As new media proliferate and the public's trust and engagement in science are influenced by industry involvement in academic research, an interdisciplinary workshop provides some recommendations to enhance science communication.
This paper reports on a content analysis of science coverage in seven major Canadian daily newspapers. The study focused specifically on the images of science promoted in the media via the topics portrayed more frequently, the patterns of source use, and types of news formats. Also examined were the stories' overall tone, the consequences of science presented, and the ways in which processes of science were described. Underlying these descriptions were the theoretical notions of `agenda-setting' and `framing'. Results showed that science and technology stories were not prominent in terms of their frequency and placement. They tended to be hard news stories—that is, they tended to be event-oriented, time-bound reports—and were more often originated by the wire services rather than by local efforts. The majority were medical stories, followed by environmental items. These science stories were predominantly positive in tone. Consequences portrayed tended to vary with type of story; that is, environmental stories were more likely to highlight negative consequences while stories about new technologies in such areas as communications and defence tended to emphasize positive outcomes. Finally, science stories were more likely not to include information on processes of science. Findings are discussed in terms of the different cultures of scientists and journalists, organizational constraints on media workers, and science as a news product.
Consensus conferences involve a small group of citizens who go through a learning process on a given technological issue, engage experts, and develop an assessment of the key issues they identify as critical. These models of technology assessment, intended to make the process more democratic, have increasingly been used in Europe. This study examines the first application in Canada on the issue of food biotechnology. It examines the consensus conference as a model of public deliberation with specific attention to communication processes.
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