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Denis Muller

Denis Muller

Senior Research Fellow in the Centre for Advancing Journalism, University of Melbourne

Denis Muller was born in New Zealand in 1948 and emigrated to Australia in 1969. He was educated at Rosmini College, Auckland, and at the University of Melbourne.

After three years on suburban newspapers in Auckland, he joined The Sydney Morning Herald as a sub-editor in 1969. In 1978 he joined The Times, London, also as a sub-editor, before returning to take up the position of Chief Sub-editor of the Herald in 1980.

He subsequently held the positions of Night Editor, News Editor and Assistant Editor (Investigations) at that newspaper, until joining The Age, Melbourne, as Associate Editor in 1986.

At both newspapers, his responsibilities including representing the papers as an advocate before the Australian Press Council.

From 1984 until he left newspapers in 1993, he worked closely with Irving Saulwick, one of Australia's leading public opinion pollsters, in the management and writing of the Saulwick Poll which was published in The Age as AgePoll and in the Herald as HeraldSurvey.

In 1990 he was accepted as a mature-age student into the Public Policy program at the University of Melbourne. He completed a Postgraduate Diploma in 1992 and a Master's degree in 1994.

In 1993 he left The Age to take up a position as Group Manager, Communications, at the Board of Studies, Victoria.

In 1995 he established the research consultancy Denis Muller & Associates, and was appointed a Senior Research Fellow in the Centre for Public Policy at the University of Melbourne.

In 2006 he completed a doctoral thesis on media ethics and accountability, and was appointed a Visiting Fellow at the Centre for Public Policy, where he has taught in the Public Policy program since 1997.

He has also taught research methodology at RMIT University, and teaches defamation law to practising journalists through the Communication Law Centre.

A reciprocating engine of money, power and influence: how Australia's 'media monsters' used journalism to cement their empires

Jun 19, 2023 06:20 am UTC| Insights & Views Business

Carl Sagan said that in order to understand the present, its necessary to know the past. Nowhere does this apply with greater force than to the Australian media and its place in the nations power structure. Media...

Journalists reporting on the Voice to Parliament do voters a disservice with 'he said, she said' approach

May 02, 2023 15:21 pm UTC| Politics

For much of the past two decades, polarisation and hyper-partisanship have weakened Western democracies, most notably in the United States and Britain. Australia has not escaped, although the consequences here have been...

News Corp's job cuts cast a shadow over the future of its newspapers

Feb 14, 2023 13:14 pm UTC| Business

News Corporation is cutting its staff by 5% globally, including in Australia, after its news media division recorded a second-quarter earnings decline of 47%. The decision inevitably reopens questions about the future of...

Alarmist reporting on COVID-19 will only heighten people's anxieties and drive vaccine hesitancy

May 23, 2021 03:32 am UTC| Health

From an ethics perspective, it has been a bad couple of weeks for media coverage of COVID-19. First, there was a highly questionable story in The Australian about China allegedly weaponising coronavirus, with the...

Tensions rise on coronavirus handling as the media take control of the accountability narrative

Aug 14, 2020 15:51 pm UTC| Insights & Views

Media coverage of disasters follows a broadly similar trajectory, even though the disasters themselves might take very different forms. The COVID-19 crisis in Victoria is no exception. Although it is unfolding over a...

In publishing Tom Cotton, the New York Times has made a terrible error of judgment

Jun 05, 2020 10:50 am UTC| Insights & Views

When a newspaper with the authority of The New York Times chooses to publish a party-political essay calculated to further inflame the violence wracking cities across America, serious questions arise. On June 3 the...

Coronavirus is a huge story, so journalists must apply the highest ethical standards in how they tell it

Mar 12, 2020 15:50 pm UTC| Insights & Views

From an ethical perspective, covering the coronavirus story is really hard to do well. The reason for this lies in an inherent conflict between two ethical obligations: the obligation to truth-telling and the obligation...

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Economy

Nissan Launches Limited-Edition Kicks e-Power Sport in the Philippines

Nissan has introduced an exclusive offering for car enthusiasts in the Philippines: the limited-edition Nissan Kicks e-Power Sport. This variant will turn heads on the local market with a sleek black paint job and silver...

McDonald's, Wendy's Win Against Lawsuit Filed by Customers Over 'Deceiving' Burger Size

McDonalds and Wendys are two major fast-food chains recently sued for alleged false advertisements. One of the most overwhelming complaints is that the restaurants are serving small burgers, although their ads show large...

