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."

Ian Wilmut appeared on NPR’s Science Friday this past week to promote his new book and to discuss developments in human cloning. Below are a few highlights from the transcript. […]
Buried in today’s NYTimes Business section is a report on the vote yesterday by the U.S. House to permanently eliminate the estate tax for about 99.7 percent of all families […]
Yesterday Peter Whoriskey of the WPost detailed the weaknesses in the dike surrounding Lake Okeechobee in Florida. If the dike failed, as might happen if a major hurricane hit the […]
Yesterday, the Washington Post’s Dana Milbank detailed the GOP’s effort to frame the debate over a pull out from Iraq, as a decision to “cut and run.” The phrase has […]
I ran across this excellent short ten-minute film highlighting the persistent negative stereotypes of Arabs in Hollywood film and television. Watch it. Definitely worth checking out.According to the film site, […]
In this news release from Focus on the Family, Senator Sam Brownback pushes the SCIENTIFIC UNCERTAINTY frame in arguing against the Spector-Castle ESC bill, claiming that ESC is “speculative” science […]
It’s rare in media coverage to see a focus on the PATENTS/PROPERTY RIGHTS dimension of stem cell research, even though patents are the engine driving research. But this weekend, the […]
The “Economic Competitiveness” frame is one of the dominate ways that proponents of science try to rally public support for investment. Historically, first in the context of the Cold War, […]
What research would I be focused on if I weren’t currently studying the interactions between science, media, and politics? It would have to be the role of the news and […]
Over the weekend, there was a Bigfoot sighting near my parents’ house in Clarence, New York, a suburb of Buffalo. The sighting is complete with the following photograph. See how […]
In 2004 when The Day After Tomorrow hit theaters, I wrote this column evaluating its possible impacts. Later, Anthony Leiserowitz followed with a study appearing in Environment magazine assessing the […]
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 […]
4mins
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.
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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.
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Before the oil spill, the public favored energy exploration and economic development over environmental protection. Six weeks later, that public preference had flipped.
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People tend to self-select themselves into ideological echo chambers, says Nisbet.
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One survey found that 90% of all the information on blogs and independent media sites was repackaged from traditional news sources.
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Nisbet talks about his new blog, which will discuss the intersections of communication, culture, and public affairs.