Matthew Nisbet
Professor of Communication at Northeastern University.
nisbetmc
Posts by this author
July 10, 2008
In the latest issue of the Columbia Journalism Review, Harvard University's Cristine Russell contributes an important analysis on the next stage in climate change media coverage. She spotlights reporters such as the NY Times' Andrew Revkin who are among an "advanced guard" of journalists who are…
July 8, 2008
On Sunday, Discovery Channel's Ted Koppell returned to his old network home to appear on ABC News This Week. Koppell was on the round table panel in part to promote his fascinating new five part series "The Republic of Capitalism," which airs starting Wed. night at 10pm EST. Also appearing on the…
July 3, 2008
Wikio has its latest rankings out, tracking the most influential blogs about science (as well as many other categories.)
Framing Science has pushed up from the top 25 blogs about science to break into the top 15, based on number and influence of links to the site.
Barbara Boxer on Managing James Inhofe and the Frame that Turned John Warner into a Climate Advocate
July 3, 2008
Barbara Boxer appeared on Bill Moyers last week, providing fresh insight into her relationship with James Inhofe as well as the strategic appeal that turned GOP Senator John Warner into a climate change advocate.
In describing her reaction to Inhofe's theatrics during Al Gore's testimony earlier…
July 3, 2008
Chris Mooney has this Science Progress column up reviewing the seminar we conducted last week at Cal Tech. As he puts it, science needs a "paradigm sheep." Read on, it all makes sense. Trust me.
In the meantime, we are looking to take the seminar on the road to other leading universities and…
June 28, 2008
As I've argued before, conservatives often have the advantage in elections and policy battles because of their tendency to enforce greater message discipline and coordination. The latest example is James Inhofe who for a decade has been perhaps the most visible and loudest voice of climate denial…
June 27, 2008
A Gallup survey out this week reveals a wide partisan gap in perceptions of evolution. Specifically, 60% of Republicans say humans were created in their present form by God 10,000 years ago, a belief shared by only 40% of independents and 38% of Democrats.
These Gallup findings are the latest to…
June 27, 2008
I'm back in DC after a week long tour of southern California. On Monday night, an audience of close to 100 scientists, students, and staff turned out at Cal Tech for our latest Framing Science lecture. We followed on Tuesday with a day long science communication seminar (syllabus) that included 30…
June 27, 2008
On TV, Neil deGrasse Tyson uses narrative to dramatize the importance of basic research.
Last week in San Diego, I participated on a panel at the BIO 2008 meetings that focused on the communication challenges facing the biotech industry. Organized by Richard Gallagher, editor of The Scientist…
June 23, 2008
Here are the details on the talk I am giving with Chris Mooney tonight at Cal Tech. Also online are the syllabus and readings for the science communication workshop we are running on Tuesday. For readers in the Los Angeles area, we hope to see you tonight!
June 19, 2008
The box-office troubles of docs such as "Bigger, Faster, Stronger" is in contrast to Expelled's impact.
The LA Times runs a story this week on the downturn in box office fortunes for the documentary film genre. The inability of well crafted docs about front burner issues such as Iraq or steroids to…
June 15, 2008
Next week, I will be teaming up with Chris Mooney at Cal Tech for an evening lecture followed by a day long science communication seminar for the university's graduate students and post-docs. Details are below along with the suggested reading list.
Speaking Science Boot Camp
Matthew C. Nisbet…
June 15, 2008
Satire at its best, decoding the label "elitist" as applied to Barack Obama. As Colbert puts it: "Let's face it, Obama is not an average Joe like me and David Brooks!"
June 14, 2008
In The Happening, "Marky" Mark Wahlberg plays a science teacher who tells his students that evolution is just a theory.
Over at IO9, an influential science fiction and science blog, there's detailed speculation that M. Night Shyamalan's The Happening offers viewers strong pro-intelligent design…
June 13, 2008
My latest "Science and the Media" column at Skeptical Inquirer Online is now up. In the column I review the likely audience impact of Expelled and focus on the use of the film as part of a communication strategy to push through "academic freedom" bills in states across the country.
