Matthew Nisbet
Professor of Communication at Northeastern University.
nisbetmc
Posts by this author
June 30, 2007
I'm obviously a bit late in commenting on the scientist-journalist debate that went on through last week, so I'm not going to weigh in at this point. (Round up of posts. The entry that started it all.)
But for the motivated reader, below the fold are listed several studies and book chapters that I…
June 29, 2007
To date, nanotechnology has followed a public trajectory similar to that of plant biotechnology in the United States. Relatively low levels of attention have been paid to the still nascent issue in the media, with coverage concentrated at the science and business beats. This coverage has been…
June 28, 2007
One of the common claims that has been amplified by the Dawkins/Hitchens PR campaign is that "atheism is a civil rights issue." (For an example, see the comments section of this recent post.)
This false spin serves as a very effective frame device for radicalizing a base of atheists into an ever…
June 28, 2007
In 2004, when California voters approved a $3 billion dollar funding program for embryonic stem cell research, all eyes turned to the Golden State as the new national center for research. Yet according to a new StateLine.org report, other states including Massachusetts, New Jersey, and New York may…
June 28, 2007
In new survey released by Pew, Americans see few ideological differences among the three broadcast TV news networks, but among regular viewers of cable TV news, content differences are readily apparent, and these perceptions flow heavily from partisanship.
In general, the public sees few…
June 27, 2007
The news frenzy over Andrew Speaker, the honeymooning lawyer with a rare strain of anti-biotic resistant TB, did little to shape public views on the disease as a global health problem. Though top news outlets such as the NYTimes and NPR used the focusing event as a news peg to provide more…
June 27, 2007
Over at the Intersection, Chris generated a discussion of what issues might be the next big science policy debates. I'd like to turn the question in a slightly different direction and solicit reader opinion:
In the coming decades, what are the next great framing controversies?
In my research…
June 26, 2007
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…
June 26, 2007
The Barna Group maintains some of the best data tracking the consumer and opinion market for religious Americans, especially among Evangelicals. Though not an independent survey organization like Pew, over the years, I have found that their poll data is relatively consistent with poll findings…
June 26, 2007
How do you engage the Republican base on global warming, connecting the issue to their core values and interests? For one part of this segment, as I have argued, you re-frame the issue as a moral and religious matter. But for another segment, it comes down to investment potential, as depicted in…
June 25, 2007
"I think one movie can make a difference; I do believe that," says director Michael Moore. Indeed, speculation over the impact of his new documentary SICKO was the subject of a news feature in the Sunday New York Times:
Whether embracing Mr. Moore's remedy or disdaining it, elected officials and…
June 25, 2007
Something to think about...Kyoto was strategically framed by conservatives as an unfair economic burden on the U.S. , deflating public support across polls. Yet according to Gallup trends and other poll indicators, Americans have always supported international agreements on climate in general and…
June 20, 2007
Today I received the latest issue of Dartmouth Alumni magazine to discover inside an interesting poll of graduating seniors at my alma mater. Long branded a conservative campus--with notable right wing alumni from the 1980s including Dinesh D'Souza and Laura Ingraham--perception these days doesn'…
June 19, 2007
First John McCain was against embryonic stem cell research, now he's for it.
First Mitt Romney was for embryonic stem cell research, now he's against it.
If either of these GOP candidates win the nomination, given their track record on stem cell research and a host of other issues, it will be…
June 14, 2007
With action on Iraq and major domestic initiatives such as immigration stalled, Congressional Dems have lost the sense of approval and optimism that greeted them in January. The gap in public approval, according to a recent Pew poll, has reached 15 percentage points.
Action on climate change…
June 13, 2007
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…
June 13, 2007
Previously, I've noted the major hole that the IPCC digs itself by releasing its consensus reports on Fridays, only to be lost in the weekend news cycle. Back in February, the timing of the IPCC report helped contribute to what I described as a "massive communication failure" in generating wider…
June 12, 2007
Yesterday, stem cell researcher John Gearhart, Washington Post reporter Rick Weiss, and physician William Hurlburt appeared on NPR's Diane Rehm Show to discuss the latest in the stem cell debate. I recommend listening to the archived audio as the program provides a great deal of context in…
June 12, 2007
As we argue in the Nisbet & Mooney Framing Science thesis, one reason that traditional science communication efforts fail to reach the wider American public is that the media tend to feed on the soft news preferences of the mass audience, making it very easy for citizens who lack a strong…
June 11, 2007
Consider the following events, their political timing, and their impact on the framing of the stem cell debate:
1) Last week, as the House was preparing to vote on legislation that would overturn Bush's limits on funding for embryonic stem cell research, studies published at the journals Nature…
June 6, 2007
As we go on the road with our Speaking Science 2.0 tour, it's a chance for many to hear a more detailed presentation of the Nisbet & Mooney thesis. It's also a chance to engage in an important conversation about new directions in science communication. (For example, based on our talk last…
June 5, 2007
Chris Mooney's latest Seed column is now available free at the magazine's web site. Chris spotlights several panels at this year's AAAS meetings that focused on how to better engage the public on complex science issues. Several panelists at AAAS echoed our Framing Science recommendations,…
June 4, 2007
A crowd close to 200 is expected for tonight's Speaking Science 2.0 presentation at the New York Academy of Sciences in Manhattan (7 World Trade Center, 6-730pm, reception to follow.) Chris and I are looking forward to meeting many NY-area readers and having a lively discussion about new…
June 4, 2007
Thanks to a post by DarkSyde over at Daily Kos, the You Tube clip of our Speaking Science 2.0 presentation has been viewed more than 5,000 times. Here's a time annotated guide to the sections of our talk:
1. Mooney introduction of themes 0:00-6:25
2. Nisbet on popular science vs. framing 6:25-17:…
June 4, 2007
Imagine for the moment a classic work of modern art as pictured above. When a curator takes a heavy and bulky wooden frame, places it around the complex and uncertain image, a viewers' eyes are drawn to certain dimensions of that painting over others, perhaps leading to a specific interpretation…
May 30, 2007
The talk that Chris Mooney and I gave earlier this month at the meetings of the American Institute of Biological Sciences (AIBS) is now available on YouTube. In the next few weeks, AIBS will be posting on its Website synchronized footage of the PowerPoint slides that we allude to in the YouTube…
May 29, 2007
In a letter published at Science, Cornell University professors and media relations staff offer their recommendations on media training training for scientists.
The recommendations are based on a media relations course for graduate students taught as part of the Biogeochemistry and Environmental…
May 25, 2007
The NY Times' Andrew Revkin details a study at Nature that finds that in the Caribbean there have been centuries where strong hurricanes occurred frequently even though ocean temperatures were cooler than those measured today. Revkin reports that although the new study does not necessarily…
May 25, 2007
Facebook and similar social networking sites hold vast potential for reaching non-traditional audiences for science. As the NY Times reports today, Facebook has 25 million users and growing as the company plans bold new features and opens up its user base to almost anyone with an email account.…
May 18, 2007
Mary K. Miller of San Francisco's The Exporatorium has launched a new blog called The Accidental Scientist. The blog is focused on introducing readers to the ways in which scientists investigate and understand the natural world.
Mary is a science writer, producer, and Web cast host at The…