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Science has published four letters in response to our framing article along with a fifth letter as our reply. Over at Framing Science, I have posted the text of the reply that I wrote to all four letters. Hopefully I will be able to get an author referral link in the near future so that readers…

The Scientist is currently sponsoring an online discussion about framing and new directions in science communication. The web feature is in advance of an article I am contributing to the magazine, co-authored with Dietram Scheufele, a colleague at the University of Wisconsin. So far, more than 40…

Everyone claims it's a major societal problem, but what does science literacy exactly mean? What does past research suggest are the valid definitions of this frequently used term? Similarly, what is meant by the "public understanding of science"? Is it the same thing as "public engagement"? As I…

Over at the immensely popular environmental site TreeHugger.com, Chris discusses Storm World, his new book on the science and politics of hurricanes, as well as the reaction to the Nisbet & Mooney article at Science and our Speaking Science 2.0 tour.

Over at Framing Science, I've posed a question to readers to comment on: In the coming decades, what are the next great framing controversies? What are the public engagement flashpoints to anticipate? On what issues can we apply a scientific understanding of the public and the media system to…

On June 4, more than 120 people turned out for the Nisbet & Mooney Speaking Science 2.0 talk at the New York Academy of Sciences. The talk is now part of their online content, including an E-briefing summary along with the powerpoint slides synchronized with audio of our presentation. With…

Over at Framing Science, I describe what I find so troubling about the Dawkins/Hitchens PR campaign: It has radicalized a New Atheist movement of complaints and attacks that is almost completely devoid of a positive message about what it means to live life without religion. Long before the New…

In our last major talk of the summer here in DC, on Tues. June 19 we will be delivering our Speaking Science 2.0 presentation at the Center for American Progress. Breakfast is served at 830am. The talk and discussion follows from 10 to 1130am. The Center has all the details here. CAP senior…

Over at Framing Science, I have a post describing how James Hansen's efforts to frame the scientific agenda on climate change are proving once again influential, as evidenced by a news feature last week at Science. In commentaries and media interviews, Hansen is using the frame device of "…

As we argue in the Nisbet & Mooney Framing Science thesis, infotainment dominates science as a news narrative. Despite record amounts of media attention, climate change still routinely falls short of a top news agenda item, making it exceedingly difficult to engage a broader American audience…

The answer is probably not, but journal editors do have other motives and incentives involved than just publishing technically sound research. With the publication of two studies last week that shaped the framing of the stem cell vote in Congress, over at Framing Science, I explain the "…

Monday night we delivered our latest presentation of the Nisbet & Mooney Framing Science thesis at the new headquarters of the New York Academy of Sciences. Close to 150 people turned out for what proved to be a lively Q&A and reception that followed. The talk was covered by the Columbia…

Framing occurs across the news production process. It's a function of reporter and source interaction, the decisions made by editors, and the intended audience for the news report. Over at Framing Science, I detail a classic example, as the same story filed by Andrew Revkin was edited very…

In a letter published this past week at Science, Cornell University professors and media relations staff offer their recommendations on media training courses and activities for scientists. (The authors include Bruce Lewenstein, a member of my committee when I did my PhD at Cornell and also my MS…

Historically, scientists and journalists have followed closely a set of ground rules that govern their interactions, leading to a "negotiation of newsworthiness" when it comes to science. Yet this co-production of coverage often leads to what Andrew Revkin calls the "tyranny of the news peg,"…

Over at Framing Science I have a post up about the vast potential that social networking sites, particularly Facebook, hold for reaching non-traditional audiences for science. Effective use of Facebook by scientists, science organizations, and science enthusiasts would incorporate two of the…

In a segment from the recent Frontline special "Hot Politics," GOP pollster Frank Luntz explains his 1997/1998 memo that became the playbook for how conservatives like President Bush and Senator James Inhofe redefined climate change as really a matter of "scientific uncertainty" and "unfair…