nisbetmc | October 2, 2006Last week, the online news section of the Columbia Journalism Review ran this very useful reaction to Senator Inhofe's attack on journalists covering global warming, referencing the analysis posted here.
nisbetmc | October 2, 2006
Everyone here in D.C. is talking about Bob Woodward's State of Denial, as the book's insider accounts continue to dominate the news cycle this week. Woodward's impact offers a leading example of how politicians, journalists, and the general public use frames to cut down on complexity and uncertainty, and as tools to make sense of what's either wrong or right in America. Yet in order to understand why Woodward's book resonates so powerfully at this moment, you have to understand the history of the frame contest to define Bush.
State of Denial is a classic example of a "frame device," a…
nisbetmc | September 28, 2006
Email list servs and blogs aren't the only things buzzing about the new documentary 'Jesus Camp,' (trailer) which opens in major cities this weekend, including here in D.C. The news media has also discovered the film, and its impact has been to generate a string of news reports that focus on a very specific framing of the Evangelical movement. In this case, 'Jesus Camp' serves a function that I have talked about with other documentaries: It elevates attention to a specific social or political issue in the news, but at the same time, interjects a selective framing of the topic.
News media…
nisbetmc | September 26, 2006
As Inhofe attacks the media for exaggerating the threat of global warming, the GOP continues to pursue its election strategy of making terrorism and the memory of 9/11 the defining criteria for voters come November. John Mueller, political scientist at The Ohio State University, makes a strong case in the latest issue of the journal Foreign Affairs that the terrorism threat has been overblown and exaggerated by the government and the media. Comparing terrorism to global warming makes for an interesting risk assessment exercise.
nisbetmc | September 26, 2006
Just to show you how out of touch Inhofe and his staff are in their attack on the media, they even label as alarmist Andrew Revkin of the NY Times. I've read through literally dozens of Revkin's articles, I have seen him speak on several occasions, and interviewed him for this article on hurricane coverage. Of all the journalists out there, he is probably the most sophisticated and nuanced when it comes to understanding and accurately communicating scientific uncertainty. (And don't take my word for it, ask climate scientists what they think.) In fact, Revkin himself has been critical of…
nisbetmc | September 26, 2006
Yesterday, Senator James Inhofe, Chair of the Committee on Public Works & the Environment, issued a challenge to journalists to stop what he called the "media hype" over global warming. Inhofe compiles a list of what he considers exaggerated distortions of global warming from recent and past news coverage. Of course, Inhofe's tactic is all too familiar. Conservatives have long complained about a "liberal media bias" generally, relying heavily on anecdotal evidence to back up their claims. When news reports don't favor preferred policy positions, whether it is election politics or…
nisbetmc | September 26, 2006
If it isn't already obvious, the GOP game plan for the November election is to make September 11 and the war on terror the dominant consideration for voters, rather than the troubles in Iraq, and the lingering questions of GOP competency following Katrina. All the tools of strategic communication are being applied including negative advertising, bullypulpit agenda-setting, and selective frame devices such as calling Dems "defeato-crats" (See this overview of the game plan from the NY Times.) At the local level, the GOP plans to spend 90% of their advertising budget on negative ads, with…
nisbetmc | September 25, 2006Chris Wallace has this to say about the ground rules agreed to by Fox News and Clinton....
nisbetmc | September 25, 2006
News outlets and the blogosphere are abuzz over Bill Clinton's appearance on Fox News Sunday. The whole episode is a classic example of how the negotiation of news between journalists and powerful sources can sometimes go wrong, especially when the two parties might ultimately have competing goals.
After hosting a week long summit on global warming that raised $7 billion, Clinton wanted to use Fox News to reach its GOP viewers on the issue. Clinton's effort was paired with agenda-building activities during the week that were designed to attract attention among GOP members of the public who…
nisbetmc | September 19, 2006
For readers who are interested in learning more about the communication battles over science policy, I gave the following talk to the American Institute of Biological Sciences back in May, and now AIBS has posted a video of the lecture, complete with an interactive version of the powerpoint slides. My friend Chris Mooney leads things off with an introduction, and then I take over with a "big picture" overview, complete with polling and media data I have gathered over the past few years. Many of the themes written about at this blog are discussed in depth as part of the talk. Chris thinks…
nisbetmc | September 12, 2006
For readers in the Beltway, I will be presenting at this upcoming panel on blogging sponsored by the DC Science Writers Association. It's free if you don't plan to partake in the food and beverages before hand. Here's the scoop on what I will be discussing, followed by details on the full event:
Science Blogs: The Intersection with Science, the Media, and the Public
Matthew C. Nisbet, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
School of Communication
American University
How does blog reading connect to traditional and online news use? Do political and science blogs reach new and diverse audiences, or only…
nisbetmc | September 2, 2006
In the latest issue of the journal Science Communication, David Sachsman, James Simon, and JoAnn Valenti report on their findings from a census survey of environmental reporters across the Pacific Northwest, New England, the South, and Rocky Mountain regions.
