Matthew Nisbet
Professor of Communication at Northeastern University.
nisbetmc
Posts by this author
August 13, 2008
The reality of high gas prices and the successful advertising blitz of the McCain team has helped redefine the nature and relevance of the economy in voters' minds and in media discussion.
In making sense of the complexity of the economy, public focus has been shifted from housing, health care,…
August 12, 2008
Shanto Iyengar is a professor of communication at Stanford University and director of Stanford's Political Communication Lab. He's one of the senior scholars in the field of political communication and is a leading researcher in the areas of framing and political advertising respectively.
He joined…
August 12, 2008
I watched Edwards' interview Friday night and it was pretty clear that he had help from crisis communication experts, delivering a narrative about a man who had come from a modest background only to succumb to hubris in his quest for power. With his southern charm and his trial lawyer poise, I…
August 11, 2008
In case you were wondering, Gore's much anticipated follow up book--where he is scheduled to detail his proposed policy actions--is due out about five months into the next administration.
August 11, 2008
The Barna Group is known for its precision in tracking the preferences of religious groups, especially Evangelicals. The organization today released its latest election survey, finding that Obama is within the margin of error with McCain among self-described Evangelicals and leads across other…
August 11, 2008
Along with scientific journals, Americans rate public broadcasting as one of the most credible sources for information about biotechnology.
Yesterday I noted data that reveals the PBS NOVA audience to be unique in its nature. Indeed, if a company or organization wants to reach a core audience of…
August 10, 2008
In today's fragmented media environment, how do we actually reach "mass" audiences with science-related content? Or similarly, if you are a company or organization trying to promote your science credentials to a diverse audience, what is the best outlet for doing so?
Well it appears that the…
August 9, 2008
Straight talk express? McCain with Jerry Falwell.
Last week, I noted McCain's not-so-subtle attempt in a new Web advertisement to draw comparisons between Obama and the anti-Christ with the ad using imagery taken directly from the immensely popular Left Behind series of books.
Now Time magazine…
August 8, 2008
Edwards' follies are likely to hurt Democratic chances in November and further derail media attention from issues that really matter.
Tonight on ABC Nightline, John Edwards will admit his affair but will deny the alleged love child, putting even more of a twist on the brewing media tsunami. As I…
August 8, 2008
Mark McKinnon was the genius behind Bush's 2004 media strategy. The Bush campaign successfully portrayed Bush as "a strong leader in a time of change" while redefining Kerry as "weak, waffling, and weird." For more, see the clip above, with McKinnon discussing how they turned 9/11 and metaphors…
August 8, 2008
The dominant image of atheism: Blogger PZ Myers wearing a scarlet letter "A" for atheism T-shirt.
Atheists have a major image problem. There's a reason that when people ask me what I believe I have to say with a smile: "I'm an atheist...but a friendly atheist." For sure, atheists for a long time…
August 7, 2008
This blog has a ton of readers from the Madison, Wisconsin area. It's not surprising given that the university town is a major international hub for interest in science communication and public affairs.
For Madison-area readers, tonight offers a great opportunity to discuss first hand many of the…
August 1, 2008
Obamaone1by dollarsandsense123
You knew this was coming. For most Americans, this latest advertisement from McCain attacking Obama will be seen as deep irony, morphing Obama's political celebrity into a matter of audacious vanity and narcissism. But for many Evangelicals, there is probably a…
August 1, 2008
I may not generate the type of ideologically-intense traffic of a PZ Myers, but when it comes to influence, Framing Science continues its steady ascent. According to Wikio's latest rankings, this site climbed one spot during the month of July to #14 among science-related blogs (#11 if you go by…
August 1, 2008
With the election in full swing, the Fall semester is shaping up to be an exciting time here at American University in Washington, DC. In fact, in recently released national rankings, The Princeton Review named AU as the the "most politically active" campus in the country, as #13 in terms of…
July 31, 2008
That's the question raised by National Post columnist Vanessa Farquharson. While male writers and bloggers focus on a Pandora's box of looming catastrophe, a storyline that likely leads to a sense of fatalism, female writers and bloggers focus more on practical adaptation and mitigation strategies…
July 31, 2008
From Canada's The National Post:
Faced with an unflattering image as a global environmental disaster area, the oil sands sector is stepping up its offensive to counteract critics. The sector has re-branded the Oil Sands Developers Group, a Fort McMurraybased coalition of 28 companies developing…
July 30, 2008
Last week I noted that McCain is scoring political body blows with a compelling message on energy and that the Obama campaign has not responded to the massive shifts in public preferences that have occurred on the issue since early spring of this year.
The message gap on energy grew wider this…
July 30, 2008
Sigh. Ugh. Damn! That was my reaction when I heard about the brewing allegations that John Edwards had cheated on his sick wife and had fathered a love child. My reaction was not because of disappointment in Edwards. I personally don't think affairs reveal that much about the qualities that make…
July 24, 2008
As I like to say, when it comes to science debates, the public is far more likely to be miserly in reaching a judgment than fully informed. Most citizens are cognitive misers relying heavily on information short cuts and heuristics to make up their minds about a science controversy, often in the…
July 24, 2008
Is ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson a PR juggernaut who takes advantage of the ideological innocence of general assignment and TV reporters?
In his regular column at Portfolio magazine, former NY Times editor Howell Raines observes that market ideology and the absence of an energy beat (see this post…
July 23, 2008
Director Randy Olson's Sizzle: A Global Warming Comedy has already shaped the agenda and framed the discussion among scientists and the science media, a key impact of a successful documentary film.
I haven't had a chance to weigh in yet on the blog debate that has been raging over Sizzle. Needless…
July 22, 2008
I recently submitted a final draft of a book chapter that reviews much of the research that has fueled the framing science debate. The chapter is set to appear in early 2008 in a volume titled New Agendas in Science Communication, published by Taylor & Francis and edited by JoAnn Kahlor and…
July 22, 2008
George Mason University's Center for Climate Change Communication has relaunched its Web site with among the new features a discussion forum. They also have a section devoted to updating readers with the latest journal articles, news articles, and open access research on climate change…
July 19, 2008
The Washington Post has been running a 12 part series on the now seven year old Chandra Levy murder case. As one article in the series describes, rather sadly, the DC police department wasted time and resources with predictions from self-described psychics.
Tips were pouring in to the D.C. police…
July 18, 2008
On energy policy, all eyes turn to McCain.
Earlier this week I spotlighted the unheard of 20-30 point shift since February in how Americans view what should be done about the energy problem, with as many liberals now as conservatives favoring energy exploration and investment in nuclear power over…
July 14, 2008
Myers with Richard Dawkins: Does his atheist punditry damage the scienceblogs.com brand?
Call me agnostic on the controversy that has erupted over the Catholic wafer incident in Florida. On the one hand I see the outcry from conservative groups as opportunistic and ridiculous. The reported death…
July 13, 2008
John McCain, in an interview with the NY Times, admitted that he does not know how to use the Web or even email. McCain, who will turn 73 in August, is well behind trends among other Americans his age. Pew reports in its latest survey that more than 30% of Americans age 65 and older are online and…
July 13, 2008
Think that America's energy problems and high gas prices aren't changing perceptions among independents, even among liberals? Think again. According to a new Pew survey, as many liberals (45%) as conservatives (48%) now believe that energy exploration - including mining and drilling, as well as…
July 13, 2008
Energy. Climate change. The food crisis. These are pressing and complex problems that span science, economics, politics, and culture. Yet when it comes to news coverage of these issues, attention tends be event-driven and sporadic. Perhaps worse there's often a policy vacuum in coverage.
At the…