Matthew Nisbet
Professor of Communication at Northeastern University.
nisbetmc
Posts by this author
June 2, 2009
At the AFI Silver Theater on July 29 watch Spencer Tracy argue in defense of evolution.
For readers in the DC area, on July 29 at 7pm, the NIH Office of Science Education and the American Film Institute are teaming up to sponsor a screening of Inherit the Wind as part of their summer film series "…
June 2, 2009
Back during the 2008 election, John McCain came under much ridicule for admitting that he doesn't use the Internet or a Blackberry. Turns out that Bill Clinton is in the same exclusive category as McCain. From Sunday's profile at the New York Times magazine:
The man who ushered in the Internet age…
June 2, 2009
In a fascinating cover article at the Sunday NY Times magazine, Bill Clinton reflects on health care and climate change as the two major failures of his presidency. Here are the key passages where Clinton describes why he wasn't able to accomplish more on climate change:
On climate change, he…
June 2, 2009
The Dave Matthews Band's latest album debuts today on iTunes and in stores. Early reviews at the WPost and Rolling Stone are lauding the release as DMB's best since the days of Under the Table and Dreaming and Before These Crowded Streets.
Of note, guitarist Tim Reynolds joins the band on this…
June 1, 2009
Several science bloggers this month are spotlighting sexual violence as a social problem and the Scienceblogs portal has jumped on board. The focus is mostly on international cases but it's important to also think about how sexual violence is framed and addressed here in the U.S.
This past…
June 1, 2009
The future of science journalism and communication will involve three key strategies:
1. "Going broad" and reaching a diversity of audiences across non-traditional media platforms such as entertainment film and television, new genres of documentary film, new forms of multi-media storytelling, new…
June 1, 2009
In an article in the Sunday edition, WPost reporters Steve Mufson and Juliet Eilperin detail how Obama during his presidential campaign took the lead in urging his staffers to re-frame their message on energy and climate change. As the headline notes, Obama's campaign and White House has gained…
June 1, 2009
Over at his blog for the Office of Research Communications at Ohio State University, Earle Holland provides more back stage insight on the media strategy surrounding the fossil Darwinius:
Prior to the press conference, only a handful of select reporters got an advance look at the scientific paper,…
May 31, 2009
I spent the past three days with my colleague Ed Maibach and several graduate students conducting one-on-one interviews about climate change with participants recruited and screened from among the diversity of visitors to the National Mall in Washington, DC.
In conducting these qualitative…
May 31, 2009
My friend Dietram Scheufele sat down a few weeks back for a Q&A interview with one of the magazines produced by the the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Scheufele, a professor of Life Sciences Communication at UW, was asked about new directions in science communication.
In the interview, he…
May 27, 2009
As I wrote last week, there was a lot to like about the "going broad" communication strategy of the Darwinius masillae fossil discovery published at PLoS One.
Yet, as I also noted the major caveat was that this strategy of reaching a broader and more diverse audience for science might be better…
May 27, 2009
Over at the NY Times' Dot Earth blog, Andrew Revkin has launched a conversation with his readers on the challenge of navigating the many emerging arguments and claims about climate policy, with Revkin emphasizing the need to engage with a range of ideas and perspectives about what should be done.…
May 27, 2009
Most of the world will be watching today's Champions League final between Manchester United and Barcelona, one of the most eagerly anticipated finals in recent memory. I'm picking ManU to win 3-2. Messi doesn't match up well against the bigger, tougher Premier League squads and look for Ronaldo to…
May 26, 2009
Night at Smithsonian topped the Box Office this Memorial Day weekend with a smash opening of more than $70M outpacing Terminator Salvation which scored a $43M debut.
Museum directors and science educators are sure to be looking to ride the movie's success with efforts to broaden their reach in…
May 25, 2009
In June, I will be heading to Copenhagen to speak at and participate in the annual meeting of the Danish Science Journalists Association. The meeting titled "Framing Research" tackles many of the issues that I address in previously published and forthcoming articles, including a major article co-…
May 21, 2009
Hooked around the accidental release of a climate change "rebranding" memo by the firm EcoAmerica a few weeks back, Seed magazine runs today an interesting roundtable discussion on the good, the bad, and the ugly of applying framing research to communicating about climate change.
