Matthew Nisbet
Professor of Communication at Northeastern University.
nisbetmc
Posts by this author
September 24, 2007
From the UK's Independent:
The Pope is expected to use his first address to the United Nations to deliver a powerful warning over climate change in a move to adopt protection of the environment as a "moral" cause for the Catholic Church and its billion-strong following. The New York speech is…
September 21, 2007
Why is this couple smiling? Because Oprah might be the friend they need in order to win ultra tight elections.
More than 8 million people watch Oprah's show and more than 2 million people read her magazine. Previous research shows that these heavy daytime TV viewers do not typically follow…
September 20, 2007
E.O. Wilson is on a noble mission to bridge the perceived divide between science, religion, and partisanship. In his book, The Creation, by framing environmental stewardship as not only a scientific matter, but also one of personal and moral duty, Wilson has engaged an Evangelical audience that…
September 19, 2007
For those planning to attend the AAAS panel on "Communicating Science in a Religious America," I just received notice that it is scheduled for Sunday, Feb. 17 at 145pm. It's programmed as a 180 minute symposium with six panelists and then lots of time for comments from the moderator and audience…
September 18, 2007
Before there was EO Wilson's breakthrough success with The Creation, there was Carl Sagan, who was a master at emphasizing the shared values between science and religion.
Consider this example: According to both Sagan biographies, during the late 1980s, in advocating his "nuclear winter"…
September 17, 2007
Philosopher Paul Kurtz has been an influential mentor to me and he remains a major inspiration. Back in 1997, Kurtz hired me to work at the Center for Inquiry-Transnational as Skeptical Inquirer's media relations director. Three years later he strongly supported my decision to go to graduate…
September 16, 2007
In a cover story at this week's NY Times magazine, Gary Taubes digs deep into the world of epidemiological research on diet and health. It's an important topic to call attention to, but the article is framed in disastrous and irresponsible ways.
Instead of telling a detective story hung around…
September 14, 2007
For scienceblogs.com readers who have never been to an annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, you are missing out on the world's greatest discussion of research and new ideas. In particular, I find that the meetings feature a one-of-a-kind forum for discussion…
September 14, 2007
This fall, I am traveling to many different cities and institutions to talk to a diversity of groups about new directions in science communication. Below is an updated lineup with new events scheduled for Princeton University, Bucknell University, and the National Cancer Institute.
There are also…
September 12, 2007
Gallup has released a cross-national polling analysis that challenges the conclusion that Muslim extremism is at the heart of support for terrorism, that terrorism derives from a rejection of Western values and modernity, and that the solution is to replace Muslim faith with a Western secular view…
September 12, 2007
Ira Flatow has a new book out chronicling his award winning interviews at NPR's Science Friday. Flatow appeared on NPR's Diane Rehm show yesterday to talk about Present at the Future and his experience as host of Science Friday.
September 6, 2007
According to a new Pew polling analysis, religion is not proving to be a clear-cut positive in the 2008 presidential campaign. According to Pew, candidates viewed by voters as the least religious among the leading contenders are the current front-runners for the Democratic and Republican…
September 5, 2007
Say what? Fred Thompson is launching his presidential candidacy on Jay Leno? In today's fragmented media world, it's a smart move. As the political scientist Matt Baum describes in a recent study, and as I have detailed on this blog many times, with so many media choices, audiences without a…
September 3, 2007
On Friday I will be taking part in the Aldo Leopold Leadership Program at Stanford University, speaking to attendees about how the public uses science information online. Whether news, YouTube, blogs or social networking sites, what does research tell us about the best way to engage key audiences…
August 30, 2007
Science has published four letters in response to our framing article along with a fifth letter as our reply.
As it turns out, I know two of the correspondents fairly well.
Earle Holland, the author of the first letter, is assistant VP for Research Communications at The Ohio State University,…
August 29, 2007
Here are the major implications from our study analyzing twenty years of American public opinion data on global warming:
1. Global warming skeptics continue to make an impact on public opinion.
As we describe in the article, although a strong majority of Americans say that they believe that global…
August 27, 2007
NOTE: Unfortunately, the article is only free access from most university IP addresses. Please email me at nisbetmc@gmail.com and I can send you a copy.
I have the following article forthcoming at the fall issue of the journal Public Opinion Quarterly that is now available as part of their free…
August 25, 2007
Before there was James Carville and Carl Rove, there was Michael Deaver, father of the presidential photo-op and stage master to the Ronald Reagan White House. As the Washington Post wrote in last week's Sunday front page obit, Deaver was "the media maestro who shaped President Ronald Reagan's…
August 24, 2007
It's going to be a busy fall semester. Classes start here at American University next week but in my down time I will be traveling to many different cities and major institutions to talk to a diversity of groups about new directions in science communication. Below is a lineup as it stands right…
August 23, 2007
Congressman John Shadegg's re-election campaign issued a press release last week that cites Michael Fumento and Steve McIntyre to claim that the "facts" about climate change are wrong. If you missed the McIntyre controversy that ignited the conservative blogosphere and political talk radio, you…
August 22, 2007
Pew has released an extensive analysis by political scientist Michael Robinson of three decades of its news consumption data. Among the key findings, since the 1980s, the percentage of the public who say they follow news about science and technology "very closely" has dropped by half, from roughly…
August 21, 2007
In his Sept. column at Scientific American, Michael Shermer, publisher of Skeptic magazine, echoes the very same warnings about the Dawkins-Hitchens PR campaign emphasized here at Framing Science and in our articles at Science and the Washington Post. He argues against the irrational exuberance…
August 19, 2007
In provoking the emotions of fear and anger among non-believers, the Dawkins-Hitchens PR campaign motivates many atheists to be ever more vocal in attacking and complaining about religion. Yet does this PR campaign reach beyond the base, convincing Americans to give up their collective "delusions…
August 19, 2007
As I wrote in response to the NY Times' review of Storm World, the success of The Republican War on Science provides a powerful frame of reference for Chris Mooney's latest book. In some cases, reviewers can't read Storm World without evaluating it via the lens of Mooney's previous work. Given…
August 18, 2007
When I was about 7 years old, my Dad brought home a collection of audio tapes that contained the 6.5 hour 1981 NPR broadcast of the radio version of Star Wars. Adapted by novelist Brian Daley, this series provides a rich back story to the original movie. Its' sound effects, musical score, and…
August 17, 2007
As I've observed before, with this election cycle's crop of GOP candidates, when general election time arrives, it's going to be difficult to employ the traditional Republican strategy of claiming that the Democratic rival is a "flip flopper."
A leading example is Mitt Romney. First the former MA…
August 14, 2007
As part of its Climate Change Connections series, NPR's Nell Greenfieldboyce contributes a fascinating feature on how the extreme weather of 1816 likely inspired Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. That year, the volcano Mount Tambora erupted in Indonesia sending vast amounts of dust into the atmosphere,…
August 14, 2007
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…
August 10, 2007
HYDERABAD, India - Dozens of Muslim protesters led by three lawmakers attacked an exiled Bangladeshi writer at the release of her book in southern India on Thursday, calling her "anti-Islam," and telling her to go back to her country.
More details.
August 10, 2007
As Science reports, the big news this week is that Congress passed a bill that adopts almost all of the recommendations of the 2005 National Academies report Rising Above the Gathering Storm: Energizing and Employing America. The bill was signed this morning by President Bush.
The unprecedented…