Stem Cell / Cloning Research
nisbetmc | October 26, 2006
It's been a long and very busy week on campus, with several major articles in the works, and midterm grading in full swing. Yet I had to weigh in briefly on the relevance of framing to understanding the controversy this week over the Michael J. Fox stem cell ad. Press play above.
Like many Americans, I grew up avidly following the (mis)adventures of Fox starring as Alex P. Keaton in Family Ties, Marty McFly in Back to the Future, and the title character in TeenWolf. (In fact, as a young teen I modeled myself after APK, though in my post-college political orientations I have evolved.)
Fox…
nisbetmc | October 16, 2006
Last week, I detailed the growing use of YouTube as a strategic communication tool. Now, in today's Chicago Sun Times, Washington Post, and in other papers across the country, there appears a leading example. Syndicated scribe Robert Novak opens his column about the Missouri constitutional amendment on stem cell research by referencing a campaign video archived at YouTube.
The video, sponsored by Missourians Against Human Cloning, doesn't define opposition to the amendment in moral or religious terms. Instead, in a strategy designed to broaden their support, the group frames the matter…
nisbetmc | October 10, 2006For those in the DC area, tomorrow I will be giving the following presentation at AAAS HQ as part of the Science Policy Alliance speaker series. Breakfast is at 730 and the talk kick-offs at 815. I'm told about 180 people have RSVPed. I hope some readers can make it!
In the presentation, I explain why the dominant models of science communication--the science literacy and public engagement models--are incomplete, especially when thinking about how the public makes up its mind about contemporary controversies such as those over stem cell research or global warming.
In fact, when thinking…
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…
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 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 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 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, 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 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 | June 28, 2006A pre-publication release of a study I did with Kirby Goidel of LSU is now available at the website of the journal POLITICAL BEHAVIOR. Analyzing national survey data collected in 2003, the study finds that the most consistent predictor of citizen activism in the stem cell debate (measured as donating money, contacting officials, writing letters to the editor etc) is church-based mobilization, including the distribution of materials at church, and requests to participate from church leaders. Below is the abstract and article information. Readers at universities should be able to download…
nisbetmc | June 26, 2006On June 15, the day I moved from Columbus to DC, I listened during my drive out here to a few hours of Rush Limbaugh. On his program he discussed a story in the Boston Globe that outlined the major points of the election platform for Congressional democrats, dubbed a "New Direction for America." I was suprised to hear that a novel part of the platform emphasized investment in stem cell research and the defense of evolution in schools.
So I finally got around to looking up the Boston Globe article, based on a press release from Nancy Pelosi's office. Below is the text, what is interesting is…
nisbetmc | June 25, 2006Ian Wilmut appeared on NPR's Science Friday this past week to promote his new book and to discuss developments in human cloning. Below are a few highlights from the transcript. Go here for the full archived audio.
On International Regulation and the Possibility of Reproductive Human Cloning
FLATOW: So is it possible that there might be rogue scientists out there who, themselves, would take on human cloning for a person?
Dr. WILMUT: I think is extraordinarily unlikely. The people who've talked about this in the past, it seems to me, have been advertising themselves but actually not doing…
nisbetmc | June 21, 2006In this news release from Focus on the Family, Senator Sam Brownback pushes the SCIENTIFIC UNCERTAINTY frame in arguing against the Spector-Castle ESC bill, claiming that ESC is "speculative" science and diverts funding from research on adult stem cell sources. To emphasize the message, Brownback stole a page from pro-research advocates, gathering patients treated with adult stem cell therapies to give personal testimonials at a news conference held here in DC on Tuesday. Brownback was joined at the press conference by representatives from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, who argued…
nisbetmc | June 18, 2006It's rare in media coverage to see a focus on the PATENTS/PROPERTY RIGHTS dimension of stem cell research, even though patents are the engine driving research. But this weekend, the Wisconsin State Journal spotlights a developing dispute between the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (WARF) and the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM). At issue is CIRM's ability to require that 25% of all earnings from grant-supported research be given back to the state of California. The problem is that WARF, which holds the patents on most stem cell research in the United States,…