I provide comments…
May 21, 2009
I did an interview this morning with Elie Dolgin of The Scientist magazine discussing the "going broad" media strategy surrounding Darwinius masillae aka Ida the fossil. The magazine has the Q&A interview up on their site. The user registration is free and well worth the 2 seconds in order to…
May 21, 2009
On Monday night, AU's [School of Communication](http://www.american.edu/soc/) sponsored a screening at the Newseum of the 1992 campaign documentary *The War Room* with a panel discussion that included stars George Stephanopoulos, Dee Dee Myers and Paul Begala. The event was part of the [Reel…
May 21, 2009
So I scanned the reviews for director McG's Terminator Salvation at the Washington Post, New York Times, and New York Magazine, and it turns out not unexpectedly that in the words of my hometown Buffalo News' critic Jeff Simon that the film "is a remarkable looking piece of work. And you'll find…
May 20, 2009
Over at the NY Times' Opinionator blog, they provide a round up of commentary from science bloggers on Darwinius masillae aka Ida while also pointing to a revealing outing at the conservative blog Little Green Footballs on where Rush Limbaugh stands on evolution.
May 20, 2009
The publicity success of Darwinius masillae aka Ida continues on with Tuesday's New York Times story among the most blogged at the paper. The top 10 list as of this afternoon:
# Overhaul Likely for Credit Cards
# U.S. to Offer New Mileage and Emission Standards
# Thriving Norway Offers a Lesson in…
May 20, 2009
In June, I am headed to Denmark to speak at and participate in a unique conference organized by the Danish Association of Science Journalists. The one day conference titled "Dissensus 2009: Framing Research" examines the nature and implications of framing for science journalism and public…
May 20, 2009
As we discuss in a current working paper, the "going broad" strategy of using entertainment media to reach wider audiences was first pioneered in the area of health.
For example, working in collaboration with experts, screenwriters for the series ER purposely inserted plot scenarios intended to…
May 20, 2009
Talk about "going broad" with a science communication strategy: If an open access journal article, a front page NY Times article, Good Morning America, and a two-hour History Channel documentary weren't enough, the "missing link" known as Ida now appears as today's logo at Google's search engine.…
May 19, 2009
It started this morning with the front page story at the NY Times. Tellingly, the article wasn't hooked around Darwinius masillae as a historic scientific breakthrough but rather as a novel ramping up in communication strategy for science. Now across the blogosphere, the tag of hype has caught on…
May 19, 2009
Speaking of "going broad" with science communication, here's something I really like. As part of their Science and Entertainment Exchange initiative, the National Academies has launched The X-Change Files blog with author Jennifer Ouellette, producers Janet & Jerry Zucker, physicist Lawrence…
May 19, 2009
For readers in the Madison area, I will be giving a lecture on Thursday, June 25 at the University of Wisconsin as part of the university's summer lecture series. The lecture is free to the public and takes place in 1100 Grainger Hall from 7-9pm.
The series focus this year is on the intersection of…
May 19, 2009
Fronting the NY Times today is a preview of a bold new strategy for engaging hard to reach audiences on science. As the NY Times describes, today's media event that unveils the fossilized remains of the monkey like creature Darwinius masillae features a unique collaboration between the History…
May 17, 2009
Angels & Demons opened this weekend with a less than expected $48 million just edging out the still hot Star Trek ($43M, $150M over two weeks). I took in the film at a 3/4 filled theater in Georgetown.
Angels is worth seeing and a better film version than Davinci Code. The film is also likely…
May 17, 2009
So I am sitting here watching game 7 of the Lakers-Rockets series with the Lakers up by 20. The fact that the Rockets could take the Lakers to 7 games minus their best two players is just short of miraculous...until you consider a New York Times magazine article that appeared earlier this year.…