nisbetmc | 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 have been unfairly stereotyped in the mainstream media and in popular culture. But we also have a lot of lousy self-proclaimed spokespeople who do damage to our public image. They're usually angry, grumpy, uncharismatic male loners with a passion for attacking and ridiculing religious believers. Any…
nisbetmc | August 7, 2008This 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 research principles and arguments that have been made here at Framing Science. My colleague Dietram Scheufele will be giving a presentation titled "Does Science Have a Marketing Problem? The Convergence of Science, Policy & Communication."
Scheufele is a professor of Life Sciences Communication…
nisbetmc | 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 second meaning to this ad. Indeed, the signal is not just one of vanity, but one playing on the theme of Obama as anti-Christ. Not only is he not one of us, but his coming should invoke Biblical fear. See for yourself above.
nisbetmc | August 1, 2008I 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 Greg Laden's count.)
nisbetmc | 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 quality of life, and Washington, DC as a "top 5" college town.
In its profile on AU, The Princeton Review quotes extensively from students. Their comments include, "This school lives, breathes, eats, and sleeps politics," a club exists "for just about every type of person you can think of," because of…
nisbetmc | July 31, 2008That'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 that citizens can start doing today:
"...It's interesting to note that, for whatever reason, most of the voices behind this apocalyptic panic are male. But a growing collective of female bloggers are now writing about peak oil, more often in the context of how many strawberries we should dehydrate…
nisbetmc | 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 the business, and put forward its president, Don Thompson, to get out the message that reality on the ground is different from that portrayed by green groups and others who want development stopped...
...Negative perceptions of the oil sands as a big engine of global warming have resulted in a series…
nisbetmc | 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 week as McCain released his latest television spot (clip above). McCain knows "that we must drill more in America and rescue our family budgets" claims the ad. Obama on the other hand--while staging rallies for adoring and chanting supporters--is personally responsible for rising gas prices and…
nisbetmc | 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 for a strong president. Nor am I really that surprised when powerful men driven by fame and ambition cheat on their wives. I suspect it's a temptation that is in most elected officials' DNA, republican or democrat.
But rather, my reaction was in anticipation of what is a whisp of evidence or video…
nisbetmc | 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 absence of knowledge. The fragmented nature of our modern media system magnifies the problem of a miserly public, introducing the "problem of choice." Absent a strong preference for the really good science coverage available, citizens can completely avoid such information, paying attention instead to…
nisbetmc | 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), are combining to give the oil companies a free pass when it comes to news coverage of gas prices.
Raines was interviewed last week by NPR's On the Media about his column (transcript, audio above). As Raines defines the problem, general assignment reporters--lacking a specialization with the…
nisbetmc | 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 to say, it's already one of the most talked about science-related documentaries of the year, even though very few people have actually even seen it. I will be writing a column about the film for Skeptical Inquirer Online, so stay tuned.
In the meantime, here's something that will likely interest…
nisbetmc | 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 Patricia Stout at the University of Texas. You can read a PDF of the final draft here.
In the chapter, I synthesize the findings and conclusions from many previously published studies and articles. Detailing the specific cases of nuclear energy, evolution, and climate change, I demonstrate the…
nisbetmc | 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 communication. (Full disclosure: I am an affiliated researcher with the Center.)
Founded last year by George Mason professor Ed Maibach, the Center's innovative research focuses on several key questions that have often been discussed here at Framing Science and on ScienceBlogs generally:
1. What are various…
nisbetmc | July 19, 2008The 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 department from all over the world at a furious pace, each one stranger than the last. Hundreds of psychics and oddballs were phoning in with their hunches, their visions and their sightings. Some of the tips were plausible. Others were not. All took time away from the case. Police were frustrated.…
nisbetmc | 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 conservation efforts and regulation. As I noted, given this quickly changing interpretative landscape, it's not surprising that the first GOP-funded television spot of the presidential campaign touted McCain's "balanced" approach on energy and his willingness to "stand up" to his own party on the…
nisbetmc | 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 threats are outrageous, should be condemned by all parties, and prosecuted to the full extent of the law. The calls for expelling the student or the firing of PZ Myers are equally ridiculous.
Yet I also recognize that the Communion wafer has deep symbolic importance to the Catholic community and in…
nisbetmc | 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 this figure is likely to be over 50% among college educated seniors. (For example, my 91 year old Grandfather owns a computer, sends me email, and reads my blog.)
Should we care that McCain lacks even a basic familiarity with the online world? Consider that a President McCain would probably be the…
nisbetmc | 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 the construction of new power plants - is a more important priority for energy policy than increased conservation and regulation. Among liberals, it's an unheard of 23 point shift in preferences since just February of this year and as depicted at left, there's been a 15 point shift among moderates.…
nisbetmc | 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 science beat, there's coverage of the science. At the business beat, there's a focus on industry trends, trade regulation, and the occasional consumer profile. At the political beat, there's a heavy accent on strategy and conflict, with a narrow emphasis on just the Democrats' or Republicans' plan to…