Enviro/Science Reporting
nisbetmc | May 7, 2007Even before the publication of our Science and Washington Post commentaries, Chris and I were asked to do a number of joint talks in various cities. As attention grew to our Framing Science thesis, we decided to formally launch a Web site devoted to the arguments raised in these articles and to other ideas that we are developing in forthcoming work.
So we're now pleased to announce a site at ScienceBlogs: "Speaking Science 2.0: The Road to 2008 and Beyond." It includes much additional information: Upcoming Events, Previous Speeches (available as Powerpoints, Audio, or Video), Articles, Media…
nisbetmc | April 25, 2007How do you influence conservative media outlets to take climate change seriously, re-casting the issue in a light that connects to their conservative audiences?
You got it: Framing.
It's a strategy that two scientists apply today in an op-ed published at the Washington Times. Bryan K. Mignone, a Science & Technology Fellow in the Foreign Policy Studies Program at the Brookings Institution, and Mark D. Drapeau, a AAAS Fellow at the National Defense University, strategically piggyback on last week's military report on climate change to gain an audience at the notoriously conservative…
nisbetmc | April 24, 2007
Why is it so important to provide the wider American public with readily available and scientifically accurate "frames" that re-package complex issues in ways that make them personally meaningful and interesting?
A recent Pew study comparing survey findings across decades emphasizes one major reason:
Since the late 1980s, the emergence of 24-hour cable news as a dominant news source and the explosive growth of the internet have led to major changes in the American public's news habits. But a new nationwide survey finds that the coaxial and digital revolutions and attendant changes in news…
nisbetmc | April 20, 2007
The Point of Inquiry podcast is produced by the Center for Inquiry-Transnational and averages 60,000 listeners a week.
In this week's show, host DJ Grothe and I engage in a lively forty-five minute discussion. You can listen here.
I offer more details on:
--> the nature of framing and media influence.
--> does framing mean false spin?
--> the likely negative impact of Dawkins.
--> communication strategy specific to the teaching of evolution in schools.
--> what the Discovery Institute understood about framing (also see this post.)
--> the role of framing in the debates…
nisbetmc | April 18, 2007A small yet very vocal contingent of critics continue to ferociously attack our Framing Science thesis.
Meanwhile, the rest of us are left wondering why.
Here are two observations posted today by fellow ScienceBloggers.
The immensely popular "Orac," the nom de blog of a surgeon/scientist offers this interpretation:
I've concluded that a lot of issues underlying this kerfuffle may be the difference between the "pure" scientists and science teachers (like PZ and Larry Moran, for example), who are not dependent upon selling their science for the continued livelihood of their careers, and…
nisbetmc | April 18, 2007The transcript of the interview I did last week at NPR's On the Media is now available. In the interview, I restate exactly what we argued first at Science and then at the WPost. It's worth reading. I've bolded parts of key sentences.
First, I emphasize, as we do in our published commentaries, the problem with going beyond the science in framing messages to the public. I use the example of global warming and more intense hurricanes.
Then the host, Brook Gladstone, follows by asking whether we suggest scientists become advocates.
BROOK GLADSTONE:....Climate change, says Nisbet, is a…
nisbetmc | April 17, 2007To be honest, I hadn't seen the online program Bloggingheads.tv before. But today they offer a pretty substantive discussion of our Framing Science thesis. Apparently the host agrees with us. His co-host misunderstands our goals for communication and the research on framing and media influence. But that's okay. It's clearly meant to be a point/counter-point. Kind of a Siskel and Ebert of blog commentary. Pretty cool.
nisbetmc | April 17, 2007NPR's Richard Harris reports on the UN National Security Council's attempt to recast global warming as really a matter of national and global security.
Trinifar has all the details and analysis. The mysterious one also has a related post up on yesterday's announcement by U.S. military brass that climate change is indeed a national security threat.
nisbetmc | April 17, 2007The Discovery Institute have a blog post up commenting on our WPost Outlook article.
Given this latest response to our Framing Science thesis, I wanted to take time out from an incredibly busy week to once again describe framing and its implications for successful science communication.
As I have noted and Coturnix so eloquently describes, in the process of communication, you can't avoid framing. Scientists do it all the time in lab talk, in conference papers, in powerpoints, in journal articles, and in grant applications.
However, as the communication process passes to science writers…
nisbetmc | April 15, 2007Bora continues to play a very important role in synthesizing and interpreting the whole strange chorus that seems to be going on in reaction to our Framing Science thesis. In his latest post, I couldn't have stated it better myself. He definitely gets it. He captures pretty much everything that needs to be said at this point.
The next several weeks are going to be very busy. I'm finishing off the semester teaching, and I have a lot of deadlines coming up. So what I'm saying is that this is going to be a very slow couple of weeks for me blog wise.
