nisbetmc | November 30, 2008
The HHMI Bulletin, the monthly magazine of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, runs a lengthy feature on science blogging in its November issue. I am quoted in the article with fellow Sciblings Tara Smith and Alex Palazzo.
Readers of Scienceblogs are likely to find the article of strong interest along with the other features at the online version of the Bulletin. You can subscribe for free to the print edition here.
nisbetmc | November 26, 2008A few bloggers have registered their reaction to last week's PRI radio segment that questions the wisdom of calling climate change and evolution opponents "deniers." Most notably Orac, Mike the Mad Biologist, and Mark Hofnagle argue that their preferred brand of name calling remains the best communication strategy.
But Orac, Mad Mike, and Mark overlook that the key audience in these rhetorical fisticuffs is not the small group of so-called "denialists" but rather the wider spectator public who may otherwise be ambivalent about a complex, seemingly remote issue such as climate change.
As I…
nisbetmc | November 21, 2008PRI The World ran a 10 minute feature today on the wisdom of using the term "denier" in the debate over climate change and other science policy controversies.
Correspondent Jason Margolis does a terrific job in synthesizing research and comments from various experts on why the use of the label by science advocates is likely to be a major blunder. My comments come at about 7 minutes and 15 seconds into the archived audio.
What do readers think? Convinced yet that "denier" should be dropped from our lexicon?
nisbetmc | November 20, 2008
My heads up on a forthcoming segment at Public Radio International's The World has generated a discussion about the communication misfires that science advocates create when they use terms such as "denier" and "anti-science."
The segment is scheduled to appear tomorrow (Friday). It will follow a report on climate change that appears about 32 minutes into the program. PRI The World is heard on 218 stations across the country, check here for local stations and times. Archived audio of the segment will appear here as of 5pm EST tomorrow.
nisbetmc | November 18, 2008I taped an interview yesterday with PRI/BBC The World discussing the unfortunate use by science advocates of the term "denier" in debates over climate change, evolution, and other issues involving scientific expertise. I'm told the segment may appear as early as today or tomorrow. Archived audio will be found here.
The frame device "denier" should be laid to rest in the same rhetorical grave as other terms such as "anti-science." They serve little purpose other than to feed polarization while also frequently backfiring, turning the debate into a discussion of the alleged underhanded or…
nisbetmc | November 17, 2008
For members of the science policy community, I will be giving a talk tonight at 6pm at AAAS headquarters, titled "Science Communication Reconsidered: Key Issues for 2009 and Beyond." (1200 New York Ave., NW.)
In the talk, I will be focusing in detail on recent innovations in public engagement efforts as well as the prospects for a new generation of science policy experts. It should prove to be an interesting forum and debate over what's ahead and the possible directions to take as scientists and their institutions hope to better engage Americans on issues such as climate change,…
nisbetmc | November 14, 2008This past year, in the School of Communication here at American University, we were lucky to add to our faculty Lauren Feldman, a newly minted PhD from the Annenberg School of Communication at the University of Pennsylvania.
Lauren (whose office is across the hall from mine) studies the impact of opinionated news shows, such as the O'Reilly Factor, Countdown with Keith Olbermann, and the Daily Show on perceptions of political issues and candidates.
She recently appeared on CNN's Wolf Blitzer to discuss the implications of a forthcoming study on the impacts of late night comedy on viewers'…
nisbetmc | November 14, 2008What else is new in the Obama presidency? Presidents have given weekly radio addresses for decades, but Obama plans to take this vehicle for direct communication digital, offering motivated viewers (and bloggers) weekly YouTube address. See the report at the Huffington Post.
nisbetmc | November 12, 2008Photo credit.
Readers in DC, New York City, and several other locations may be interested in turning out for talks I will be giving over the coming months. Details on dates, sponsors, and locations are below (the last still pending).
Science Communication Re-Considered: Key Issues for 2009 and Beyond
Monday, Nov. 17, 6pm
AAAS Headquarters
1200 New York Ave., NW
*For DC science policy community, RSVP here.
Communicating Science in a Changing World
Thurs, Dec. 4, 7pm
New York Academy of SciencesFree to the public
Science Communication at a Crossroads
Thurs. Feb. 5, 2009
Science, Technology, and…
nisbetmc | November 5, 2008
From the Chronicle of Higher Education:
The 2008 presidential election has broken so many political barriers that historians may overlook one unusual fact: When Barack Obama takes the oath of office next January alongside his running mate, Joe Biden, it will be the first time in history that the president, vice president, and both of their spouses have worked in higher education.
