nisbetmc | July 23, 2006
The Bush administration isn't the only government opposing the expansion of publicly-funded ESC research. This week, Germany joined with Poland, Austria, Slovakia, Luxembourg, Malta and Slovenia in opposing a EU proposal to allow public funding for ESC research on embryos left over from in vitro clinics. Germany is trying to rally Italy to join in the EU coalition opposing stem cell research.
The announcement features the multiple faces of German Chancellor Angela Merkel's government when it comes to science. Just a week earlier, Dr. Merkel, who holds a doctorate in physics, wrote in…
nisbetmc | July 22, 2006
Below I provide an overview of the Editorials printed at the national and major regional newspapers. Without exception, the newspapers denounce Bush's decision. Most go with the "moral inconsistency" angle: why prevent research that could save lives when the left over embryos at IVF clinics would be destroyed anyway? Only a few papers emphasize PUBLIC ACCOUNTABILITY, linking Bush's decision to a general "hostility to science" and a perceived tendency to decide public policy based on his religious beliefs and the preferences of Christian conservative groups. A few reference the difference…
nisbetmc | July 20, 2006
I'm sorting through all the news coverage this week, and will be having posts forthcoming summarizing the major frames and narratives that appeared in Editorials, Op-Eds, soundbites, and news coverage, but to start, the most stunning outcome from yesterday's veto was to witness the clear dominance that Bush & Co. displayed when it came to visual framing. The battle over visuals is important. While the press tends to contextualize the issue and is more favorable ground for getting pro-research interpretations into coverage, the majority of Americans are going to rely on TV reports,…
nisbetmc | July 17, 2006
Previously I posted that journalists and news organizations have a "limited carrying capacity," meaning that they can't pay attention to all issues all the time, so that when one issue or set of issues rise in attention, other issues are bumped from coverage.
The relationship is relevant as the U.S. faces what has been called a "perfect storm" of foreign policy crises. These foreign policy topics have come to dominate the news over the last few weeks, but for the majority of Americans, perhaps the most salient issue in their daily lives right now is the record heat that stretches across…
nisbetmc | July 15, 2006The political debate over stem cell research in Australia is following a pattern similar to the controversy in the U.S. This week, after Australian PM John Howard announced that he would support a continued Federal ban on medical cloning, a decision at odds with the recommendations of a recent independent commission, several Australian states are considering passing legislation that would bypass Federal rules. Meanwhile, scientists in the country are using the ECONOMIC COMPETITIVENESS frame to argue in favor of research, warning that a Federal ban could lead to a "brain drain" of top…
nisbetmc | July 13, 2006
Last week was the ten year anniversary of the birth of the cloned sheep Dolly. Looking around for good examples of visual framing for a course I teach in Political Communication, I came across this classic comparison between the cover stories that ran at Scientific American and the German weekly Der Spiegel. Playing to audiences with a different set of interests, and to political cultures with very different histories when it comes to genetic engineering, the magazines take the same event, and visually accent dimensions that lead to competing interpretations of the announcement.…
nisbetmc | July 13, 2006The media, policy, and public agenda can be said to have a "limited carrying capacity." Since neither news organizations,members of Congress, nor the public can devote equal amounts of resources and attention to all issues, the rise in attention to one issue on the news agenda, is likely to bump down in prominence another issue across other agendas.
AND so, over the past few weeks, as Madeline Albright dubs it , we have reached a "perfect storm" of foreign policy crises. Consider the many flash points across the globe, events that, as TIME magazine frames it this week, have led the Bush…
nisbetmc | July 12, 2006Just released this afternoon....
FRIST ANNOUNCES STEM CELL VOTE SCHEDULE
WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, M.D., (R-Tenn.) today announced the following schedule for voting on stem cell legislation (S. 3504, S. 2754, and H.R. 810): "The Senate will take up the three stem cell bills on Monday, July 17, and will complete all action by Tuesday, July 18. There's tremendous promise in stem cell research, and I've worked long and hard with my colleagues to bring this serious ethical issue to the floor in a way that encourages thoughtful discussion and deliberation."
nisbetmc | July 12, 2006
Over at Nanopublic, my colleague Dietram Scheufele, currently on holiday in Germany, follows-up on the German pharmaceutical campaign I highlighted on my old blog back in January. The ad campaign makes effective use of the SOCIAL PROGRESS frame to promote public belief in the value of research. In combination with the ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT frame, the SOCIAL PROGRESS interpretation is in many cases the dominant way scientists and industry define research in ways that promote public support, though sometimes the interpretation can backfire.
