The Media and Nanotechnology

Public discourse and newspapers:building meanings about nanotechnology

Valeria delle Cave, Ph.D. Student Science and SocietyEmail: valeria.dellecave@gmail.com

ProMiNaS Workshop, Minatec, Grenoble, 15-17 September 2009

Outline

Introduction: communication, the mediaThe public discourse: the risk of nanotechnologyThe press coverage of nanotechnology: an overview3 European case studies: Le Figaro (France), La Repubblica (Italy), The Irish Times (Ireland)

Nanotechnology is...

Please, write on your paper the sentence you agree with most:...the new scientific frontier of quest for knowledge...the pillars of a revolution and the beginning of a new era...the opportunity for a new business...a dangerous technology, so that biotech looks insignificant...innovation of national interest

Communication

Communication is a process of transferring information:

is the place where meanings are produced

is the place where social actors interact in multidirectional way

The MediaThe media are tools of communication to a wide public:

different media: newspapers, books, radio, television, web...

people can use the media to deliver messages: partecipation in the public sphere → focus on public discourse

the media can choose the message to deliver: setting the public agenda → focus on media content

Public discourse

Bill Joy, “Why the future doesn't need us” (Wired, Sept 2000)

Nanorobots: “can self-replicate” Molecular electronics: “By 2030, we are likely to be able to build machines... a million times as powerful as the personal computers of today... how seriously dangerous a human can be "once transformed into an unbounded superintelligent-robot.” ... the robots will eventually succeed us -that humans clearly face extinction.”Nanotechnology: “has clear military and terrorist uses”

Nanorobots like a scientific controversy

Eric Drexler, Engine of creation: the coming era of Nanotechnology, 1986:

Replicating assemblers and gray-goo scenario:

“They could spread like blowing pollen, replicate swiftly, and reduce the biosphere to dust in a matter of days. Dangerous replicators could easily be too tough, small, and rapidly spreading to stop”

Richard Smalley, “Of Chemistry, Love and Nanobots”, Scientific American, Sept. 2001:

“Self replicating, mechanical nanobots are simply not possible in our world. To put every atom in its place... would require magic fingers. Such a nanobot will never become more than a futurist’s daydream.”

Nanorobots like a possible future

“Walking Small”, Technology Review, MIT, 1 March, 2002

Nano walker: “Led by researcher Sylvain Martel, the group is developing a fleet of thumb-sized robots that... will ableto measure and assemble structures at a molecular level... They'll be used to create molecular materials and for DNA research.”

“Nanotech takes a giant step down!” (www.etcgroup.org, 6th of March, 2002)

MIT: “Nano Walker”UC Berkley: “Squads of roboflies”Kraft Foods, nano-capsules in beveragesDepartment of Defense interestsNano-market: 1 trillion dollars by 2015World Summit on Sustainable Development, Johannesburg, Aug2002

“If governments don’t address it there, we could find ourselves dealing with social and environmental issues that will make biotech look insignificant”

“Mind the gap”: science and ethics in nanotechnology

(Nanotechnology, Feb. 2003)Anisa Mnyusiwalla et al., Joint research centre for bioethics, University of Toronto, Canada :“In August 2002, at the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg, an organization called ETC held several workshops calling for a moratorium on the deployment of nanomaterials... As the science of NT leaps ahead, the ethics lags behind. Activist groups have appropriately identified this gap, and begun to exploit it. We believe that there is a danger of derailing nanotechnology if serious study of its ethical, environmental, economic, legal and social implications does not reach the speed of progress in the science”

Prince Charles, April 2003

Very close to NGO Friends of the EarthETC Group ReportStatement of concernMedia coverage in UKGovernment of Tony BlairRoyal Society and Royal Academy of Engineering

European Commission, 2004: first risk analysis of nanotechnology

Nanotoxicology: “We propose that a new category of toxicology –namely nanotoxicology- be defined to address gaps in knowledge and to specifically address the special problems likely to be caused by nanoparticles” (Donaldson et al, Occupation Environmental Medicine, 2004, 61, 727-728)

coverage of nanotechnology

British Newspaper Press

Anderson et al., “The framing of Nanotechnology in the British Newspaper Press”, Science Communication, 2005; 27

From the 1st of April 2003 to the 30th of June 2004

Coverage concentrated in a relative small number of elite newspapers: The Guardian, The Times, The Financial Times, The Indipendent...

Well-educated public

“Prince Charles' s interest” was the focus between April and June 2003, involving other actors: Tony Blair and Lord Sainsbury (Science Minister) and ETC Group

Most popular frames are: “Scientific Discovery”, “Science Fiction”, and “Business Story”

Coverage in American Press

Lewenstein et al., “The salience of small: Nanotechnology coverage in the American Press, 1986-2004”, International Communication Association Conference, 26-30 May 2005

From the 1st of January 1986 to the 30th of June 2004

New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal and Associated Press

Well-educated public

Attention to nanotechnology began in 1998, rising quickly in 2003

Coverage is overwhelmingly positive, with emphasis on applications and the economic potential of nanotechnology

Risk stories are a small part, and not always negative

The vast majority of articles tend to frame nanotechnology in terms of progress and economic prospects.

Danish Newpapers

Kjærgaard, “Making a small country count: nanotechnology in Danish newspapers from 1996 to 2006”, Public Understanding of Science, 2008

From the 1st of January 1996 to the 30th of June 2006

Concentration of articles in opinion making newspapers

Well-educated public

Trend coverage rises in the period 2000-2005

From 1996 to 2002: “scientific discovery” frame was the most prominent

From 2004 to june 2006: “science and technology policy” frame was dominant

“There was a general consensus that nanotechnology should... play a crucial role in making Denemark among the most competitive knowledge-based economies in the world”

Other European newspapers, 2000-2007

The Irish Times coverage0

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Le Figaro coverage0

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La Repubblica coverage0

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Researched years: 2000, 2004, 2006, 2007Nanotechnology foreground stories are a small percentageUniversity scientists and science institutions are the most mentioned actors, with entrepeneurs and policy makers.Coverage increasing trend is due to important local events: national research initiative (2004-2005, France), government elections (2006, Italy), business event (2004, Ireland)Risk stories are very few

The Irish Times Le Figaro La Repubblica0

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foregroundbackground

Nanotechnology is unfamiliar to the public

Abundance of definitions:“a nanometre is a billionth of metre”“Scientists are manipulating materials at the nano scale, where objects are produced and mesured in the billionths of a metre across”“la nanotecnologia lavora su una grandezza di 10 alla meno nove, un miliardesimo di metro”“discipline la manipulation de la matière à l'échelle nanométrique, le milliardième de mètre”

Framing nanotechnology, building meanings

Advance and discovery: “...scientists who will push the frontiers of the most sophisticated technology known” (The Irish Times)“...les piliers qui soutiendront nos progès contre le cancer” (Le Figaro)Business opportunity: “La capacità di produrre nuovi materiali offre l'opportunità di aggredire nuovi mercati” (La Repubblica)

Conclusions

Scientists have a key role in communicating nanotechnology, but they are not the only onesMedia coverage is positiveBut there is a risk discourse as wellCommunication is a construction of meaning and a place of interaction among different social actors