Science Communication 2006 Abstracts
Science Communication Interest Group
Media Use and Procedural Fairness Perceptions in the Context of Local Cancer Cluster Investigations • John Besley, Cornell University • Research on procedural justice argues that individuals often care as much about fair process and they do about fair outcome when it comes to assessing political authorities. Previous media research, however, has failed to consider whether a relationship exists between news media use and fairness perceptions.
Dispensing Information or Propaganda? Appraising Frames in News Coverage of Prescription Drug Advertisements • Cynthia-Lou Coleman and L. David Ritchie, Portland State University • One of the key arguments in favor of prescription drug advertisements has been that they inform and educate consumers. We explore how news stories about direct-to-consumer advertising from 1997 through 2004 qualitatively framed the concept of information, including salient metaphors used to enrich the term. The study is informed by theories of news construction, framing and agenda building in the context of conveying “information.”
Framing Coastal Erosion: A Qualitative Assessment of National Media’s Coverage of Louisiana Coastal Erosion Pre- and Post-Katrina • Jane Dailey and Lisa Lundy, Louisiana State University • This study examined how the media framed the issue of coastal erosion before and after Hurricane Katrina. We examined newspaper coverage of Louisiana’s America’s Wetland campaign and coastal erosion problems in other coastal areas around the country. The results generally show that newspaper coverage of coastal erosion was scant but increased rapidly following Hurricane Katrina.
Reporting on a Potential Pandemic: A Content Analysis of Avian Influenza Newspaper Coverage • Anthony D. Dudo and Michael F. Dahlstrom, University of Wisconsin-Madison • While quality information does not guarantee accurate risk perceptions, it provides the public with the means to perform an informed assessment of a risk. We analyzed four American newspapers to assess the quality of coverage related to avian flu. Quality was conceptualized around five dimensions: risk magnitude, self efficacy, risk comparisons, sensationalism, and thematic and episodic framing. Coverage exhibited high quality only in terms of risk magnitude and risk comparison information.
After the Flood: Anger, Attribution and the Seeking of Information • Robert J. Griffin, Marquette University and Janet Yang, Cornell and Ellen ter Huurne, University of Twente, THE NETHERLANDS and Francesca Boerner and Sherry Ortiz, Marquette University and Sharon Dunwoody, University of Wisconsin-Madison • In an effort to understand what motivates people to attend to information about flood risks, this study applies the Risk Information Seeking and Processing model to explore how local residents responded to damaging river flooding in the Milwaukee area. Anger at managing agencies was associated with the desire for information and active information seeking and processing, as well as with risk judgment, personal efficacy, lower institutional trust, and attributions for the causes of flood losses.
The Effects of Mr. and Mrs. Reeve on Public Health and Social Issues: Celebrity Identification and Parasocial Interaction • Bumsub Jin, University of Florida • This research assessed whether celebrity identification process affects individual concerns with and attitudes toward public health and socially relevant issues. A survey study indicated that identification with Christopher Reeve led to individual concerns with health insurance coverage, research on spinal cord injuries, and legislation to legalize research on stem cells. An experimental study also revealed that identification with Christopher and Dana Reeve predicted individuals? positive attitude toward supporting quality of life for the disabled.
Genetic Science Information in News about Obesity: Effects on Controllability Attribution of Others’ Obesity and Perceptions about One’s Own Weight Problem • Se-Hoon Jeong, University of Pennsylvania • This study tests the effects of genetic explanations of obesity in news stories with a nationally representative sample. Surprisingly, with regard to one’s own obesity, subjects reported the most negative attitudes toward weight loss (i.e., difficult to lose weight) after reading the strong behavioral news story.
Can a Personality Trait Predict Talk about Science? Sensation Seeking as a Science Communication Targeting Variable • Yoori Hwang and Brian Southwell, University of Minnesota • Sensation seeking, a trait that has been invoked by public health campaign scholars as a targeting variable, also holds promise for informal science education professionals who seek to engage social networks in their promotion efforts. We contend here that sensation seeking should positively predict talk about science, even after controlling for often-cited predictors such as education, perceived understanding of science, and relevant employment.
Where Do Ohioans Get Their Environmental News? • Stephen Lacy, Michigan State University and Daniel Riffe, Ohio University and Miron Varouhakis, Michigan State University • A survey of 971 Ohio residents in February 2005 found a high percentage of people attended to environmental news at all geographic levels, but the percentages declined as the focus of the environmental news got “closer to home.” Newspapers and television news continued to dominate environmental news at all levels, with newspapers edging television as environmental problems become more local.
The Method Had Originally Been the Theory: How the Media Describes Science, Scientific Theories, and Scientific Method • Bruce Lewenstein and Sara Ball, Cornell University • Recent public debates about “intelligent design” have often highlighted definitions of science, scientific theories, and scientific method. We identified 324 newspaper articles in the past year that used the terms; about half referred to “intelligent design.” The data suggest that no single definition is presented in the media. Although there were clear differences between stories that focused on intelligent design and those that didn’t, the diversity was present in both types of stories.
