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Hyping biomedical research : the variations of scientific sensationalism in Anglo-American press coverage of therapeutic cloning
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Jensen, Eric (2009) Hyping biomedical research : the variations of scientific sensationalism in Anglo-American press coverage of therapeutic cloning. In: American Sociological Association Annual Meeting 2009, San Francisco, 8-11 Aug 2009 (Unpublished)
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Abstract
This study examines the production and content of press coverage of therapeutic cloning in the US and Britain from 1997 to 2006. The sample includes 5,128 articles drawn from 19 news publications, as well as 18 qualitative interviews with journalists and editors. Data analysis was conducted in two phases, using both grounded methodology and sociological discourse analysis. The results coalesced around the theme of Hype. However, there was significant variation in the valence, relative distribution and quality of the hype found across the US, UK tabloid and UK broadsheet samples. The elite press in the UK and science advocacy publications in both countries evinced a strong bias towards utopian framing, hyping the imminence and certainty of forthcoming therapeutic cloning cures. Meanwhile, a dualistic pattern of both utopianism and equally excessive dystopianism was visible in the American press and British tabloid newspapers. Such patterns of scientific hype in Anglo-American journalism can be directly attributed to the processes of news production, which encourage sensationalism at the expense of the quality of debate over scientific issues in the public sphere.
Item Type: | Conference Item (Paper) | ||||
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Subjects: | H Social Sciences > HE Transportation and Communications H Social Sciences > HM Sociology |
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Divisions: | Faculty of Social Sciences > Sociology | ||||
Official Date: | 8 August 2009 | ||||
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Status: | Not Peer Reviewed | ||||
Publication Status: | Unpublished | ||||
Conference Paper Type: | Paper | ||||
Title of Event: | American Sociological Association Annual Meeting 2009 | ||||
Type of Event: | Conference | ||||
Location of Event: | San Francisco | ||||
Date(s) of Event: | 8-11 Aug 2009 |
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