    • kate says:

      03:07pm | 15/07/11

      Hello, I am an academic and can I say if I near my phone line (shared with another and only 1 of us has a password for voicemail messages - go figure) I would definitely talk to you. And if you called m on my 6 year old University issued Nokia basic with poor reception and I could hear you i would talk to you, and if you leave an SMS and it doesnt come to me 2-7 hours later I will call you back.  I, and many of my colleagues (we are youth mental health specialists) say yes to almost everything we can and just work really hard about getting the right consistent message out. But we have have crap communications support and much of the time I runn classes or workshops all day and cant take a call (even if it is working).

      Reply

    • John says:

      03:12pm | 15/07/11

      Why don’t you leave them a voicemail message and check back later?

      Reply

    • maus says:

      03:13pm | 15/07/11

      Why would we care whether folks who read the Punch think you are doing ‘real journalism’ or not? It’s unlikely we would agree. And giving the amount of slagging off the ‘intellectual elite’ get on this site (my particular favourite is when Tory wrote an article under the guise of dissing ‘management speak’ on how wrong discipline specific lexicons are) is it any wonder they don’t want to talk to you? Clean up your comments (and your articles) and encourage a culture of lively but respectful debate and then see where you get to.

      Reply

    • Kate says:

      03:21pm | 15/07/11

      Academics live in a different world to the rest of us. Unless they are media savvy, they don’t understand journalists’ deadlines . I think it’s because the nature of their work (research) is so different to the nature of news-cycle work (need quote in next 40 mins or will be white space in newspaper).

      Many also have a reluctance to comment on issues that aren’t black and white. They love evidence and many topics of interest to the media are inconclusive.

      (I speak from a PR point of view who has dealt with many an academic.)

      (Have you tried using the Aust Science Media Centre to find a spokesperson for science academia at least?)

      Reply

    • stephen says:

      05:32pm | 17/07/11

      Black and white issues are for the dumb ones, and ‘evidence’ is used for solving crime.
      Academics, a lot like fruiters, (who also like to handle their own) are best left on their own, singing their own songs.
      (And the next time you hear an academic whining about…‘funds for more research’... they’re referring to their salaries and perks.)
      It does not cost a cent to find out the truth.

    • Jack says:

      03:23pm | 15/07/11

      It’s because we are extremely busy mate. I have to attend endless bureaucratic meetings, I teach, I do research out in the world, and I am always working on a bunch of writing projects. I don’t just sit around waiting for a journalist to ask me for an opinion. Get over yourself.

      Reply

    • Chris says:

      03:49pm | 15/07/11

      I can’t speak for every academic, but since teaching finished at the end of June, I’ve been doing nothing but marking, filling in forms, attending meetings, preparing budgets and attending to budget crises and preparing subject outlines for semester 2. (I’m officially on recreation leave at the moment, but have been spending it doing admin and preparing subject outlines…)

      I know what you’re thinking: “There can’t be *that* many forms and *that* many meetings. And surely you can just recycle last year’s subject outline.”

      Sorry to burst the bubble of those who think that academics swan about drinking tea all day, before coming out with a witticism or two, but the truth is, most of the job is getting through dull administration these days.

      Add to that new processes and systems that universities like to develop in the (mostly misguided) hope that they will someday produce efficiencies in teaching and research, and there is hardly any time to do real work. (Some of this is driven by the Federal govt, which requires uni courses to meet certain external criteria)

      So, to answer your question, one reason academics don’t answer your calls is because they’re drowning in admin and avoid their offices like the plague so they can actually get the admin done.

      Another is that universities usually have assist academics. I’ve actually asked the IT people to forward my calls to my mobile, but they never do it. I was once told this could only be done for professors and heads of research centres. Sadly I’m only a lowly lecturer.

      Reply

    • Pascal Questor says:

      03:50pm | 15/07/11

      Laziness - they are all too busy suckling the public teet and riding the gravy train. We should stop all public education and leave it in the hand of the market, then the educator would have to actually do some real work for once. I know this first hand

      Reply

    • puffin says:

      04:01pm | 15/07/11

      As a lazy educator?

    • meh says:

      04:11pm | 15/07/11

      Almost 100 comments and not one mention of bottles of wine. Don’t any of you know academics?

