Matthew C. Nisbet

Matthew C. Nisbet

Associate Professor of Communication, Northeastern University

Matthew C. Nisbet, Ph.D. is Associate Professor of Communication Studies, Public Policy, and Urban Affairs  at Northeastern University. Nisbet studies the role of communication and advocacy in policymaking and public affairs, focusing on debates over over climate change, energy, and sustainability. Among awards and recognition, Nisbet has been a Visiting Shorenstein Fellow on Press, Politics, and Public Policy at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government, a Health Policy Investigator at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and a Google Science Communication Fellow. In 2011, the editors at the journal Nature recommended Nisbet's research as “essential reading for anyone with a passing interest in the climate change debate,” and the New Republic highlighted his work as a “fascinating dissection of the shortcomings of climate activism."

In my latest Science and the Media web column at Skeptical Inquirer Online, I take a look at the current debate over re-investment in nuclear energy as a means to […]
Revolutions in communication technology and digital media have transformed almost every sector of society, altering the way we express ideas, participate in public debates, connect with others, entertain ourselves, and […]
5 min
New models for media and better media literacy are important but not enough; we need to reexamine our public institutions, from local to federal levels.
5 min
Atheists honed their online chops earlier than most religious bloggers, but church-goers have the advantage of large non-virtual communities that can be leveraged on the Internet.
2 min
Before the oil spill, the public favored energy exploration and economic development over environmental protection. Six weeks later, that public preference had flipped.
3 min
People tend to self-select themselves into ideological echo chambers, says Nisbet.
5 min
One survey found that 90% of all the information on blogs and independent media sites was repackaged from traditional news sources.