Science Communication

This study examined the framing of genetically modified organisms in two American newspapers, The New York Times and the Washington Post (2000-2016) and tested the impact of risk and opportunity framing on attitudes and behaviors regarding genetically modified organisms. The content analysis (N = 165) showed that the two newspapers did not have a dominant frame type in their coverage. A randomized three-condition experiment (N = 182) showed that the type of framing significantly affected individuals’ attitudes and was able to change them. The type of framing affected individuals’ behavioral intentions through postexposure attitudes but was not able to significantly affect actual behavior.

We evaluated the short-term effects of transportation on efficacy beliefs and risk perceptions after exposure to a climate change documentary. Data were collected in randomized laboratory (N = 624) and online (N = 1,391) experiments. Participants watched one episode of Years of Living Dangerously or a control video. Regression analyses assessed whether narrative transportation and/or political affiliation were predictive of outcomes. Transportation and political affiliation were significantly associated with efficacy beliefs and risk perceptions (p < .001). A significant transportation by political party interaction for efficacy beliefs (p < .01) and risk perceptions (p < .01) indicated that cross-party differences could be mitigated by higher levels of transportation.

Relying on a multimethod approach with eye tracking, cued retrospective reporting, and a memory test, this experimental study (N = 45) shows how individuals engage with static, interactive, and interactive-animated data visualizations embedded in online science news. The results suggest that interactivity and animation engage participants most strongly: The second part of the news article is fixated the longest by participants exposed to the interactive-animated visualization, which translates into higher learning outcomes. However, the dynamic process of news reception requires a nuanced understanding of how users attend to visual and textual parts of a message to make informed statements about their effectiveness.