Science, Politics and the Media

By way of the Exploratorium, I found this very informative talk excerpt of Speaking Science 2.0, given in May 2007 by Chris Mooney.



The other speaker who does not appear on this video, Matthew C. Nisbet focuses on the "intersections between science, media and politics", informing on the implications and uses of the concept of "framing", extensively on his Blog: Framing Science.

My line of work is far from politics and the media, but I do apply "re-framing" and constructive intervention in conversational practices: to enhance English language communication pragmatics and skills, operating with Spanish native speakers. I first learned about "re-framing" as a concept-frame/work applied in systems and cognitive sciences, observed it being applied with good results in family therapy and group dynamics, to facilitate cultural and generational change, and foster creativity, amongst other possibilities.

Going back to "Science, Politics and the Media" and with the coming elections in the US and in Spain, together with the ecological issues at stake, the above clip needs to be underscored, in order to generate awareness, demanding: "productive policy action". I live in Asturias region, where these days there is a "low profile" controversy on who is to blame for an oil slick along the Avilés estuary...with the local media seemingly more inclined towards the political controversy they are also "framing", while informing that "probably there will be no investigation outcomes". Understanding: -quote- "no serious legal responsibilities".

Last but not least: "Monkey see, Monkey do" on "Mirror Neurons" by Daniel Glaser, on the Nova Science Now-PBS archives from 2005.