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Making a small country count:: nanotechnology in Danish newspapers from 1996 to 2006

Rikke Schmidt Kjærgaard, Ph.D., University of Aarhus, Department of Molecular Biology, Gustav Wieds Vej 10C, DK-8000 Aarhus C, Denmark.

^* To whom correspondence should be addressed.

	Abstract

This article presents the results of a content study of how nanotechnology has been framed in Danish national newspapers by taking a random sample of 250 articles published between 1996 and 2006 from a population of 1,062 articles. The articles were analyzed for "dominant frame" and "dominant tone" with respect to risks and benefits of nanotechnology. The findings demonstrate a remarkable positive tone in the articles with a ratio of ten to one in favor of "benefits outweigh risks" versus "risks outweigh benefits." Using data from this content study the author analyzes patterns of newspaper attention and framing. The data are used in a comparative study to challenge simplistic narratives of general similarities and differences between European and US contexts, making a claim for paying more attention to local cultural and national contexts in studies of media coverage of emerging technologies.

First published on November 17, 2008
Public Understanding of Science 2008, doi:10.1177/0963662508093090


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