Jim Tully

Jim Tully is Head of School and Program Director, Journalism, in the School of Political Science and Communication at the University of Canterbury in Christchurch, New Zealand. He holds a Master of Arts with Honours and a Graduate Diploma in Journalism and teaches undergraduate and postgraduate courses. He also researches in the areas of media ethics, science communication and foreign news.

Before moving into academia in 1987, Tully worked for 18 years in daily newspapers, becoming editorial manager and assistant editor of The Auckland Star and editor of weekend newspaper 8 O'Clock.

While Pacific Affairs writer for The Auckland Star he was inaugural winner of the New Zealand Journalist of the Year Award for coverage of the Cook Islands election scandal.

Later, as an editorial executive, he had delivered in-house training. During his career, Tully has been a member of the Journalists' Training Board, chair of the Auckland Institute of Technology's Journalism Advisory Committee, and a former president of the Northern Journalists' Union.

Tully has just been commissioned to write the new national journalism text by the industry organisation which oversees journalism training in New Zealand. He is also editing a book on risk communication.

Tully has been a UNESCO consultant on journalism in Western Samoa and the Cook Islands and has also been the New Zealand Vice Chancellors' Committee representative on the National Advisory Committee on Media Studies.