June 11, 2008
The National Journal has released its annual survey of Congressional members on their views of climate science. When asked: "Do you think it's been proven beyond a reasonable doubt that the Earth is warming because of man-made pollution?," of the 38 Democratic members of Congress interviewed, 98…
June 5, 2008
A recent report for the Gallup survey organization by Oklahoma State sociologist Riley Dunlap backs up what I have been arguing at this blog and in various articles regarding the "Two Americas" of global warming perceptions.
Following the lead of their preferred party's elected officials and…
June 4, 2008
If the author is skeptical of mainstream science, is there a conservative think tank behind them?
A new study by a team of political scientists and sociologists at the journal Environmental Politics concludes that 9 out of 10 books published since 1972 that have disputed the seriousness of…
June 4, 2008
So how did Barack Obama beat improbable odds to capture the Democratic nomination? A team of reporters at the Washington Post has the best account I've seen on Obama's ingenious state and delegate strategy.
June 3, 2008
At Knight Science Journalism Tracker, Charlie Petit has a pretty comprehensive round-up and commentary on news coverage of this week's (failed) climate change legislation.
June 3, 2008
Note: Trends reflect the number of combined articles appearing annually in the New York Times and the Washington Post containing in the headline or lead paragraph the key words for psychic: "psychic" or "psychic medium" or "spirit medium" or "extrasensory perception," or "ESP," or the keywords for…
May 30, 2008
Released around the time of Expelled's premiere, this YouTube clip produced by the American Association for the Advancement of Science features Francis Collins, CEO Alan Leshner, and others discussing the compatibility of science, religion, and evolution. Collins ends the video by urging that we…
May 22, 2008
An artist's take on the "scary wonder" of nanotechnology.
The asbestos of tomorrow? As we wrote in our article last year at The Scientist, that's not the type of frame device that augurs well for public perceptions of nanotechnology. But it's exactly the perceptual lens by which the New York Times…
May 20, 2008
When Inconvenient Truth was released in 2006, Gallup polling showed that less than a majority of Americans had a favorable view of Al Gore. Yet just following his Nobel Prize win at the end of 2007, Gallup polling showed that this favorability rating had jumped to 58%. Call it the "Nobel bounce."…
May 19, 2008
As I wrote last week, in John McCain's recent television ad focusing on global warming, he frames his position as a pragmatic "middle way" approach between the two extremes of denying there is a problem and resorting to heavy taxation and regulation. The ad even ends by offering up the…
May 14, 2008
The irony of the 2008 presidential race is that this time around, the Democratic nominee is by far the more religiously devout candidate, promoting a born again language and professed faith. In a match up with John McCain, it's Barack Obama who can genuinely speak the language of evangelicals,…
May 13, 2008
At the BIO 2008 International Convention coming up in June in San Diego, I will be participating in a panel on the communication challenges facing biotechnology. Below are the details on the panel, followed by a 500 word summary of the key points of my presentation. Readers should find the themes…
May 13, 2008
The NY Times runs a lengthy front page Sunday feature exploring Obama's years as an activist and politician in the Hyde Park neighborhood of Chicago. As the feature recounts, Obama has always been a political pragmatist and a master at framing a message that brings diverse constituencies together…
May 12, 2008
In a new campaign advertisement (above), Senator John McCain focuses on global warming, framing his position as a pragmatic "middle way" approach between the two extremes of denying there is a problem and resorting to heavy taxation and regulation. The ad even ends by offering up the complementary…
May 12, 2008
Gallup has released a survey showing that at this point in the race, Obama's association with Wright may be potentially more damaging to his candidacy than McCain's continued embrace of Bush. The reason, as the survey details (below), is that the association with Wright actually hurts McCain among…