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Communication, culture, and public affairs
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
The 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 ...
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 ...
The 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 ...
Just 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 ...
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 ...
From 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 ...