Media presentation and public understanding of stem cells and stem cell research in Hungary

Abstract

This paper reports on a research project which examined media coverage and audience perceptions of stem cells and stem cell research in Hungary, using focus groups and a media analysis. A background study was also conducted on the Hungarian legal, social and political situation linked to stem cell research, treatment and storage. Our data shows how stem cell research/treatments were framed by the focus group members in terms of medical results/cures and human interest stories -mirroring the dominant frames utilized by the Hungarian press. The spontaneous discourse on stem cells in the groups involved a non-political and non-controversial understanding -also echoing the dominant presentation of the media. Comparing our results with those of a UK study, we found that although there are some similarities, UK and Hungarian focus group participants framed the issue of stem cell research differently in many respects -and these differences often echoed the divergences of the media coverage in the two countries. We conclude by arguing against approaches which attribute only negligible influence to the media -especially in the case of complex scientific topics and when the dominant information source for the public is the media.

GM Crops in Hungary: Comparing Mass Media Framing and Public Understanding of Technoscientific Controversy

“…A comparison of the results to my earlier findings on the media representation of stem cell research and treatment (Vicsek, 2011;Vicsek & Gergely, 2011) also shows that similarly to what was found in many other countries (Bauer, 2005a), in Hungary too a difference could be seen in the applied media frames for red and green biotechnology, with negative frames utilized more often in the case of green biotechnology.…”

“…Although participants claimed that the media was their dominant information source, and had the general impression that GM was connected in the media to food issues and was presented as something negative, many participants had a hard time mobilizing concrete news stories -especially at the beginning of the debate. I argued that several factors which according to the literature can limit the successful functioning of the media content as a resource (Gamson, 1992;Henderson & Kitzinger, 1999;Vicsek, 2011;Vicsek & Gergely, 2011) could be observed in the case of the GM issue. These factors included: the low salience of the media coverage -with especially marginal coverage in some media outlets, dominance of a news format which has a low capability to engage the public, nature of the coverage, a low level of interest of the participants in the topic as a whole and in some of its aspects, low resonance of some aspects of the topic with wider cultural themes that are popular among the public.…”

“…Soft news articles focusing for example on human interest stories might draw the attention more than hard news dealing with political issues (Henderson & Kitzinger, 1999;Vicsek, 2011;Vicsek & Gergely, 2011). A public that is interested in post-material issues might engage more with environmental issues of the GM media reportage, than publics which are of material orientation, such as the Hungarian public (Inglehart & Welzel, 2005;Karácsony, 2001).…”

“…As the diffusion of the media representation into media outlets was uneven, consumers of certain media outlets were able to receive even less information. The GM topic appeared in the Hungarian press almost exclusively in the form of hard news, which often engages members of the public less (Henderson & Kitzinger, 1999;Vicsek, 2011;Vicsek & Gergely, 2011).…”

“…A public that is interested in post-material issues might engage more with environmental issues of the GM media reportage, than publics which are of material orientation, such as the Hungarian public (Inglehart & Welzel, 2005;Karácsony, 2001). Particular kinds of new outlets might also reach different segments of the public (Henderson & Kitzinger, 1999;Vicsek, 2011;Vicsek & Gergely, 2011).…”