A Study of Science News Framing Regarding Socio-Scientific Issues
Ying-Chun Chen, National Taichung University of Education (Taiwan, Republic of China)
Sung-Tao Lee, National Taichung University of Education (Taiwan, Republic of China)
Abstract
Based on premises that socio-scientific issues (SSI) are one of the appropriate contexts for scientific literacy presentations and framing is related to the process of scientific information descriptions in science news, the purpose of this study is to explore the frames, discourse patterns and layout differences regarding genetic-modified (GM) science news in Taiwan. The popular local news text in Taiwan, United Daily News (UDN) were selected for investigation and the total number of collected articles by keywords finding during 2012 to 2016 was 107. A qualitative approach was adopted and the literature established frames were used to do the content and framing analysis. The results indicate that public accountability is the most used frame in GM science news (21%) in which the government perspective is much higher (59%) than business; followed by the frames of economy and strategy (16%). Within the discourse pattern, a frame package of problem solving was observed (52%) and the science news storyline was generally initiated by the problem caused by GM incidents (internationally or domestically) and a confrontation was proposed followed by the dealing procedures adopted by government or business institutions. Finally, the analysis of layout reveals that GM related stories were often displayed on the evident sections in the newspaper (i.e. focus or life sections) and it is implied that GM related SSI can be potential teaching resources of science education or science communication in Taiwan.