      Reply

    • Worker says:

      04:31pm | 15/07/11

      Maybe you should try footballers, media personalities or union leaders.  They do a lot less real work and should have more time to prattle on in the name of extra publicity.

      Reply

    • Jade says:

      04:35pm | 15/07/11

      If the academics you’ve been trying to call work anywhere like the Arts Faculty at Uni. of Melbourne, it’s likely they have been waiting to get their office phone connected for the last three months! If the hand-me-down phone ever does get connected, it’ll be time for them to move into their newer, smaller, fire hazard office anyway… Which probably doesn’t even have a landline outlet. Most academics want to talk about their research to journos - in fact it is now a part of the job requirement at some unis. But the gross abuse of funding and prioritization of faculties that have corporate backing, means that many academics get left with substandard resources. If you want to speak to us, look up our home or mobile number. Don’t rely on our work line listing ever getting through to us!

      Reply

    • author of a little read book says:

      04:50pm | 15/07/11

      fear baby!
      i’d guest it would be fear
      fear of being to invited to
      A Dinner for Schmucks,
      surrounded by ventriloquist trolls
      on comment blog designed to trap a shrew.
      not everything in publishing is black and white
      and some for what ever reason prefer to be stuck in the maize.
      mill stones, lillies for the allergy free,
      and how cookie dough becomes/became guerilla biscuits.

      Reply

    • mike j says:

      04:58pm | 15/07/11

      Why don’t academics answer the phone?

      In your case… caller ID?

      Reply

    • Chris says:

      05:31pm | 15/07/11

      No need for them to answer. You can just check their voicemail for them.

      Reply

    • Ben says:

      09:09pm | 15/07/11

      Academics work hard - they work longer hours than almost any other field I’ve worked in, and they get paid less to do it.  They are extremely busy, especially those who are more senior or in the forefront of the fields.  They are very rarely at their desks or in their offices to answer phones because they are in various meetings, teaching, at conferences or in the field.  They have courses to run, complex papers to read, write and peer-review, journals to edit, research groups to organise, students or younger academics to supervise, endless hundred-page proposals to put together in order procure funding to keep doing important research, conferences to organise or attend, projects to manage, facilities to oversee, endless administrative tasks and then all the usual institutional politics and bureaucracy to deal with.

      Most academics are in their field because they are passionate about it.  They usually have a backlist long enough to last 50 lifetimes of research they would like to do and questions they would like to answer scientifically.  The only way they will ever get near to doing any of the research they want to do is by prioritising and scheduling and the system they are in drives them to do this more and more because they generally get less and less time for research as they move forward in their careers.

      Unless your article is specifically about their research, projects and institution there is really not much incentive for them to push things out of the way and disrupt their workflow to talk to you (this goes for almost anything really, not just journalism).

      Reply

    • David of the Grand Academy of Adelagado. says:

      09:15pm | 15/07/11

      It annoys me that when journo’s or radio hosts want a comment on some issue they take the lazy option and just call some egotistical ‘media tart’ at the local Uni.  My own experience, running a business, is that ‘academia’ is so often so far behind the times that their comments are useless. For years we had graduates approach us for jobs but when we looked at their portfolios we would be staggered to see how dated their projects were. In particular they were often using technology or methods that we had long ago surpassed or discarded. If that was an indication of how their professors and teachers saw our industry then they were clearly living in the past. So, Punch team, if you want relevant comment, talk to those who ‘do’, not those who ‘teach’. (Are business schools still pumping out students who think ‘mission statements’ and ‘quality assurance programs’ are the answer to everything? Probably.)

      Reply

    • Zac says:

      12:44pm | 16/07/11

      I find most uni’s are tax payer funded “activist centre” and “ideological arm” of unions and hezhollah flag wavers (greens). If I have to respect uni’s or colleges there needs to tranperancy and accountability (kick out the brainwashers and social engineers).

    • Tipi says:

      10:31pm | 15/07/11

      not to mention that it’s the end of the semester and they might be up to their armpits in marking, resulting, preparing for next semester, counselling students, you know - just doing their job.

      Reply

    • Zac says:

      12:30pm | 16/07/11

      , social engineering and brainwashing. How else do you manufacture products like Climate Evangelist $ate Blanchet?

