FRAME: Public Accountability
nisbetmc | 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 coats and instruments.
Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle is just one of several Democrats across the country using their support for stem cell research to draw contrasts to their Republican opponent, in Doyle's case Congressman Mark Green. He's also the latest candidate to benefit from the endorsement of…
nisbetmc | 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 amendment on stem cell research by referencing a campaign video archived at YouTube.
The video, sponsored by Missourians Against Human Cloning, doesn't define opposition to the amendment in moral or religious terms. Instead, in a strategy designed to broaden their support, the group frames the matter…
nisbetmc | July 22, 2006
Below I provide an overview of the Editorials printed at the national and major regional newspapers. Without exception, the newspapers denounce Bush's decision. Most go with the "moral inconsistency" angle: why prevent research that could save lives when the left over embryos at IVF clinics would be destroyed anyway? Only a few papers emphasize PUBLIC ACCOUNTABILITY, linking Bush's decision to a general "hostility to science" and a perceived tendency to decide public policy based on his religious beliefs and the preferences of Christian conservative groups. A few reference the difference…
nisbetmc | June 27, 2006With the Supreme Court deciding yesterday to hear a case challenging the Bush administration's enforcement of the Clean Air Act (Times coverage here, Post here), the Center for American Progress has issued the following Talking Points memo framing the issue of climate change around PUBLIC ACCOUNTABILITY. At issue, argues the Center, is that the Bush administration is formulating policy based on industry manipulated science. Efforts to curb greenhouse gas emissions have been stalled, despite the fact that, according to the Center's interpretation, polls show that the public wants action.…
nisbetmc | June 18, 2006It's rare in media coverage to see a focus on the PATENTS/PROPERTY RIGHTS dimension of stem cell research, even though patents are the engine driving research. But this weekend, the Wisconsin State Journal spotlights a developing dispute between the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (WARF) and the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM). At issue is CIRM's ability to require that 25% of all earnings from grant-supported research be given back to the state of California. The problem is that WARF, which holds the patents on most stem cell research in the United States,…