Showing papers by "Dominique Brossard published in 2009"

Religiosity as a perceptual filter: examining processes of opinion formation about nanotechnology

Abstract: Using national survey data, we examine how people use science media, factual knowledge related to nanotechnology, and predispositions such as strength of religious beliefs, to form attitudes about nanotechnology. We show that strength of religious beliefs is negatively related to support for funding of the technology. Our findings also confirm that science media use plays an important role in shaping positive attitudes toward the technology. Overall public support for funding nanotechnology is not directly related to levels of knowledge among the electorate, but on risk and benefits perceptions and the use of media frames. However, knowledge about the technology does tend to be interpreted through the lens of religious beliefs and therefore indirectly affect levels of support.

Socialization or Rewards? Predicting U.S. Scientist-Media Interactions

Abstract: This study investigates scientists as public communicators, with a particular focus on factors that influence scientists' interactions with the mass media. Based on a U.S. survey of scientists, the...

The Soul of a Polarized Democracy: Testing Theoretical Linkages Between Talk and Attitude Extremity During the 2004 Presidential Election

Abstract: This study explores the relationships between discussion networks and the development of extreme attitudes toward stem cell research during the 2004 presidential election. The authors test competing theoretical models that address discrepancies in previous attitude polarization research—whether interpersonal discussion leads to attitude extremity or extremity leads to discussion, within the deliberating American public. Using data from a nationwide mail panel survey carried out between 2002 and 2005, the authors explore within-wave and between-wave causal paths, revealing patterns difficult to discern in cross-sectional survey or lab experimental designs. Our findings show that political talk plays a substantial role in shaping and polarizing attitudes on stem cell research, with discussion in networks composed of like-minded others leading directly to the development of extreme attitudes.

Media, scientific journals and science communication: examining the construction of scientific controversies

Abstract: This paper analyzes the role of the media in the construction of the "water with memory" controversy. It demonstrates that the universality of the canons of the scientific enterprise transcends the scientific publications' domain and can also influence mass media coverage of scientific controversies. Mass media can play a crucial role in scientific controversies. This role goes way beyond acting as secondary sources of news created in the scientific arena. The case study illustrates how media in times of crisis can assume the rhetorical role traditionally imparted to scientific journals, the latter adopting a passionate and sensationalistic approach usually attributed to mass media. The case study demonstrates that mass media's role in science communication cannot be studied in isolation, and that scientific journals and mass media work in interaction in the construction of scientific controversies.

“Split Screens” and “Spin Rooms”: Debate Modality, Post-Debate Coverage, and the New Videomalaise

Abstract: This experimental research examines how different presentation modalities in presidential debates and post-debate spin influence the ability to form evaluations about candidates' character, shape perceptions of their incivility, and alter judgments of political trust and news credibility. Results indicate that these experimental factors work together to encourage character judgments, diminish perceptions of candidate civility, and reduce levels of trust in government. In addition, political talk conditioned experimental effects on perceptions of news credibility, with the adverse effects of split screen presentations concentrated among those who talked about the debate. Thus, the negative effects of “in your face” politics conveyed by the “split-screen” modality appear to be most pronounced among those primed to think about performance and those attuned to politics through interpersonal talk.

News coverage of public health issues: the role of news sources and the processes of news construction.

