Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 15, 2026

Microbial Communities in Nature and Laboratory - Interview
Published on: May 28, 2007
The media and the public opinion on genetics and biotechnology: mirrors, windows, or walls?
Abstract:
Arguments regarding the relationship between media discourse and public opinion have raged for decades, if not centuries. COmparing media coverage of biotechnology between 1992 and 2001 in two national newspapers with national survey data collected in early 2003, an argument is made that a general one-dimensional media effect is not occurring within the US public regarding media discourse. Given the multivalent characteristics of the media and the interpretive filters used by audiences - including ignoring information - even strong slants by the presumed opinion-leading press (the New York Times and the Washington Post) do not predict public opinion on a nascent issue such as biotechnology. While some observations show these mirrors to be ephemeral.
Related Concept Videos
Genetic Screens
Forward genetic screens
Forward or “classical” genetic screens involve creating random mutations in an organism’s DNA using radiation, mutagens, or insertion of additional bases, which result in visible changes...
What is Genetic Engineering?
Genetic Material
Genomic Imprinting and Inheritance
The expression of some genes depends on which parent passed the gene to the offspring, through a phenomenon known as...
Genome Size and the Evolution of New Genes
Genome Size and the Evolution of New Genes

