Localized Debates of Agricultural Biotechnology in Community Newspapers: A Quantitative Content Analysis of Media Frames and Sources

Abstract

This research is a quantitative content analysis of agricultural biotechnology coverage appearing in a collection of community newspapers in Northern California and Missouri between 1992 and 2004. It examines the similarities and differences in news media frames used to focus the debate at the local level, and evaluates the frequency and range of dominant political and social actors as news sources. Newspaper coverage in some community newspapers frames the story in more complex and diverse ways and includes a wider range of voices than has been reported in studies of coverage in the national, elite press. Oppositional viewpoints exist in some local newspapers, perhaps more so than in national news.

GM Crops in Hungary: Comparing Mass Media Framing and Public Understanding of Technoscientific Controversy

“…Some authors within the field of science and technology studies (STS) have argued that technoscience issues present a special case with respect to the role of the media. Crawley (2007) has emphasized that media frames might be more relevant in determining PUS in the case of topics where lay people gather most of their information from the media -in contrast to topics with which they have personal experience or which they discuss with others.…”

“…The European Commission (2009) has lately also stressed that the views of the public need to be taken into account. In addition to the study of public understanding of GM it can also be relevant to study the media framing, as the media can potentially be an important source of information for the public on science and technology issues (Crawley, 2007).…”

O governo e a mídia na configuração do macroambiente para os biocombustíveis líquidos no Brasil

“…O uso de uma lista de palavras-chave é frequentemente utilizado, como pode ser visto em Vincent (2006), Crawley (2007) e Singh, Hu e Roehl (2007). O primeiro passo para construir uma estrutura específica esteve relacionado à definição das dimensões macroambientais a serem utilizadas.…”

The Macro-Environment for Liquid Biofuels in German Science, Mass Media and Government

“…A list of words is often used for this purpose, as can be seen in Crawley (2007). The first step to build the specific structure is associated to the definition of the macro-environmental dimensions.…”