Abstract: IntroductionConcerns over public health issues have risen considerably as epidemics (such as SARS, West Nile virus, avian flu and H1N1) and personal health problems (such as cancer and diabetes) have attracted increasing attention both from the mass media and from the general public in the last century (1). To the extent that media coverage of complex subject matters often constitutes the most important source of information for lay audiences (2), understanding how news stories about these subjects are constructed is, therefore, a critical step in the assessment of possible public reactions toward issues such as emerging epidemics or new technologies.An important approach to investigating the news construction process is through the examination of news sources. Previous studies have recognized the critical role of news sources in providing context, explanation, and comments for journalists (4-5). The reliance of journalists on sources is particularly exacerbated in complex areas, such as health-related issues, in which a significant amount of specific technical expertise is required (4), and media coverage tends to reflect the perspectives of vocal spokespersons (6).Research on the use of sources in relation to public health issues has mainly focused on the analysis of the distribution of different source categories or on how journalists decide which source to use (7-9). Rarely does research compare the sourcing patterns across different public health issues, although it has been demonstrated that the pattern of source use varied by issues (4). Comparison of media coverage across diseases could help determine whether journalists account for the specifics of each disease or cover the diseases similarly based on professional values and organizational constraints (2,8-9). By using West Nile virus and avian flu as case studies, this study addresses this gap.West Nile virus and avian fluSince it was first isolated in the West Nile province of Uganda in 1937, West Nile virus outbreaks have occurred in portions of Africa, Southern Europe, North America, and Asia. In the U.S., the first human cases of West Nile encephalitis were recorded in 1999. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) surveillance of West Nile virus had reported more than 4,000 cases of human infections by the end of 2002. Surveillance programs and precautionary measures such as chemical spraying have been effective in curbing major outbreaks of West Nile virus. However, because increased infections are normally detected in the summer or early fall, West Nile virus has been permanently established as a seasonal epidemic in North America (15).Avian flu, on the other hand, is a more recent epidemic threat. Since the beginning of the outbreak in 2003, 387 human cases, with 245 fatalities, have been confirmed (16). Although the World Health Organization (WHO) considers the highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza virus to be mainly dangerous to birds, a pandemic among humans is feared to begin should human-to-human infections ever occur. In the United States, this threat has been viewed to be very serious as evident by President Bush's $7.1 billion plan to prepare for the possibility of a flu pandemic.Both epidemic hazards have originated outside the United States and both have potential for a major pandemic. Although avian flu is currently considered the bigger threat, a West Nile virus outbreak has actually occurred in the United States, making it more of a local issue. In 2007, 3,630 human cases, with 124 fatalities were recorded (17). As evident from the number of reported human cases, West Nile virus has affected a large number of U.S. citizens. In contrast, avian flu can be viewed as mainly an international health risk issue.In addition, these two diseases have generated different types of media attention, with West Nile virus having been confirmed as a seasonal disease and being periodically reported in the news, whereas avian flu is still considered a current issue in the media. …

Medialisierung der Wissenschaft und ihre Relevanz für das Verhältnis zur Politik

Abstract: Als eine der zentralen Veränderungen des politischen Prozesses in der modernen "Mediengesellschaft" wird die Mediatisierung oder Medialisierung der Politik angesehen (z.B. Schulz 2006; Imhof et al. 2006; Vowe 2006). Darunter lässt sich ein Bündel von zusammenhängenden Entwicklungen verstehen: die Dominanz der medial konstruierten Wirklichkeit, die hohe Bedeutung der Medien für die Politikvermittlung an die Wählerschaft sowie die Orientierung der Akteure der politischen Kommunikation an der Logik der Medien (Sarcinelli 1998). Zu den Gründen dieser Entwicklung zählen zunächst der von Habermas (1962) beschriebene Strukturwandel der

Effects of Value Predispositions, Mass Media Use, and Knowledge on Public Attitudes Toward Embryonic Stem Cell Research

Abstract: Research on public attitudes toward controversial science seem to be divided between a camp that relies on a ‘scientific literacy model’, which states that increase in public knowledge of science is related to increase in public support, and a camp contending that the ‘miserly’ public will rely on heuristic cues such as value predispositions to form opinions about scientific controversies. In the present study, we argue along the lines of the heuristic–systematic model of information processing that the influences of value predispositions and knowledge on attitude formation can be complementary processes that will supplement cues provided by the media. Using data from a national three-wave panel survey conducted between 2002 and 2005, we examine the influence of value predispositions, news media use, and scientific knowledge on attitudes toward a controversial scientific issue: human embryonic stem cell research in the USA. Public attitudes toward stem cell research were shaped by value predispositions and to a lesser extent, cues from the news media. Scientific knowledge played a minor role in influencing attitude toward stem cell research. Religiosity, ideology, and deference to scientific authority moderated the effect that scientific knowledge had on support for stem cell research, with knowledge having a weaker effect on attitudes for the conservatives, and those individuals high on religious beliefs and low on deference to scientific authority.