nisbetmc | July 10, 2006From the Denver Post, and highlighted on Drudge:
President Bush will likely cast the first veto of his presidency if the Senate, as expected, passes legislation to expand federal funding of embryonic stem-cell research, White House aide Karl Rove said today. "The president is emphatic about this," Rove - Bush's top political advisor and architect of his 2000 and 2004 campaigns - said in a meeting with the editorial board of The Denver Post.
nisbetmc | July 10, 2006Global warming is tapping the cultural zeit geist, with 2006 on track to smash an all-time record for news attention (more on this soon), and various film and TV events trying to raise public attention to the issue. The latest, reports the Washington Post today, is a Discovery Channel documentary slated for 9pm Sunday night, hosted by Tom Brokaw. And if Inconvenient Truth is setting records in terms of revenue for a science film, stay tuned for the fall, when Leonardo DiCaprio releases his 11th Hour documentary on the environment.
nisbetmc | July 10, 2006In yesterday's Washington Post, David Broder focused on the Wisc. Governor race, and the ability of Democratic incumbent Jim Doyle to re-define stem cell research around economic development in the state. The framing strategy is putting pressure on GOP candidate and U.S. Rep. Mark Green, who adheres closely to President Bush's position on SC research.
nisbetmc | July 10, 2006In an editorial in the latest issue of BIOSCIENCE magazine, editor Timothy M. Beardsley discusses the importance of framing when it comes to communication strategy, and highlights some of the points I raised in a recent presentation at the annual meetings of the American Institute of Biological Sciences (AIBS.) The discussions at the meeting and the editorial are another sign that organizations within the scientific community are getting serious about complementary forms of public engagement that go beyond the traditional focus on popular science and science literacy.
nisbetmc | July 10, 2006According to BoxOfficeMojo, the weekend take for Inconvenient Truth dropped to $1.16 million this week, down from $1.597 million last week, $2.016 million two weeks back, and $1.9 million three weeks ago. In total, the film has grossed $15,039,000, placing it fourth all time among documentaries, trailing Fahrenheit 9/11 at $119million, March of the Penguins at $77 million, and Bowling for Columbine at $21 million.
nisbetmc | July 8, 2006The journal Nature runs a story on the 50 most visited science-related blogs as ranked by Technorati. Only evolution stands out as a dominant special focus, though several very popular blogs are specific to climate change. More on this forthcoming, particularly the media-impact of these blogs.
nisbetmc | July 5, 2006Today marks the ten year anniversary of the birth of the cloned sheep Dolly, and the anniversary comes as Congress debates various bills impacting funding for embryonic stem cell research (NPR files two reports today, here and here.)
Despite ten years of debate over therapeutic and reproductive cloning, Congress has yet to pass legislation providing clear guidelines for research. According to polls, the public still has reservations about animal cloning, and remains unclear about the differences between reproductive and therapeutic cloning. Though answers are susceptible to question…
nisbetmc | July 3, 2006It appears that while audiences continue to go see Inconvenient Truth, some of the excitement has worn off. According to BoxOffice Mojo, the film opened in 73 more theaters this weekend, bringing its total to 587, still a tiny number compared to the 3000 screens that blockbusters run on. Across these theaters, the film earned 1.597 million over the weekend, down from the 2.016 million the week before, and the 1.911 million from two weeks back. So far, the film has earned a total of 12.359 million, ranking it fifth all-time among documentaries, just behind Madonna's Truth or Dare
Meanwhile…
nisbetmc | July 1, 2006There are two dominant ways we view the role of the news media in the U.S., with both views reflected in the traditions of classical sociology. The first perspective emphasizes the "power and persuasion" nature of the news. When we think of the media as a campaign tool, as a vehicle for elites to mobilize public opinion, or as an arena where competing groups try to win adherents to their side, these interpretations fall within the the "power and persuasion" category. But an overlooked, and secondary way we view the news media has less to do with power and persuasion, and more to do with…
nisbetmc | June 29, 2006There are two generalizable findings on influencing behavior change. First, citizens are more likely to get involved politically if they see members of their peer group or social group getting involved. In other words, the choice to participate may be as simple as doing something that everyone else is doing. In this case, there is an element of social pressure exerted, but also witnessing like-minded others "getting active" is a heuristic that the issue merits attention and personal resources. When these peers also start making personal requests to participate, it can be a powerful…
nisbetmc | June 28, 2006One of the critiques of Inconvenient Truth that has emerged is that Gore spends a lot of time warning viewers about global warming, but strays from actually providing concrete suggestions for policy action. Some have argued that this reflects his eye on the Presidential race in 2008, and that candidate Gore wants to avoid locking himself into costly policy proposals that might lose certain key constituencies or that might be used as fodder by opponents.
But in an extensive interview, Inconvenient Truth director Davis Guggenheim tells a different side.
The main goal of the movie was to…