Scientific consensus on manmade global warming: think tank influence on public opinion through news media

<p>This study examined the influence of think tanks, in the news media, on public opinion of what most scientists believe about the cause of global warming.</p> <p>The researcher performed a content analysis on two national newspapers spanning May through July, 2006, the three months surrounding the U.S. release of <em>An Inconvenient Truth</em>, to determine whether papers of differing political ideology provided different amounts of context concerning the global warming scientific consensus. The data were tabulated using Microsoft Excel. Experimental research was also conducted using 103 undergraduate Rowan University public relations and public relations and advertising majors to determine if articles with less context caused confusion in subjects regarding their perception of the scientific consensus on manmade global warming.</p> <p>The findings showed that think tanks were used as experts only sparingly. However, articles claiming that global warming is a natural phenomenon were found to provide less context than articles claiming that global warming is manmade. The experimental research showed that subjects were most uncertain about global warming after reading an article with very little context.</p>

Name thesis:degree_name

M.A. in Public Relations

Level thesis:degree_level

Thesis

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Public Relations & Advertising

Year dc:date.available

2008

Author dc:creator

• Howe, Greg

Contributors dc:contributor

• Basso, Joseph

• Global warming--Public opinion; Mass media and public opinion
• Public Relations and Advertising

Repository record dc:identifier

https://rdw.rowan.edu/etd/695

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:rdw.rowan.edu:etd-1718