Brian McNair is an academic researcher and media commentator. He writes on a wide range of topics including journalism, political communication, popular culture and mediated sexuality. His most recent books are Porno? Chic! (Routledge, 2013), Journalists In Film (Edinburgh University Press, 2010) and An Introduction To Political Communication (5th edition, Routledge, 2011). He is a regular contributor to press, online and broadcast media in Australia and overseas, including ABC News 24, Sky News, BBC World, and many other news outlets. His books have been translated into fifteen languages, including Russian, Japanese, Mandarin, Spanish, Greek, Polish and Albanian.
Why politicians and television still need each other
Mar 30, 2017 04:08 am UTC| Insights & Views Politics
We are living through a period of particularly combative media-politics relations, driven largely by the Trump presidency and the ongoing fake news debate. But, as an ABC Rear View documentary reminded us recently, tension...
Mar 06, 2017 13:16 pm UTC| Insights & Views Technology
With Zelig-like serendipity I was in Stockholm when #lastnightinsweden went viral. While echoing the melancholic majesty of a classic ABBA song title, the hashtag #lastnightinsweden actually referred to yet another Donald...
When politicians become pundits
Jan 17, 2017 15:09 pm UTC| Insights & Views Politics
Former prime minister Tony Abbotts weekend column in The Australian was a good example of professional politicians intervening in the public debate through guest punditry. Abbott has a journalistic background, and is...
Putin, the political technologist
Jan 12, 2017 08:17 am UTC| Insights & Views Politics
The 35-page dossier published by Buzzfeed alleging collusion and conspiracy between the Trump campaign and the Russian state in pursuit of what the Kremlin calls active measures against Hillary Clinton not to mention the...
Dec 12, 2016 10:57 am UTC| Insights & Views Business
Just five short years after (literally) eating humble pie live on national TV for presiding over the most corrupt, criminally minded, bin-raking, sleaze-mongering crowd of press hacks ever to spread their poison in the...
Nov 20, 2016 11:14 am UTC| Insights & Views Politics
As the results of the 2016 election came in, the mainstream media in America and around the world demonstrated their inability to cope with the challenge of a president Trump within the conventional paradigms of...
Oct 07, 2016 01:35 am UTC| Insights & Views Law
Its been a busy week for the easily offended. On Tuesday, it was reported the Motion Pictures Practitioners Association of Nigeria banned local actress Rahama Sadau from making movies because of an offensive hug she had...
A sustainable future begins at ground level
Canada needs a national strategy for homeless refugee claimants
An eclipse for everyone – how visually impaired students can ‘get a feel for’ eclipses