Proposed Fuel Economy Standards Could Result in Billions in Fines for Automakers

The proposal by U.S. President Joe Bidens administration to increase fuel economy standards until 2032 has raised concerns among major automakers. General Motors could face fines of $6.5 billion, while Chrysler parent...

Kellogg’s Completes Separation of Cereal Businesses; Kellanova Starts Trading as Standalone Firm

The Kellogg Company has officially rebranded after the firms separation has finally been completed. This means the cereal manufacturer will now operate as a standalone company with its own management. The split of...

Visa Announces $100M Investment Plan for Generative AI Ventures

Visa Inc. unveiled its $100 million funding venture for newly established generative artificial intelligence (AI) businesses. With this move, the American payment card processor joined the investors who pledged investments...

Politics

Feinstein's death raises the question: How are vacant Senate seats filled?

Theres an empty seat in the U.S. Senate now that Californias longtime and senior senator, Dianne Feinstein, has died. And, following the Sept. 22, 2023, federal indictment on bribery and other charges of U.S. Sen. Bob...

Foreign policy has been missing from NZ's election campaign – voters deserve answers to these big questions

Tax cuts, crime, the cost of living, potholes and co-governance … these and various other issues are now familiar to most voters. But there has been one major election area missing the serious debate it needs:...

Closer relations between Australia and India have the potential to benefit both nations

The structure of Andrew Charltons Australias Pivot to India is built on three promises: the promise of India; the promise of the Australia-India relationship; and the promise of the Indian diaspora becoming a powerful...

AI disinformation is a threat to elections − learning to spot Russian, Chinese and Iranian meddling in other countries can help the US prepare for 2024

Elections around the world are facing an evolving threat from foreign actors, one that involves artificial intelligence. Countries trying to influence each others elections entered a new era in 2016, when the Russians...

Can Biden bounce back as the US presidential race turns nastier?

Antagonism between the two expected candidates for US president in 2024 is ramping up as the political battleground turns increasingly nasty. US president Joe Biden suggested that Donald Trump and his allies pose a...

Science

A search for links between two of the universe's most spectacular phenomena has come up empty – for now

Every so often, astronomers glimpse an intense flash of radio waves from space a flash that lasts only instants but puts out as much energy in a millisecond as the Sun does in a few years. The origin of these fast radio...

Temporary carbon storage in forests has climate value — but we need to get the accounting right

Forests and other natural carbon reservoirs play an important role in slowing and potentially reversing the effects of climate change. But any carbon stored in nature is vulnerable to either natural or human-caused...

Just 3 Nobel Prizes cover all of science – how research is done today poses a challenge for these prestigious awards

Ive been primarily an experimental chemist the kind of person who goes into the laboratory and mixes and stirs chemicals since the beginning of my career in 1965. Today, and for the past 15 years, Im a full-time...

Your microbes live on after you die − a microbiologist explains how your necrobiome recycles your body to nourish new life

Each human body contains a complex community of trillions of microorganisms that are important for your health while youre alive. These microbial symbionts help you digest food, produce essential vitamins, protect you from...

New study shows we can create value from food waste by turning it into a highly desirable material – nanocellulose

Food waste is a global problem with approximately 1.3 billion tonnes of food wasted each year throughout the food lifecycle from the farm to food manufacturers and households. Across the food supply chain, Australians...

Technology

Apple Works on iOS Update to Address Overheating Issues in iPhone 15 Models

Apple is attributing the heating concerns with its recently released iPhone 15 models to a software bug and problems associated with popular apps like Instagram and Uber. Reports of the devices becoming uncomfortably warm...

Intel Ramps Up 'Landmark' Production Using EUV Lithography Machines in Ireland

Intel announced on Friday that it has commenced high-volume production utilizing extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography machines at its $18.5 billion plant in Ireland. This development is pivotal for Intels effort to regain...

Virtual reality can help emergency services navigate the complexities of real-life crises

The UK has experienced several terrorist attacks, from the 2005 London bombings, to the devastating events at Manchester Arena and London Bridge in 2017. These tragic incidents not only resulted in the loss of innocent...

PlayStation Chief Jim Ryan to Retire; Hiroki Totoki Named Successor

Sony Group Corporation announces PlayStation CEO Jim Ryans retirement in March 2024, heralding a transition to new leadership under Hiroki Totoki. Ryan is currently working as Sony Interactive Entertainment LLCs (SIE)...
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