Content-Type: text/html
The Role of Questions in Coverage of Cloning
Running head: THE ROLE OF QUESTIONS IN COVERAGE OF CLONING
The Role of Questions in TV News Coverage
of the Ethics of Cloning
Submitted to
Media Ethics Division
Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication
By David A. Craig and Vladan Pantic
Contact information:
David Craig
Assistant Professor
Gaylord College of Journalism and Mass Communication
University of Oklahoma
860 Van Vleet Oval, Room 120-B
Norman, OK 73019-2051
Phone: (405) 325-5206
E-mail: [log in to unmask]
Abstract:
The Role of Questions in TV News Coverage of the Ethics of Cloning
This study is a qualitative analysis of the use of ethical questions in 36 network TV news pieces after the cloning of Dolly the sheep in 1997. The study uses an analytical framework grounded in ethical theory. Questions were a prominent feature of most of the stories. All but a few questions pointed to issues of ethical duty or consequences, though often only in general terms. Responsible uses of questions are discussed, along with uses that distorted or sensationalized.
THE ROLE OF QUESTIONS IN TV NEWS COVERAGE
OF THE ETHICS OF CLONING
The American public and medical professionals have faced difficult ethical choices in recent years because of developments in research and clinical practice. Areas such as genetic testing, stem cell research, and end-of-life care have come to public attention through news coverage in print and broadcast. One of the areas that has received the broadest media attention is cloning. The cloning of Dolly, perhaps the most famous sheep in history, in 1997 led to 15,500 news stories (Vastag and Arnold, 1999). Some of this coverage touched on ethics. For example, 800 stories addressed matters related to cloning and identity.
Much of the uproar over cloning has stemmed from concerns that someone will try to clone a human being. This fear was perhaps justified by the announcement in January that an American fertility specialist and colleagues planned to clone a human (Weiss, 2001), followed by congressional hearings at which this group and another one seeking to clone people were questioned about the safety of their approaches (Saltus, 2001). Significant ethical issues are connected with cloning - issues such as respect for personhood, the appropriate limits on science, and responsibility toward those created through advanced reproductive technologies. The news media are on the front lines in bringing, or failing to bring, such issues to public attention.
In light of the importance of this topic for society, good coverage of cloning and its ethical implications is a matter of good media ethics. This view of media responsibility echoes Craig's (1999) argument that media portrayal of topics with important ethical implications is itself a matter of good media ethics when viewed in light of the social responsibility (Commission on Freedom of the Press, 1947; Siebert et al., 1956; Schramm, 1957; Rivers, Schramm & Christians, 1980) and communitarian (Christians et al., 1993) theories of the press.
This study is a qualitative analysis of the use of ethical questions in 36 network TV news pieces in the first months after the announcement about Dolly. The study uses an analytical framework grounded in deontological and consequentialist ethical theories. Questions that bring ethical issues home to viewers were one of the most prominent features of these stories as a group. Examining these questions sheds light on how these widely viewed pieces dealt with important issues of ethical duty and consequences, as well as how - in some cases - the pieces raised far-fetched possibilities with little or no basis in science.
Literature Review
Ethics coverage has received some attention as it relates to cloning, to other bioethical topics, and to ethics across professions. However, relatively few studies have treated the ethical dimension systematically or in ways that are explicitly tied to ethical theory.
The ethics of cloning. Priest (2001a, 2001b) dealt with cloning coverage in detail - though not in the explicit context of ethical theory - in a study of elite U.S. newspaper coverage of biotechnology from 1994 through 1997. She found that the ethics of human cloning dominated the coverage, at the expense of other ethical issues related to "the economic implications of biotechnology, including the likely impacts on agriculture, as well as implications for the integrity of both non-human animal and plant species and for ecological health and balance" (Priest, 2001a, p. 60). She pointed to the issue of individual autonomy - part of the ethical framework of the present study - as an influence on the amount and nature of the coverage. However, the issue of autonomy was presented in the context of its prominence in American culture rather than its significance in ethical theory.
Another study on the coverage of cloning ethics examined portrayals in newsmagazines, The New York Times, and some network TV news programs. Analyzing this coverage in some depth - though without articulation of the study's method -- it found ethical concerns focused on "three connected worries: the loss of human uniqueness and individuality, the pathological motivations of anyone who would want to clone, and the fear of 'out-of-control' science creating a 'brave new world'" (Hopkins, 1998, p. 6). The analysis also touched on a concern of Kantian and Judeo-Christian ethics: not treating humans as means to ends (Albert et al., 1984; Christians et al., 1998). Neresini (2000) discussed ethical issues as part of the network of issues connected with cloning in Italian newspaper coverage, but the discussion was not in the context of ethical theory. An article by Wilkie and Graham (1998) referred to ethics but did not go into depth about how the ethics of cloning was portrayed. Primarily
examining British newspaper coverage of the Dolly story, it found a conservative bias in the way the press reacted to the cloning. Rosenfeld (1999) noted that newspapers focused quickly on the ethics of cloning, but he did not evaluate ethics coverage in depth, either.
