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The article includes an audio recording of the full interview. Photo courtesy of the UCSD School of Medicine.
| Media Outlets Fumble The Gene When Reporting Science News |
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| Science - Genetics & Genome | |||
| TS-Si News Service | |||
| Sunday, 07 September 2008 16:30 | |||
Oslo, Norway. Ask this basic question to the next 10 people you meet at random: What is a gene? Chances are that most of the answers will either reflect a dated understanding of science or ignore science altogether. It comes as no surprise that media outlets fumble the subject when faced with science news, using various ways to frame the concept of a gene.
The scientific definition of a gene is subject to nuance, depending on the context, but does have a specific and unifying undercurrent. Simply put, a "gene is a packet of information located in a region of the genome that corresponds to a unit of inheritance (but not the totality of inheritance …)". [C1] The totality of inheritance depends on DNA in various forms and combinations. [C2]
Frame that gene. A tool for analysing and classifying the communication of genetics to the public. Rebecca Carver, Ragnar Waldahl & Jarle Breivik. EMBO reports 9(10) October 2008. doi: 10.1038 / embor.2008.176 ISSN 1469-221x.
However, a new study that appears in EMBO reports examines newspaper reports from two highly literate democracies, the United Kingsom and Norway, finding that scientific literacy is still an elusive quality. The researchers were a molecular biologist, a media expert and a PhD student in science communication from the University of Oslo (Norway).
"The common understanding of scientific topics is increasingly important because the public is more and more able to influence policy-making on scientific issues and thus the funding and even the nature of research itself", explained Rebecca Carver from the Institute of Basic Medical Sciences (IMB) at the University of Oslo and the first author of the study.
The study, Frame that gene [C3], is based on the analysis of 300 articles in British and Norwegian newspapers: The Guardian, The Sun and The Daily Mail (UK); and Aftenposten, Dagbladet, and VG (Norway).
The analysis shows that journalists present the term 'gene' — either consciously or subconsciously — using a number of different frames that may invoke various prejudiced images in the reader's mind. The authors identified frames of reference ("gene frames") in different types of media. For example,
"Such a diversity of meanings presents a key challenge to science communications, so both scientists and journalists could benefit from a clear classification of the polysemy," the paper argues. That statement alone requires further elaboration.
Polysemy is a fundamental concept within the social sciences (including linguistics and media studies). Derived from the Greek πολυσημεία ("multiple meaning"), it refers to the capacity for a sign (e.g., a word, phrase, etc.) or signs to have multiple meanings that occupy a large semantic field (sememes).
The authors hope their approach will be a useful tool for journalists and scientists to improve their explanations of genetics for a broader public audience. Ferocious debates on genetically modified crops or stem cell research illustrate the importance that genetics and molecular biology have gained in everyday life.
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| Last Updated on Sunday, 07 September 2008 09:53 |
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