    • stephen says:

      11:26pm | 16/07/11

      Counselling students about what ?
      How to survive up to one’s armpits ?

    • Zac says:

      10:33pm | 15/07/11

      While “acadegimmicks” are on “Scientific Dole Bludging” (6 year study to come to the conclusion that children need both father and mother), the acadegimmick (climategate - just the tip of the iceberg), jurno and Julia Gillard has one thing in common, all love LIEs.

      Reply

    • malohi says:

      11:53pm | 15/07/11

      lolwot

    • Uncle Buck says:

      08:17am | 16/07/11

      You can always just make stuff up. You guys are good at that!

      Reply

    • anotherbludyessaytomark says:

      01:46pm | 16/07/11

      I do answer….sometimes I even talk for a bit.
      Don’t recall you ringing me though…...

      Reply

    • angelina says:

      07:17pm | 16/07/11

      @Shifter: *wring* me up” - that’s gold! just made my day.

      Reply

    • Shane says:

      10:39pm | 16/07/11

      Is it too blunt to say that academics are actually spending time reading, researching, studying and not spending their working days on the phone with people who may quite potentially misrepresent the whole point of the conversation anyway. 

      Selecting one sentence out of an entire paragraph on particle physics doesn’t quite get the correct message across.  Just look at all the hype about the world being obliterated by the hadron collider thanks to a well meaning journalist or two who couldn’t find anything more interesting to type up one fine summer afternoon.

      But of course you have a good point.  We academics in general are a bunch of layabouts.  We love nothing more than to hang around with our mates at 11am and talk about what colour we’re thinking of painting our 5th bedroom. 

      Maybe we should start having editorial meetings twice daily so we can discuss what to put in the paper the next day.  It’s obviously a much better use of our time.  On second thoughts, the colour of paint does seem much more fun after all…

      Reply

    • BanjoLawson says:

      06:33pm | 17/07/11

      Maybe it’s because “those academics” are busy doing their jobs, and realise that The Punch is a subsidiary of News Ltd unlikely to contribute anything to reasoned debate on often complex issues.

      The tone of your petulant public complaint lends weight to this assumption.

      Reply

    • PB says:

      07:50pm | 17/07/11

      I’m an academic and I had the interesting experience of being rung up by a News Ltd journalist. All the hack wanted was for to me to say that something was the fault of the Australian government. It clearly wasn’t and when I said so said hack couldn’t get off the phone quick enough. I found out later that the hack went through the whole department looking for someone to say what he wanted them to.

      Reply

    • PB says:

      08:34pm | 17/07/11

      I’m always amused when I see ‘articles’ like this. Of course they’re not really articles, they’re an invitation to have a go at academics. And boy, it certainly is going well, isn’t it Anthony?

      According to the readers of the Punch academics are:
      “up their own arse”, “uppety wankers”, “irrelevant and ill-informed”, “Know-all”, “Professional rote-learners who earn 80 grand a year plus the consultancy perks”, “someone who sits on their arse all day with books who can’t make up their minds”, “Lazy…suckling the public teet and riding the gravy train”, “tax payer funded “activist centre” and “ideological arm” of unions (and) greens…brainwashers and social engineers”, “Scientific Dole Bludging”, “love LIES”...

      My suspicion is that there’s an element of payback with this kind of thing. At school you’re amongst the best, told how brilliant you are, how you will do amazing things. You get to Uni and you’re just one of the crowd - no longer the boy- or girl-wonder, just an average student.

      Most of us get over it, but it seems obvious to me that an awful lot don’t. They never did get over failing that unit, being put-down by that academic, having that argument torn to shreds in a tutorial… And articles like this are payback time. Put up a topic like this and just watch the resentments come in. But you knew that, didn’t you Anthony. That’s why you put the topic up.

      Reply
 
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Daniel Piotrowski

drpiotrowski 17 May 12 02:26PM

.@GQMagazine profile of Justin Bieber. Really well written. WARNING: It's about Justin Bieber. http://t.co/NELebjMB

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Government to consider a Greens call for a national anti-corruption body #auspolhttp://t.co/mrkCu9HQ

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@speedmouse I ask myself that everyday as I bask in my tasks.

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I was responsible for this headline. It was quite difficult to think up. http://t.co/q5rnWpLM

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