PS: Bora offers more light on the matter…
nisbetmc | April 15, 2007Over at Chris Mooney's Intersection, there is a lively discussion going-on of our Washington Post article.
I thought this comment was especially interesting, from scientist-turned-filmmaker Randy Olson, director of Flock of Dodos, (airing next month on Showtime).
I'm a big fan of Randy. He's a scientist who is using his USC film school training to engage wider audiences on topics ranging from the teaching of evolution to ocean conservation. In the process, he's also raising important questions about how scientists can better communicate with the public. Randy, along with places like San…
nisbetmc | April 14, 2007In an article in the Sunday Outlook section of the Washington Post, we advance the arguments offered in our Science Policy Forum commentary. We also respond directly to some of the questions raised over the last week at several blogs. For more, listen to this segment from NPR's On the Media. Chris Mooney elaborates on the Post piece over at the Intersection.
nisbetmc | April 13, 2007 It's definitely been a busy week trying to keep up with a seismic blog debate. I've tried to weigh in where I can and so has Chris Mooney. However, in regards to our Science Policy Forum article, I think that this NPR On the Media segment pushes along the discussion . The show airs over the weekend at 200 NPR affiliates, but you can listen right now by pressing play below. Chris has this to add, posted from an airport in Australia.
We will have more later this weekend. Stay with us.
PS: Some bloggers think that we are asking scientists to spin their results. In our article, we clearly…
nisbetmc | April 10, 2007
Back in February, I chronicled the problems that the year's first IPCC report had in achieving wider media and public attention. In response, I argued that in today's fragmented media system, relying on traditional news coverage to attract the attention of the wider public just wasn't good enough.
As alternatives, I suggested recruiting and training a national system of opinion-leaders or "science navigators" to connect to fellow citizens on the topic, while also harnessing the power of entertainment media and celebrity culture to reach the massive audience of Americans who pay little or…
nisbetmc | April 10, 2007AAAS has provided me with an author's referral link that offers free access to our Policy Forum article. You can find the link in the left sidebar, just under the Science cover.
Meanwhile, I try to update blog reaction as best I can at this post.
nisbetmc | April 9, 2007Our Policy Forum article at Science has generated a monster blog discussion, one that is almost too much to keep up with. I continue to try to keep a summary here with my quick responses, where appropriate. I have also posted several comments at other blogs. I will continue to update as more blog commentary develops.
Reactions so far:
-->Over at The Intersection, a very strong endorsement from Flock of Dodos director Randy Olson:
Nisbet and Mooney are taking on the odious job of being the messengers of the new era for the world of science with their excellent essay in Science this week. I'…
nisbetmc | April 5, 2007I have a Policy Forum article appearing this week in the journal Science that is likely to spark a major debate. Co-authored with Chris Mooney and titled "Framing Science," the themes covered will be familiar to readers of this blog. In the piece, we respectfully argue that scientists shouldn't blame politicians and journalists all the time for gridlock on issues like climate change, stem cell research, or evolution. Indeed, part of the problem is that scientists carry with them the wrong assumptions about what makes for effective communication. More than sixty years of research in the social…
nisbetmc | April 4, 2007Over at The Intersection, Chris Mooney has a post up about the complete absence of U.S. news coverage dedicated to the record six tropical cyclones that have hit Madagascar, killing hundreds and causing massive damage.
It's the old proximity norm creating bias in news coverage. The result, apart from any important disaster relief reaction, is that Americans fail to get a big picture about just how global the hurricane problem might be.
Six tropical cyclones hit Madagascar over the past couple months, but you wouldn't know it if you lived in the U.S.
nisbetmc | April 2, 2007At the NY Times, Michael Crichton reviews Jerome Groopman's new book, a compilation of his medical essays from the New Yorker. Crichton's review is worth reading, and two themes familiar to Framing Science readers stand out from his discussion of Groopman's view on modern medicine:
a) Just like the public, as part of human nature, Doctors are cognitive misers, constantly looking for short cuts and heuristics to cut down on the complexity of diagnosis and medical decision-making. Relying on heuristics is not always bad, writes Crichton and argues Groopman.
Groopman also discusses physician…
nisbetmc | March 23, 2007An initiative that I have been pitching in talks across the country (for example, go here, here, and here), has been proposed for official funding in Congress. Stay tuned for more on this much needed bill.
Washington, DC - Congresswoman Doris O. Matsui (CA-05) introduced the Scientific Communications Act of 2007 (H.R. 1453) to provide communications skills training for graduate students in the sciences. This legislation, co-sponsored by Congressman Bart Gordon (TN-06), Chairman of the Committee on Science and Technology, provides resources at the National Science Foundation (NSF) to improve…