Welcome to The Lighthouse – Macquarie’s new multi-media news platform designed to showcase your research and expert comment to the general public.

In launching The Lighthouse this week, Macquarie is at the forefront of a trend with news and opinion websites becoming increasingly popular in universities around the world.

In a launch article on the site, Professor Nicole Anderson, Head of Department of Media, Music, Communications and Cultural Studies says the new online newsroom would help balance the social media world where opinion is treated as fact.

She says The Lighthouse “would respond to the era of fake news and alternative facts by presenting credible, research-backed commentary.”

In the first edition – launched on Monday – we illuminated the life-changing advancements being made by researchers including Professor Richard Kefford in melanoma, Professor Anand Deva in surgery, Professor Brian Atwell in plant physiology, Associate Professor Kira Westaway in bio archaeology and Professor Nathan Hart whose shark repellent technology was featured in The Australian.

As part of our vision to showcase our expertise in dozens of fields, the new ‘Please Explain’ feature kicks off by simplifying burning questions from science, astronomy, psychology, geography, biology, cyber security and marine science.

Now the Content Team needs you!

We want to hear from academics who would like to share their stories – which we will tell in everyday language – to illustrate the real-world impact of the amazing work being done here on campus.

The Lighthouse editor, former Fairfax journalist Angie Kelly, says the aim is to amplify the huge impact of the work being done here by academics across the disciplines, many of whom are leaders in their fields.

“When we publish your stories, we will share them with the media for further potential promotion,” she says.

“We plan to send newsletters containing our top weekly stories to subscribers plus share our content on the University’s popular social channels, leveraging our huge following on Facebook, Twitter and Linkedin so we can help you tell your stories far and wide.”

Got a story? Get in touch using our suggest a story form or email Angie on angie.kelly@mq.edu.au