Useful Sites

To be a good debater, it’s important that you keep up with current affairs. We’ve compiled a list of websites that will be most useful to your career as a debater. The pages with an asterisk (*) beside them  require you to pay for their premium content (for example, The Economist). Your school may have a subscription to these sites – check with your librarian.

• The Economist*
  • The number one resource for all debaters, and particularly good for coverage of international affairs. Take a look at the Economist’s various podcasts as well (available through iTunes).
• The New Zealand Herald
  • To keep up with what’s happening in New Zealand.
    
• The Times
  • Arguably the most esteemed newspaper in the United Kingdom and also its oldest, the Times is great if you want to keep up with international affairs.
    
• The Guardian
  • Also a great UK newspaper.
• Slate – A daily online magazine published in the United States that profiles politics, news and culture. Takes a left-of-centre view and provides good insight into the American political system. Check out the Slate Political Gabfest (available as a podcast on iTunes) too.

• Debatabase – provides a summary of arguments for oft-debated topics.
• Debatepedia – an online debating wikipedia that is an extension of Debatabase. Users can contribute to topics by providing arguments “for” or “against” topics.

Debating organisations

• The University of Auckland Debating Society
  • The University of Auckland Debating Society is the largest student club on campus at the University of Auckland. It provides regular debates to university students studying towards a variety of degrees, as well as providing public debates to members of the public. Its website has a number of resources that would also be useful to school students.
• The New Zealand Schools’ Debating Council (NZSDC)
  • NZSDC is the umbrella organisation for all secondary school debating in New Zealand. It facilitates the Russell McVeagh Regional and National Championships each year. Its website contains a wealth of information on debating at a schools-level.
    
• The New Zealand Universities’ Debating Council (NZUDC)
  • NZUDC  is the umbrella organisation for all of the University debating societies in New Zealand. Its website is designed to be a repository of the history of NZUDC and the various tournaments it runs.
• The World Schools’ Debating Council (WSDC)
  • WSDC is the umbrella organisation for world schools debating. It facilitates the World Schools’ Debating Championships which are held around the world each year. Its current chairperson is Claire Ryan, who has had a long-standing involvement with debating at a schools level in New Zealand and adjudicates for ASD.