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2. Examining the impact of expert voices: communicating the scientific consensus on genetically-modified organisms
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Landrum, Asheley R. (author), Hallman, William K. (author), and Jamieson, Kathleen Hall (author)
- Format:
- Online journal article
- Publication Date:
- 2019
- Published:
- Taylor & Francis
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 34 Document Number: D10695
- Journal Title:
- Environmental Communication
- Journal Title Details:
- 13(1): 51-70
- Notes:
- 21 pages., via online journal., Scholars are divided over whether communicating to the public the existence of scientific consensus on an issue influences public acceptance of the conclusions represented by that consensus. Here, we examine the influence of four messages on perception and acceptance of the scientific consensus on the safety of genetically modified organisms (GMOs): two messages supporting the idea that there is a consensus that GMOs are safe for human consumption and two questioning that such a consensus exists. We found that although participants concluded that the pro-consensus messages made stronger arguments and were likely to be more representative of the scientific community’s attitudes, those messages did not abate participants’ concern about GMOs. In fact, people’s premanipulation attitudes toward GMOs were the strongest predictor of of our outcome variables (i.e. perceived argument strength, post-message GMO concern, perception of what percent of scientists agree). Thus, the results of this study do not support the hypothesis that consensus messaging changes the public’s hearts and minds, and provide more support, instead, for the strong role of motivated reasoning.
3. Objectivity as trained judgment: how environmental reporters pioneered journalism for a "post-truth" era
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Fahy, Declan (author)
- Format:
- Journal article
- Publication Date:
- 2018
- Published:
- International
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 136 Document Number: D11416
- Journal Title:
- Environmental Communication
- Journal Title Details:
- 12(7) : 855-861
- Notes:
- 8 pages., Online via UIUC Library electronic subscription., The author of this commentary argued that environmental journalism offers a conceptual model and guide to action for all journalists in the "post-truth" and "post-fact" era. "Since the specialism was formed in the 1960s, environmental journalists have reported on politically partisan issues where facts are contested, expertise is challenged, and uncertainty is heightened. To deal with these and other challenges, environmental journalism ... has reassessed and reconfigured the foundational journalistic concept of objectivity. The specialism has come to view objectivity as the implementation of a transparent method, as the pluralistic search for consensus, and, most importantly, as trained judgment."