Here are some key findings from the study:
Pacific Northwest News Orgs Most Likely to Feature Environmental Beat
Audience demand seems to shape the decision to invest in the environmental beat. News organizations in the Pacific Northwest were more likely than their counterparts in other regions to have environmental reporters on…
nisbetmc | August 23, 2006
Since last fall, poll questions across surveys have tapped public belief in the link between hurricanes and global warming. In this post, I provide a round up of poll findings in chronological order starting last year just after Katrina hit.
The impacts of Katrina and Rita received saturation news coverage. The televised drama combined with the frame contest to connect the storm to global warming was very likely to move public opinion. According to Pew, more Americans reported paying "very close" attention to the Katrina story (73%) than any other event in recent American history, with…
nisbetmc | August 4, 2006
Gallup has released a poll report detailing trends in Gore's favorability ratings, indicating that despite the speculation that Inconvenient Truth has morphed the image of the VP in the public's mind, there has been little change in public evaluations. (Go here and watch an ad, to access the report.)
Why has there been little movement in the VP's favorability ratings, despite a juggernaut media campaign? As has been the case with most previous political documentaries, they draw a strong like-minded audience. Viewers of Truth are already predisposed to favor Gore and to be concerned about…
nisbetmc | August 4, 2006
A study released this week by the Institute for Public Policy Research, a left-leaning British think tank, criticizes the UK media for engaging in a dominant "alarmist" interpretation of global warming. This alarmist interpretation is characterized by an inflated sense of urgency and "cinematic tones" according to the study, which used discourse analysis of a sample of 600 news articles to reach its conclusions.
The problem with this lead media interpretation, concludes the report, is that it likely leaves readers "without a sense of agency," giving the impression that "the problem is…
nisbetmc | August 3, 2006
With Chris Mooney, over at Skeptical Inquirer Online, we have a lengthy article evaluating coverage of the hurricane-global warming debate. We interviewed the major science writers, columnists, and political reporters who have written about the topic, we also interviewed several of the major scientists in the area. We conclude with recommendations on how journalists and scientists can work together to improve coverage. The article was originally intended to appear this summer at a print magazine, but got bumped at the last minute. So we decided to get it up on the Web with timeliness and…
nisbetmc | August 2, 2006
With Mel Gibson's DWI arrest and associated comments about Jews, re-newed attention has been focused on the content and possible effects of Gibson's The Passion of the Christ. The film depicts the high priest Caiaphas as leading an angry, bloodthirsty Jewish mob demanding the death of Jesus, and the Roman ruler Pontius Pilate as a malleable governor pressured to hand down a death sentence.
In a Science and the Media column back in 2004, I reviewed the available polling data to determine if the movie had any effects on audiences. Among adults, the available data showed that attitudes and…
nisbetmc | July 27, 2006
Ten climate scientists who disagree about the linkages between global warming and more intense hurricanes have released a joint statement warning that regardless of the resolution of the scientific debate, hurricanes remain a serious threat, and that policymakers need to rethink coastal development. On Tuesday, Andrew Revkin of the NY Times contributed this story on the announcement.
The joint statement is a leading example of how scientists can work with journalists to "negotiate" news about the policy relevance of science. It's a shift in thinking about public communication that is…
nisbetmc | July 26, 2006
Gallup has released poll findings indicating that 58% of the public disagrees with the Bush veto decision. This finding is not surprising, since it closely parallels the level of public support measured in independent polls for ESC research using left over embryos.
It is interesting to compare these findings from 2006 to the public reaction to Bush's 2001 compromise announcement. As I summarize in this article, the surveys taken in the days and weeks after Bush's August 9, 2001 speech were fairly consistent in showing between 50% and 60% public approval. This level of support remained…
nisbetmc | July 24, 2006
I run against the tastes of my generation in that I have never been much of a fan of Comedy Central's The Daily Show. As a recent study finds, I have always believed that the show serves a damaging displacement function, with many viewers relying on Stewart as their only source of political news. More troubling, the show generates political cynicism and negativism, while promoting a false sense among viewers of political involvement and sophistication.
But this recent take by the show on the Bush stem cell policy is hilarious, and offers a valid point: The Bush administration's position on…