Taken together, the Obamas and the Bidens have amassed decades of experience at colleges and universities. Mr. Obama taught constitutional law at the University of Chicago Law School from 1992 until 2004, when he…
nisbetmc | November 4, 2008
With polls looking good for an Obama victory, here's a clip from an interview I did with Big Think back in July, discussing why Obama has been such a successful communicator.
nisbetmc | November 4, 2008
Opinion-leaders are a commonly overlooked resource by science organizations and advocates. Public communication initiatives too often ignore the special individuals across communities and social groups that can serve as vital go-betweens and information brokers, passing on messages about an issue such as climate change that can speak directly to their otherwise inattentive peers, co-workers, and friends.
In a forthcoming article at the journal Science Communication, we synthesize past research from politics, marketing, and public health, presenting a toolbox of concepts, measures, and…
nisbetmc | November 3, 2008Polls including cell-phones are highlighted in orange.
Wondering about the variation across survey organizations in estimating Obama's national lead? As I have been discussing in my research methods course here at AU, much of the variation is likely accounted for by differences in likely voter models but also in sampling differences that include either cell phones or landline phones only.
As Wired reports, over at the blog 538.com, Nate Silver shows that surveys that include cell phones average a 10pt lead for Obama, reflecting stronger support among younger voters and minorities. Among…
nisbetmc | October 31, 2008
Obama took over the airwaves Wednesday night, hitting most of the important audience groups. According to Nielsen (above), Obama's 30 minute 8pm infomercial which aired on CBS, FOX, NBC, Univision, BET, MSNBC, and TV One drew a combined 33.5 million viewers. His later taped appearance on The Daily Show registered another 3.6 million hard to reach young viewers, a record audience for the program.
Obama even tied into the 11pm local news and cable news broadcast, with many stations and networks cutting live to his first joint appearance with Bill Clinton. CNN video below.
McCain attempts to…
nisbetmc | October 24, 2008In a Policy Forum article published this week at Science, MIT Professor of Management John Sterman reports on an experiment that shows just how self-defeating it is to continue to overburden the public with technical and science-laden explanations of climate change, especially when the communication goal is to catalyze public demand for policy action.
In the experiment, MIT students with advanced training in either the sciences or economics were asked to read descriptions from the IPCC summary for policymakers that depicted the long term accumulation of C02 in the atmosphere. When asked then…
nisbetmc | October 24, 2008
Following on the heels of Expelled and Obsession, a film warning of radical
Islam, there's more signs that the Right has discovered documentary film as a strategic communication tool to shape policy and mobilize their base.
Newt Gingrich in TV news appearances is promoting his new film on America's energy problem (trailer above). From the description for the film, hosted with his wife:
Citizens United Productions brings you our latest groundbreaking documentary, WE HAVE THE POWER. Today, America is under assault from key oil producing states - some of which are radical regimes whose energy…
nisbetmc | October 22, 2008How strong is the partisan divide on perceptions of global warming? The tendency for Republicans to doubt the reality of climate change means that they are even distrustful of John McCain's advocacy for action on the problem.
From a news release for a survey just released by Anthony Leiserowitz of Yale University and Edward Maibach of George Mason University:
In the race to earn undecided voters' trust on the issue of global warming, the two candidates are in a dead heat. Fifty percent of undecided voters trust John McCain as a source of information about global warming and 51 percent trust…
nisbetmc | October 19, 2008
In a two hour special, PBS Frontline tackles what the award winning series calls the most important issue of our time. (Promo above.) The special program airs Tuesday night in most US markets, check your local listings.
"I have reported on the Cold War, the breakup of the Soviet Union, the rise of Al Qaeda, and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan," says producer Martin Smith. "But nothing matches climate change in scope and severity."
From the press release:
The world needs to dramatically cut the carbon emissions responsible for wreaking havoc on the planet's climate, according to Dr.…
nisbetmc | October 16, 2008
The chatter among pundits and journalists this post-debate morning has focused in part on John McCain's body language and split-screen demeanor. There was a clear aggressiveness and emotion to McCain's performance last night, much of it signaled not just when he was speaking, but also in split-screen reactions to Barack Obama's "eloquence."
Past research on split-screen effects in the 2004 election shows that viewer partisanship is likely to guide reactions to candidate demeanor, with Republicans seeing McCain's behavior as that of a strong leader justly outraged at Obama's attacks and…
nisbetmc | October 16, 2008Film education? Consulting scientists on Jurassic Park helped morph the image of dinosaurs in the public's mind from reptilian to avian, popularized the idea of "Chaos Theory," and made plausible the notion of animal cloning, preparing the public for later real world announcements such as Dolly the cloned sheep.
The National Academies has launched a bold new initiative to pair scientists with Hollywood film and television producers, with the goal of shaping the portrayal of science and scientists in the entertainment media. Dubbed the "Science & Entertainment Exchange," the project is…