Science Communication 2001 Abstracts
Science Communication Interest Group
Riding the Hoopla: An Analysis of Mass Media Coverage of GMOs in Britain and the United States: 1997-2000 • Eric A. Abbott, Tracy Lucht, Jeffrey P. Jensen, Zajira Jordan-Conde, Iowa State University • Three models – social amplification of risk, hoopla, and triggering effects – were used to develop and test predictions about coverage of genetically modified organisms in the New York Times, London Times and London Daily mail from 1997-2000. A content analysis showed scientists have declined significantly as sources over time, while citizens’ groups have remained constant Themes, or frames, for articles shifted in response to triggering events. Positive themes declined over time while negative ones remained relatively constant
The Internet and the Environmental Protection Agency: Public Access to Toxic Chemical Off-Site Consequence Information • James F. Carstens, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill • The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published a Final Rule in August 2000 that regulates public access to information about possible dangers to pubic safety involving potentially toxic chemicals used in manufacturing plants (Off-Site Consequence Analysis – OCA). Limited information concerning accidental chemical releases, including worse-case scenarios, is now accessible through federal reading rooms. Law officials were concerned OCA information could allow manufacturing plants to be targeted by terrorists. It is an important and unique ruling, in which the benefits of providing public citizens with information directly related to their health and welfare had to be weighed against the distinct possibility that the same information could compromise national security.
Experts in All Areas: Medical and Scientific Sources in Stories about AIDS • William P. Cassidy, University of Oregon • This study examines attributed comments made by medical and/or scientific (non-governmental) sources in news stories about AIDS in four elite and four non-elite newspapers during a nine week period in late 1986 and early 1987. Results show that 38.4% of attributed comments made by medical and/or scientific (non-governmental) sources fell outside their areas of expertise. Elite newspapers published a higher percentage (43.2%) of such comments than non-elite newspapers
Motivations to Participate in Riparian Improvement Programs: Applying the Theory of Planned Behavior • Julia B. Corbett, University of Utah • This study utilized the theory of planned behavior, a model of attitudinal factors related to behavioral intention, to investigate the lack of participation in government-sponsored programs to conserve riparian areas. A questionnaire mailed to rural landowners whose property abutted a waterway revealed that financial motivations, past behaviors, exposure to government information, and self-efficacy predicted 29% of the variance in intent to participate in future conservation programs. The findings suggest that financial variables are important moderators of perceived behavioral control.
Get Excited! Be Calm! An Examination of Risk-inducing and Risk-reducing Statements in Food-Safety Messages • Joye Gordan, Kansas State University • Risk perception is a well-established factor impacting a host of human behaviors. As such, risk communicators are often motivated to stimulate or allay emotional reactions to physical hazards. This study questioned if governmental versus private sponsorship of food-safety messages was related to the amount of risk-inducing and risk-reducing statements in those messages. Results of a quantitative content analysis found that governmental communicators are saying “get excited,” while private communicators are asking consumers to “be calm.”
The Importance of Being Accountable: The Relationship Between Perceptions of Accountability, Knowledge and Attitude Toward Plant Genetic Engineering • Tracy Irani, University of Florida, Janas Sinclair, Florida International University and Michelle O’Malley, Kansas State University • A survey of 381 respondents was conducted to in an attempt to explore the relationship between perceptions of the accountability of government, industry, and the regulatory process and respondents’ knowledge and attitudes toward potential benefits of food biotechnology. Using regression analysis, results indicated that accountability linkages as derived form Schlenker’s model could be used to develop a prediction model in which accountability was a better predictor of attitude toward potential benefits of biotechnology than respondents’ level of knowledge.
Has Media Coverage Become More Environmentally Friendly?: The Case of Sprawl Development • Patricia M. Kennedy, Syracuse University • Sprawl, for those who may be unfamiliar with the term, is a way of describing the primarily vertical pattern of residential and commercial construction that spreads in a non-contiguous (“leapfrog”) manner outward from a nearby metropolitan core. This paper examines media coverage of “sprawl” and provides evidence that the mass media are behaving in ways that support a more environmentally friendly pattern of development of the built environment. It is the thesis of this paper that journalistic interest has increased the volume, and altered the valence and manner of media presentation of the issue of sprawl development, which is in turn is causing a national “hard look” at the way we construct our built environment. It is the author’s view that in the case of sprawl, the press is acting to inform the public and to frame the issue in ways that influence and shape public opinion in environmentally positive directions. This paper includes a discussion of the history, causes and defining characteristics of sprawl development, a description of what journalists are saying about the newsworthiness of sprawl; a review of previous research in which it is argued that sprawl is a suitable case for studying patterns of environmental coverage, a proposed method for evaluating when the media are covering an issue in an environmentally friendly way and a report of some preliminary findings from a content analysis project examining media coverage of sprawl.
A Comparison of Biotechnology Coverage Across Specialist Journalists and News Organizations, 1995-1999 • Matt Nisbet and Bruce V. Lewenstein, Cornell University • A quantitative content analysis of print media coverage of biotechnology 1995 to 1999 was compared across types of specialist journalists, including science, political, business, and news wire reporters; and across publications, including the New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, and Newsweek. Significant differences in patterns of attention, focus on themes, use of framing devices, and featured actors were found across publications and types of specialist journalists. Our findings provide useful indicators for communication researchers, journalists, and policy-makers concerned with mass media treatment of biotechnology, and other political or social controversies related to science and technology.
A Repertoire Approach to Environmental Information Channels • Garrett ‘ÕKeefe, Heather Ward, and Robin Shephard, University of Wisconsin-Madison • This study supports the hypothesis that given the multiple functions communication channels can serve, individuals use repertoires or groups of overlapping information channels for various purposes. Landowners in three Wisconsin counties were segmented into urbanites, rural nonfarmers, and farmers. We analyzed the frequencies with which these groups used different channels for information regarding conservation. Channel use by the groups differed although the same repertoires were found for each. Predictors of repertoires varied.
Media Effects on Public Understanding of Salmon Recovery: The Role of Information Processing • Keith R. Stamm, Fiona Clark & Marcos Torres, University of Washington • Weak and inconsistent effects have been reported in recent reviews of research on media contributions to public understanding of environmental problems. A random digit dialing (RDD) telephone survey incorporated a new measure of receiver engagement with media content, as well as new measures of public understanding focused on the political and economic dimensions of a regional environmental problem. The study found that the amount of receiver engagement made a significant difference in effects on public understanding.
Science in Cyberspace: An Analysis of Science Web Sites for Girls • Jocelyn Steinke, Western Michigan University • Girls who have little or no contact with women scientists may develop perceptions about science-related careers based partly on media images of women scientists. This study analyzed the content of 27 science Web sites for girls and examined the themes addressed in 166 biographies of women scientists found on these sites. The findings indicate these sites both teach girls about science and present vocational information about careers in science. The biographies focus on issues considered important in influencing girls’ participation in careers in science. These include encouragement from parents, acceptance by male colleagues, and family-friendly workplaces.
Do New Media Messages Mitigate the Effect of Corporate Environmental Ads? A test of source credibility and message balance • John Trent and Jennifer Greer, University of Nevada-Reno • A quasi-experimental design was used to examine factors that influence attitudes toward an environmental advertisement and its sponsoring company. Subjects were shown one of five news stories to test for the effects of news source credibility and message balance. One-sided stories were more effective at causing subjects to critically evaluate “greenwashing” claims than two-sided stories. Source credibility did not influence attitudes, but age, ideology, and experience with gas companies were related to subject attitudes.
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