University media teams use The Conversation as a training ground THE government will continue to be a major sponsor of The Conversation, a privately owned online magazine, chipping in an additional $2 million over the next four years. The Conversation will also receive tax-deductibility status and will be listed as a "deductible gift recipient" - effectively receiving charity status. The budget papers say the allocated funding is funding-neutral, but it does not say from where the savings will be made. The Conversation began in 2011 and predominantly carries comment pieces written by university researchers, as well as journalist articles on issues of the day. It is funded by a mix of government, business and university contributions. Currently, about half of Australia's 39 universities contribute, the amount depending on their size and status. The Australian understands that about $75,000 a year is the going rate, although most institutions pay much less than that. However, the government's recent 3.5 per cent efficiency measure could reasonably make universities look more closely at their sponsorship of the site, as tight budgets put all discretionary spending under the spotlight. The Australian has been told that many university media teams use the The Conversation as a training ground to teach up-and-coming researchers the art of public communication. Media-shy researchers receive generous feedback on their writing and have ultimate sign-off on the final published article. It also offers free online job advertisements for the foundation sponsors. Non-sponsor institutions can offer comment pieces for publication but sponsors receive detailed analysis on readership for their generosity.