Fresh Politics, New Media

Yesterday, The Onion , America's Finest News Source posted a serious of tweets and a satirical article  about members of Congress taking school children hostage in the US Capitol. The article also featured a doctored photo (see below) and a short video clip. While the story was obviously fake, the article and the tweets in particular have captured the attention of the mainstream media. For example, here's some   commentary from The Washington Post  and an article in today's New York Times . In addition, the Capitol Police is now investigating the situation and The Onion 's false reports of the attack.  The Onion 's reach on Twitter, (the satirical outlet had over 3 million followers as of August 2011 according to a report by Mashable ) may explain much of the attention. Especially when you compare The Onion 's Twitter followers to those of traditional print publications (from Mashable):  "That’s about 300,000 more than  Time , three ...

While my research primarily focuses on political entertainment, public opinion, and new media, I also spend a fair amount of time looking at issues in science communication -- everything from public participation on controversial issues like stem cell research to studying how citizens learn about and engage with new scientific and technological advances like nanotechnology . Unfortunately and even with recent outreach efforts, levels of scientific literacy are strikingly low among the general public . An article by Cornelia Dean in today's Science section of The New York Times  argues:  When asked to name a scientist, Americans are stumped. In one recent survey, the top choice, at 47 percent, was Einstein, who has been dead since 1955, and the next, at 23 percent, was “I don’t know.” In another survey, only 4 percent of respondents could name a living scientist. Dean continues on to chronicle the efforts of groups like Ben Franklin's List (the scientists' version of Emi...