A few relatively brief articles (Kees, 1998; Lutz, 1997; Stein, 1998) covered panel discussions evaluating media coverage of cloning - one of the discussions a Freedom Forum panel aptly titled "Covering Cloning: An Ethical, Scientific, Legal, Religious, Political Scary Story." In another short piece, Dolly researcher Ian Wilmut himself lamented the attention some "quality papers" gave to "lurid science fiction fantasies" (Griffin & Wilmut, 1997, p. 49). In addition, Turner argued that the media "could do more to foster thoughtful public debate on the legal, moral, political, medical, and scientific dimensions" of cloning (1997, p. B4). She criticized "hyperbole" about cloning born of an assumption of "genetic essentialism," which fails to recognize that people's development is based on many factors other than genetics.
Coverage of other bioethical topics. This study of coverage of cloning, a major topic in bioethics, sits in the broader context of research on coverage of bioethical issues. A larger number of studies have been conducted related to other medical and scientific areas with ethical implications. But the number addressing ethics in a systematic, theoretically grounded way is again small.
Craig (1998, 2000b) looked at how 31 stories by major news organizations examined genetic testing. That study, which used a framework explicitly based on ethical theory, found that the pieces gave greater attention as a group to consequences than to ethical duties. In addition, like the present study, it examined uses of ethical questions, finding that they were wrapped up with the presentation of important ethical themes, and noted that questions "confronted readers with the moral choices that arise from genetic testing" (Craig, 2000b, p. 165). Craig (2000a) also studied portrayal of the ethics of assisted suicide and euthanasia in three 1998 newspaper pieces that followed a "60 Minutes" broadcast of a videotape showing Dr. Jack Kevorkian killing a man by injection. All three dealt in significant depth with ethics, and the paper assessed in detail how they portrayed ethical issues, questions, and themes. Another study of coverage of assisted suicide and euthanasia (Turow, Caplan, & Bracken, 2000) looked at coverage by 129 newspapers in the period surrounding the "60 Minutes" segment. The study found that five concerns which bioethics literature emphasizes related to assisted suicide and euthanasia seldom appeared.
Patterson and Hall (1998) drew on ethical theory in studying public discourse on abortion in print media from the 1940s to the 1990s, using an ethic of care (Gilligan, 1982). They found that "the feminine means of moral reasoning" (p. 92) had gradually become prominent when abortion was discussed. Chadwick and Levitt (1997), discussing coverage of genetic screening, used ethical theory by referring to Klaidman and Beauchamp's (1987) framework of journalism ethics to argue for portrayal of alternatives and consequences connected with screening.
Other analyses of bioethical topics have touched on coverage of ethics, but they have not explicitly applied ethical theory to their assessments. Such analyses have dealt with coverage of heart transplantation (Oates, 1973), the right-to-life case of Baby Jane Doe (Kerr, 1984; Klaidman & Beauchamp, 1986), discussion of embryo research in Britain (Mulkay, 1994), biotechnology (Altimore, 1982; Goodell, 1980; Lewenstein, Allaman & Parthasarathy, 1998; Nelkin, 1995; Priest, 2001b; Priest & Talbert, 1994), and research on genetics and homosexuality (Miller, 1995).
Coverage of ethics across professions. Beyond its connection to coverage of bioethics, this study is tied to the broader realm of coverage of ethical issues in professions beyond medicine and science - such as business, law, and government. Little published work has examined how ethics is covered in professions more generally. A conference paper by Mason (1993) did provide a preliminary look at the state of ethics coverage. She found that "the nation's daily newspapers do little actual coverage of ethics as a beat or as an aspect of stories on other beats" -- whether the subject is ethics in "other disciplines" or media ethics (p. 2) - though she found this might be changing. Mason found that ethics was frequently raised in coverage of government but that the articles focused mainly on "fiscal misdeeds" of politicians. Willey (2000) touched on an area connected with ethics coverage by examining portrayal of values in the religion section of The Dallas Morning News.
Craig (1997, 1999) has argued that ethics coverage deserves careful analysis. He proposed a framework grounded in ethical theory for assessing portrayal of ethics in professions and society. Stories are evaluated "based on how thoroughly they portray the ethical issues relevant to a topic, the parties connected with those issues, the levels at which the ethical issues play out [individual, organizational/institutional, professional, and social], and the legal backdrop for those issues" (Craig, 1999, p. 17). The criteria for assessing how well stories address these four areas are drawn from three of C.E. Harris's categories of types of moral judgment, in which actions are judged to be morally impermissible, morally obligatory, and supererogatory, or "above and beyond the call of duty" (Harris, 1992, pp. 58-59). Under the framework, if the coverage of a topic with important ethical implications is weak in these four areas, the coverage is considered morally impermissible. A single s
tory that was in-depth but did not deal with ethics would also be considered morally impermissible. Comprehensive coverage of ethics, however, would be considered supererogatory; some coverage would be morally obligatory.
