Presenting science news: Issues of content, communication modality, and balance

This dissertation focuses on various aspects of the issue of public understanding of science, especially as it relates to the question of presenting science through the mass media. Specifically it consists of two separate studies, both of which focus on different facets of journalistic coverage of science. The first study is a longitudinal content analysis of science news reporting in three major daily newspapers, The New York Times, The Chicago Tribune , and The Washington Post, during the last three decades. It was found that although science articles represent only a small percentage of the total number of articles printed, this percentage steadily increased with each time period. The results also show that, at least in the newspapers analyzed, science coverage did not differ substantially in terms of the range of topics covered or in information that had been both included and omitted from science news accounts. Although there were some differences between articles appearing in the different time frames, in general science news reporting had not changed significantly in terms of the comprehensiveness of accounts. An especially significant finding is that articles frequently omitted methodological and contextual information, features most often mentioned as critical for a complete journalistic account of science. The second study described is an experimental investigation that examines the impact of communication modality, as well as the effect of including balancing testimony, in a science news story. Furthermore, it examines the impact of these features in a journalistic account of pseudoscience or more specifically, a news story focusing on the likelihood of UFOs and alien abductions. The results show that there was no significant effect of either communication modality or the presence of balancing testimony on individuals\u27 beliefs. That is, participants who read or viewed news stories that were either unbalanced or that contained balancing testimony that disconfirmed the existence of alien abductions showed little change from their preexisting beliefs regarding these phenomena. The framework of belief perseverance and the biased assimilation effect is discussed as a way of understanding these null findings

A ciência na primeira página: análise das capas de três jornais brasileiros Science on the front page: an analysis of the covers of three Brazilian newspapers

Diversos estudos se dedicaram a compreender como temas relacionados a ciência e tecnologia (C&T) são cobertos pela mídia, mas poucos analisaram a presença desses temas na primeira página dos jornais. Neste estudo, fizemos uma análise de conteúdo das chamadas de capa relativas a temas de C&T veiculadas em 2006, em um jornal de elite nacional (Folha de S.Paulo) e dois jornais regionais (Jornal do Commercio, de Pernambuco, e Zero Hora, do Rio Grande do Sul). Observamos que os três jornais, embora com intensidade diferente, deram espaço a C&T na capa. Folha de S.Paulo levou o tema às capas com maior frequência, ao passo que Zero Hora foi o jornal que lhe deu mais destaque na capa.<br>Many studies have tried to understand how the media covers topics related to science and technology (S&T) but few have examined the presence of these topics on the front pages of newspapers. This study analyzes the content of front-page leads about S&T in 2006, focusing on one elite national paper (Folha de S.Paulo) and two regional papers (Jornal do Commercio, from Pernambuco, and Zero Hora, from Rio Grande do Sul). It was noted that all three papers devoted front-page space to S&T, although to differing degrees. Folha de S.Paulo featured the topic more often, while Zero Hora highlighted it the most on its front pages

The coverage of science in television news programs in Brazil and Colombia: a comparative study of media constructs

This study analyzes and compares the science and technology coverage in Brazil's main television news program (Jornal Nacional) and its Colombian counterpart (Noticias Caracol). Using content analysis, we investigated a corpus of news stories broadcast from April 2009 to March 2010. We found that Jornal Nacional presented over twice as many reports on science and technology as Noticias Caracol, and that its levels of reporting remained fairly stable throughout the year. The Brazilian reports were also longer, were featured more prominently, and used more visual resources. Even so, some similarities were found: news about health and medicine was most frequent; the reports focused primarily on announcing new research; scientists were the main sources cited; and national research was prioritized