Matthew Nisbet
Professor of Communication at Northeastern University.
nisbetmc
Posts by this author
November 12, 2006
Genetech is running ads in the NY Times, The New Yorker, and on their Web site that feature patients offering testimonials framed in social progress terms. The campaign is similar to the Bristol Myers Squib TV ads I described here. In a smart strategic move, the ad campaign "re-frames" the issue…
November 11, 2006
An unlikely coalition of environmental groups and Evangelical associations are promoting the new documentary "The Great Warming," which defines the issue in terms of a moral duty to future generations and the developing world. Narrated by Alanis Morissette and Keanu Reeves, the film is being…
November 9, 2006
Buzz is building for Mel Gibson's Dec. 8 release of Apocalypto[trailer]. The film's actual plot is still a bit of a secret. Judging by the title and the focus on the decline of the Mayan civilization, Gibson is offering a metaphor for "the end times." Like Gibson's Passion, the movie is likely…
November 7, 2006
For his documentary Root of All Evil?, Richard Dawkins was granted inside access to Ted Haggard's Colorado Springs mega-church, and he sits down for an interview with Haggard. "This place strains belief. It isn't just a church, but an organized social network," comments Dawkins upon walking into…
November 6, 2006
Last week I noted the use of the "social progress" frame as articulated by Michael J. Fox in campaign commercials running this election season (go here and here.)
Dems are not the first to employ this selective definition of science for promotional purposes, drug companies have been doing it for…
November 6, 2006
Overlooked in the Ted Haggard scandal is that the former head of the National Association of Evangelicals was also one of the leaders of the "creation stewardship" movement, framing the issue of global warming in terms of moral duty.
Polls show that Republicans are far less concerned with global…
November 6, 2006
In recent weeks, I've weighed in on You Tube as an emerging and important strategic communication tool. (Go here and here.) Now the NY Times adds this to the discussion
IN this election, YouTube, with its extant social networks and the ability to forward a video clip and a comment with a flick of…
October 30, 2006
Over the weekend, I appeared on a stellar panel at the National Association of Science Writer's meetings in Baltimore that featured Ralph Cicerone, President of the National Academy of Sciences, Dan Vergano from the USA Today, and Juliet Eilperin from the Washington Post. I will have more to say…
October 29, 2006
It used to be that candidates posed with babies, and George W. Bush still does, especially when using photo-ops to frame instantly for the public that stem cell research is really about "research on young humans." To fight back, proponents of stem cell research are trading babies for white lab…
October 26, 2006
It's been a long and very busy week on campus, with several major articles in the works, and midterm grading in full swing. Yet I had to weigh in briefly on the relevance of framing to understanding the controversy this week over the Michael J. Fox stem cell ad. Press play above.
Like many…
October 18, 2006
I have been meaning to type up a brief summary of last week's talk at AAAS HQ here in DC. The presentation packed the auditorium with a crowd of about 200. However, AAAS beat me to the punch, posting this news summary at their Web site today. Definitely check it out, it very succinctly captures…
October 16, 2006
How do you communicate the underlying meaning and values of a political party with a single word or phrase? Republicans have boiled it down to "national security, tax relief, and family values." And now Democratic strategists think they have figured out the catchphrase that strategically conveys…
October 16, 2006
Last week, I detailed the growing use of YouTube as a strategic communication tool. Now, in today's Chicago Sun Times, Washington Post, and in other papers across the country, there appears a leading example. Syndicated scribe Robert Novak opens his column about the Missouri constitutional…
October 13, 2006
As usual, global warming is no where close to being a major topic of debate in the upcoming election, despite the fact that 2006 will be a historic high in amount of coverage at the New York Times and Washington Post.
Global warming fails to receive more attention at election time, in part,…
October 12, 2006
You know you have reached a new ethical low in advertising when 9/11 is now fair game for selling commercial products, much less pickup trucks.
But for those who haven't caught the ad, Chevy is running a commercial throughout primetime that fronts John "Cougar" Mellencamp singing "This is Our…
October 12, 2006
YouTube is quickly emerging as a new tool for strategic communication. Uses include promoting documentaries by posting trailers and news clips (see this post on Jesus Camp), reaching bigger audiences with community-based or advocacy media (see this clip by PR Watch), amplifying the views of…
October 11, 2006
Turn out at this morning's presentation at AAAS approached 200, and it looked like the auditorium was completely full. It's a sign that interest in framing as a public engagement tool is really increasing. The Q&A session was a particular highlight for me, with many great comments and…
October 10, 2006
For those in the DC area, tomorrow I will be giving the following presentation at AAAS HQ as part of the Science Policy Alliance speaker series. Breakfast is at 730 and the talk kick-offs at 815. I'm told about 180 people have RSVPed. I hope some readers can make it!
In the presentation, I…
October 5, 2006
Following Pope Benedict's late August seminar on evolution, the consensus view from Science magazine and intelligent design watchdogs appeared to be that the Vatican was not yet ready to endorse ID, but rather was likely to come out in support of a theological view of evolution.
Yet, the Pope,…
October 5, 2006
Lanny Davis, former White House counsel under Clinton, veteran of the Monica Lewinsky wars, and a recognized expert on crisis communication was on NPR this morning, offering some very valuable insight on message strategy in the Mark Foley page scandal.
Davis recommends that iin any scandal, you…
October 2, 2006
Last week, the online news section of the Columbia Journalism Review ran this very useful reaction to Senator Inhofe's attack on journalists covering global warming, referencing the analysis posted here.
October 2, 2006
Everyone here in D.C. is talking about Bob Woodward's State of Denial, as the book's insider accounts continue to dominate the news cycle this week. Woodward's impact offers a leading example of how politicians, journalists, and the general public use frames to cut down on complexity and…
September 28, 2006
Email list servs and blogs aren't the only things buzzing about the new documentary 'Jesus Camp,' (trailer) which opens in major cities this weekend, including here in D.C. The news media has also discovered the film, and its impact has been to generate a string of news reports that focus on a…
September 26, 2006
As Inhofe attacks the media for exaggerating the threat of global warming, the GOP continues to pursue its election strategy of making terrorism and the memory of 9/11 the defining criteria for voters come November. John Mueller, political scientist at The Ohio State University, makes a strong…
September 26, 2006
Just to show you how out of touch Inhofe and his staff are in their attack on the media, they even label as alarmist Andrew Revkin of the NY Times. I've read through literally dozens of Revkin's articles, I have seen him speak on several occasions, and interviewed him for this article on…
September 26, 2006
Yesterday, Senator James Inhofe, Chair of the Committee on Public Works & the Environment, issued a challenge to journalists to stop what he called the "media hype" over global warming. Inhofe compiles a list of what he considers exaggerated distortions of global warming from recent and past…
September 26, 2006
If it isn't already obvious, the GOP game plan for the November election is to make September 11 and the war on terror the dominant consideration for voters, rather than the troubles in Iraq, and the lingering questions of GOP competency following Katrina. All the tools of strategic communication…
September 25, 2006
Chris Wallace has this to say about the ground rules agreed to by Fox News and Clinton....
September 25, 2006
News outlets and the blogosphere are abuzz over Bill Clinton's appearance on Fox News Sunday. The whole episode is a classic example of how the negotiation of news between journalists and powerful sources can sometimes go wrong, especially when the two parties might ultimately have competing…
September 19, 2006
For readers who are interested in learning more about the communication battles over science policy, I gave the following talk to the American Institute of Biological Sciences back in May, and now AIBS has posted a video of the lecture, complete with an interactive version of the powerpoint slides…