ACS Publications. Most Trusted. Most Cited. Most Read
Entertainment Media Portrayals and Their Effects on the Public Understanding of Science
My Activity

Entertainment Media Portrayals and Their Effects on the Public Understanding of Science

  • Matthew C. Nisbet*
    Matthew C. Nisbet
    School of Communication, American University, 4400 Massachusetts Ave. NW Washington, DC 20016
    Department of Advertising & Public Relations, The University of Texas at Austin, Belo Center for New Media, 300 W. Dean Keeton (A1200), Austin, Texas 78712
    *E-mail: [email protected]
  •  and 
  • Anthony Dudo
    Anthony Dudo
    School of Communication, American University, 4400 Massachusetts Ave. NW Washington, DC 20016
    Department of Advertising & Public Relations, The University of Texas at Austin, Belo Center for New Media, 300 W. Dean Keeton (A1200), Austin, Texas 78712
    More by Anthony Dudo
DOI: 10.1021/bk-2013-1139.ch020
    Publication Date (Web):September 3, 2013
    Copyright © 2013 American Chemical Society.
    Hollywood Chemistry
    Chapter 20pp 241-249
    ACS Symposium SeriesVol. 1139
    ISBN13: 9780841228245eISBN: 9780841228252

    Chapter Views

    556

    Citations

    LEARN ABOUT THESE METRICS

    Chapter Views are the COUNTER-compliant sum of full text article downloads since November 2008 (both PDF and HTML) across all institutions and individuals. These metrics are regularly updated to reflect usage leading up to the last few days.

    Citations are the number of other articles citing this article, calculated by Crossref and updated daily. Find more information about Crossref citation counts.

    Other access options

    Abstract

    For decades members of the scientific community have lamented the state of entertainment media, which they often assume portrays science and scientists negatively and creates public animosity toward science. In this chapter, we review research that provides important context for these longstanding concerns. We first discuss research examining patterns in Hollywood portrayals of scientists and science, which suggest that over the past decade there has been a trend toward ever more positive “hero” portrayals of scientists. We then review research examining the contributions of entertainment media to perceptions of science, highlighting their potential to reinforce beliefs in the promise of science and support for controversial areas of research.

    Read this chapter

    To access this chapter, please review the available access options below.

    Get instant access

    Purchase Access

    Read this chapter for 48 hours. Check out below using your ACS ID or as a guest.

    Recommended

    Access through Your Institution

    You may have access to this chapter through your institution.

    Your institution does not have access to this content. Add or change your institution or let them know you’d like them to include access.