Cook G (author), Pieri E (author), Robbins P T (author), and Economic and Social Research Council, United Kingdom
Format:
Research report
Publication Date:
2004
Published:
UK: University of Reading
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 141 Document Number: C21642
Notes:
13 pages, The research aims to analyse the language and discourse of the debate over GM crops and food during February-July 2003. This period is expected by all sides to be one of renewed controversy and interest in the UK, with a government initiated national debate, discussion of the GM crop field trial results, and reconsideration of the current moratorium on commercial cultivation. Although it is impossible to predict either the exact course or duration of the debate, it is certain to provide a wealth of material for research into the impact of stakeholders' communication strategies upon public trust and understanding. Recently, the GM debate has generated a great deal of research and publication. The proposed project, however, is distinctive for its attention to the language and discourse of the debate, and for its combination of linguistic and sociological methodology. The GM debate brings together scientific, ethical, political and social concerns. Each perspective has its own discourse, and this in itself can be a source of misunderstanding and disagreement. The research will focus less upon the content of the debate, as other research has done, and more upon the forms in which it is expressed, as well as ways in which it is framed by its actors. It will explore how styles of argument, metaphors and analogies, phrases and single words can change in meaning and effect when they cross discoursal boundaries. As such, it will make a unique contribution to understanding of the public debate, and be of value and relevance to all stakeholders, interested academics, and society in general. More generally it will provide insights into the communication of controversial new technology and the responses of both public, media, and policy makers. For this purpose, the project will collect, analyse and relate three datasets. The first will be an electronically stored corpus of newspaper articles and public statements by major stakeholders (such as NGOs, government, and biotechnology companies). This first datatset can be automatically analysed using current corpus linguistic software to reveal frequent word choices and combinations. The second dataset will be transcripts of interviews with representatives of major stakeholder organisations about the factors governing their choices of language and strategies of argumentation. This second dataset will be coded using software for qualitative analysis, to reveal recurrent themes and opinions. The third dataset will be transcriptions of six focus groups, meeting on two occasions each, in which participants react to the language choices and communicative styles of selected extracts from dataset one. Focus groups have been chosen for the depth which they allow in the exploration of views and opinions among targeted groups with a particular relation to the topic. In our research each group identity will relate to one area of the debate, as follows: parents of young children (diet and health); charity volunteers (ethical concerns); students in higher education (long term effects); birdwatchers (biodiversity); farmers (consequences for agriculture); temporary UK residents from poor countries (effect on crop nutrition and yield). The intention is not to provide a survey of opinion, of which many already exist, nor to duplicate the existing focus-group literature on public responses to GM, but to provide new evidence of the discoursal sources of conflict and mistrust. This third dataset will also be coded for themes and arguments. This research will elucidate the actual (rather than presumed) effect of styles of argument on public perceptions and trust, thus complimenting and deepening existing understanding.
Kalaitzandonakes, Nicholas (author), Marks, Leonie A. (author), and Mooney, Sian (author)
Format:
Book chapter
Publication Date:
2002
Published:
International
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Document Number: C21702
Notes:
Pages 205-215 in Vittorio Santaniello, Robert E. Evenson and David Zilberman (eds.), Market development for genetically modified foods. CABI Publishing, Oxon, United Kingdom. 318 pages.
Kalaitzandonakes, Nicholas (author), Marks, Leonie A. (author), Allison, Kevin (author), and Zakharova, Ludmila (author)
Format:
Book chapter
Publication Date:
2002
Published:
International
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Document Number: C21703
Notes:
Pages 217-225 in Vittorio Santaniello, Robert E. Evenson and David Zilberman (eds.), Market development for genetically modified foods. CABI Publishing, Oxon, United Kingdom. 318 pages.
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Document Number: C21755
Notes:
Pages 169-187 in Robert E.Evenson and Vittorio Santaniello (eds.), Consumer acceptance of genetically modified foods. CABI Publishing, Oxon, United Kingdom. 235 pages.
International Food Information Council (author) and International Food Information Council, Washington, D.C.
Format:
Research report
Publication Date:
2004-03
Published:
USA
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 142 Document Number: C21921
Notes:
Executive Summary, 8 pages., Fifth in a series of snapshots of media coverage of food news. Compares leading food-related topics from 1995 through 2003.
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 143 Document Number: C22269
Notes:
Science and Development Network. 2 pages., Summarizes results of a survey of media coverage relating to genetically modified crops in five developing countries. Reports that "news stories often lack critical analysis of the issues at stake, and rarely represent the views of farmers."
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Document Number: C22592
Notes:
Posted at: http://www.foodproductiondaily.com/news/printNewsBis.asp?id=61508, Online from foodproductiondaily.com 3 pages., Urges food industry not to dismiss studies that seem "scientifically flawed." "It is simply not good enough - ever - to fall back on seeing only what we want to see." The process should not be driven by reports in mass media.
Features the framing of articles, sources used by reporters and the differences between genetics as they relate to food and to medicine. Found that scientists and medical issues were much more likely to be framed as progressive than were articles on food or ones in which government officials were quoted. Also analyzed articles pertaining to protests and demonstrations between 2000 and 2001.
2 pages, "In fact, it might be argued that this is one of those rare stories that ends with everyone looking good - the government for enacting the new law, the food manufacturers for responding to consumer pressure, and the media for bringing an under-exposed danger to light"
Thomson, Joan S. (author) and Kramer, Victoria L. (author)
Format:
Research paper
Publication Date:
2006-02-04
Published:
USA
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 149 Document Number: C24004
Notes:
26 p. Paper presented at the Southern Association of Agricultural Scientists' 103rd annual meeting in Orlando, Fla. [Agricultural Communications Section].
USA: University of Illinois Press, Chicago, Illinois.
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Document Number: C24040
Notes:
304 pages., Insights into the economic, political and industrial forces that shaped documentaries during American television's first sustained period of muckraking, between 1960 and 1975. Includes the documentary, "Harvest of Shame."
Solomon, Norman (author) and Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting, New York City, New York.
Format:
Commentary
Publication Date:
2006-05-16
Published:
USA
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 151 Document Number: C24433
Notes:
Retrieved July 7, 2006, Media Beat. 2 pages., Author discusses the limitations of journalistic work related to hunger throughout the world. "Journlism can't answer those questions. But journalism should ask them."
Solomon, Norman (author) and Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting, New York City, New York.
Format:
Commentary
Publication Date:
2005-11-23
Published:
USA
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 151 Document Number: C24434
Notes:
Retrieved July 7, 2006, Media Beat. 2 pages., "Today, some people have bountiful tables while others have very little. On the rhetorical surface, Thanksgiving marks a time of appreciation. But meanwhile, most of all, media outlets encourage us to buy - and forget."
USA: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Washington, D.C.
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 152 Document Number: C24613
Notes:
Retrieved August 2, 2006, Chapter 6 of a 269-page guide. 8 pages., Resources for media about threats involving international contamination of food products, risks from foodborne illnesses, and new systems for information sharing and reporting.