American Newspapers and the Great Meteor Storm of 1833: A Case Study in Science Journalism • Mark Littman, University of Tennessee • On November 13, 1833 Americans witnessed an unprecedented meteor storm. The response of American newspapers was surprising. Papers of this period focused on national politics, were highly partisan, and ignored local happenings and science. Yet confronted with an unexpected celestial spectacle, American newspaper coverage of the 1833 Leonid meteor storm was so accurate, innovative, responsible, and extensive that it quieted fear and superstition and helped to found a new branch of astronomy, meteor science.
Nanotechnology: Constructing the Public and Public Constructions • Susanna Priest and Hillary Fussell, University of South Carolina • Nanotechnology is following in biotechnology’s wake as the next wave of major technoscientific advancement. In the U.S., perhaps because the introduction of biotechnology was rockier than expected, substantial public resources are being invested in public outreach and education efforts for nanotechnology. Risk communication specialists are key players in this effort.
Metaphor Use in Stem Cell Research Coverage: A Comparison of U.S. and South Korean Newspapers • Lulu Rodriguez and Hye Hyun Hong, Iowa State University • A qualitative content analysis of the metaphors applied by two elite newspapers, the Chosun Ilbo of South Korea and the New York Times in the U.S., in their coverage of stem cell research over a five-year period (2001-2005) was conducted to compare their intensity of and differences in metaphor use.
Penchant for Print: Media Strategies and Choices of Agricultural Communication Professionals • Amanda Ruth, College of Charleston • The purpose of this study was to explore the media strategies and choices of agricultural communication professionals in their role as sources of agricultural information for the news media. This applied-exploratory study utilized qualitative methods in order to gather rich data through 12 in-depth interviews and three online asynchronous focus groups from a snowball sample of agricultural communication professionals. Overall, the data suggests a preference for working with trade, print media outlets.
Persuasion Theory: Frame and Source in the Promotion of Regular Physical Activity • Wanda Siu, Chinese University of Hong Kong • This study integrates framing postulate of prospect theory and the source factor to study the promotion of regular physical activity. Results show that a match of frame valence and source valence (gain frame-healthy source, cost frame-unhealthy source) enhanced message evaluation. Also, the effects of a semantic match of frame and source on message evaluation were moderated by enhanced message elaboration.
Stem Cell Research: Visual Framing of the Ethical Debate in Time and Newsweek • Nicole Smith, University of North Carolina• The ethical controversy surrounding stem cell research is fueling increasing debate. Based on the ability of a photograph to provoke emotion that words alone cannot do, the research study examined how newsmagazine photographs frame this ethical debate. Previous scholars have indicated that framing is particularly relevant when the topic is political and/or social, such stem cell research. Qualitative analysis of newsmagazine photos found that four themes emerged as news frames: science, politics, medical, and religion.
Assessing the Impact of Media Literacy Training on Middle School-Aged Children’s Attitudes toward Women in Science, Engineering, and Technology • Jocelyn Steinke, Western Michigan University and Maria Lapinski, Michigan State University and Aletta Zietsman-Thomas, Northwest University in Potchefstroom and Paul Nwulu, Nikki Crocker, Yaschica Williams, Stephanie Higdon and Sarvani Kuchibhotla, Western Michigan University • This study examined the efficacy of media literacy training on middle school-aged children’s recognition of gender stereotypes, perceptions of women in SET, and attitudes toward SET and SET careers. A total of 302 seventh-grade students were randomly assigned to one of three conditions: discussion, discussion plus viewing of media images of women, or a control. The implications for future research on media influences on middle school-aged children’s perceptions of gender and science will be addressed.
A Comparison of Media Portrayals of Nano R&D in Major Newspapers in China (PRC), the United States and Europe, 2004-2005 • Lowndes Stephens and Qingjiang Yao, University of South Carolina and Zhao Xi Liu, University of Missouri • We examine news narratives about nanoscale science and technology from 2004-2005 in a sample of major newspapers in the United States (n=150 articles), Europe (n=73 articles) and China (n=143 articles) and compare the breadth of and dominant frames/themes with similar content analytic studies in U.S. and British newspapers. Dominant frames are “finance, intellectual property and PR” in the U.S., “ELSIs” in Europe, and “general commercial or consumer applications” in China.
Trolleys and Other Health Service Targets: Irish Journalists’ Perceptions of their Influence on Health Policy Development • Kim Walsh-Childers, University of Florida • This study examined perceptions news media influence on Irish health policy development among Irish journalists who specialize in covering health issues. In-depth interviews with eight of the most influential Irish health journalists revealed three themes: perceptions of the role of journalism in Irish society; assessments of the quality of and problems with news coverage of health, especially health policy; and perceptions of the influence of news coverage on health policy development.
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