This framework was applied in the studies of genetic testing (Craig, 1998, 2000b) and assisted suicide (Craig, 2000a), but it has not yet been applied to coverage of topics outside bioethics.
The literature on ethics coverage has provided some insight on how ethical issues are portrayed. Much of the analysis, however, has been conducted in ways that do not explicitly connect with the systematic concerns raised by scholars in ethics. The present study is aimed at helping to fill that gap.
Method
This study examined 36 segments[1]
on cloning that appeared on evening news programs of four major TV networks: ABC, NBC, CBS, and CNN. The stories appeared from late February 1997, when the cloning of Dolly was announced, to early June 1997, soon after the National Bioethics Advisory Commission recommended a ban on human cloning. A look at coverage in this period thus affords a chance to examine cloning coverage during a time of intense public reaction and policy debate. Videotape of the stories was obtained through the Vanderbilt University Television News Archive, whose database was searched for stories indexed as referring to cloning. Items less than a minute long were excluded because it was considered unlikely they would deal with ethics in more than a passing way. Transcripts were obtained from the Lexis-Nexis database, except in a few cases where they were unavailable and had to be transcribed from tape.
The study drew on part of Craig's (1999) framework to guide the analysis of the stories. Specifically, the analysis focused on how the stories portrayed ethical issues - particularly matters of duties and consequences - and how they used ethical questions to pose these issues.
Articles were analyzed for how they dealt with duties of those who might carry out or be affected by cloning -- including faithfulness to commitments, sensitivity to human needs, sensitivity to autonomy of parties, and sensitivity to justice. Also analyzed were references to consequences, real or conjectured, of cloning, including both benefits and harms. Though other ethical perspectives are also important, both duties and consequences have been significant in historical and current-day study of ethics (Craig, 1999) - with often-cited roots in the deontological viewpoint of Kant and in the consequentialist approach of Mill's utilitarianism. The specific ethical issues noted here come from religious (May, 1991; Ramsey, 1950, 1970) and philosophical (Beauchamp & Childress, 1994) ethics. The analysis also left open the possibility that other duties could appear (Craig, 1999). Working definitions of the ethical categories from Craig (2000a) were used in examining these stories. [2]
Transcripts of the stories were read repeatedly and marked for occurrences of these ethical concerns. Also marked were all occurrences of ethical questions. A sentence was viewed as posing an ethical question if it stated or implied a matter of benefit or harm, or of moral duty or choice, and ended with a question mark or was phrased implicitly as a question - with wording such as "whether humans should be cloned." In addition, sentences that simply said cloning raises ethical questions were counted.
Although this basic counting was done to create a broad picture of the portrayal of ethics, this study is qualitative because it focused on how the issues appeared in individual stories through the specific wording of questions. Understanding the details of how the stories presented questions is important because nuances are important in ethics - and therefore may make an important difference in viewers' understanding of this dimension.
Code sheets for each article, including text examples and comments, were kept electronically.[3]
Although the analysis focused on the words that were used to portray ethics to the audience, places where images strengthened the presentation of ethics were also noted through the viewing of the videotape. This attention to both text and images is consistent with the idea that TV news "is a mediator of events, defining, shaping and representing the real by the use of linguistic and visual codes" (Bignell, 1997, p. 113).
Although the analysis examined the portrayal of ethical issues in the entire stories, the presentation of findings here will focus on the stories' use of questions because of their prevalence as a feature of the stories and, as Craig (2000b) noted, their potential to confront viewers directly with ethical issues. The presentation of the findings about questions will center on their portrayal of ethical duties and consequences.
Findings
Questions were part of the presentation of ethics in 28 out of 36 segments. Some stories included several questions, and some of the questions were used to frame the presentation in that they appeared in the anchor's introduction of the piece or in the reporter's opening words. In a few cases, visuals strongly enhanced the ethical message, but this was the exception rather than the rule, and the stronger visuals tended to support questions about ethical consequences, not duties.
The news about the creation of the cloned sheep Dolly ignited controversy that grew out of the scientific success with an animal but focused on concerns about potential application of the cloning method to humans. All but a few of the questions raised in the stories imply or explicitly point to issues of duties or consequences in regard to cloning.
Questions As Windows on Ethical Duties
Thirty-six of the 89 analyzed questions - fewer than half -- addressed ethical duties to some extent. Most questions that pointed to ethical duties referred to them only at a general level. Considerably less attention was devoted to concrete concerns about the specific duties noted in this study's framework: faithfulness to commitments, sensitivity to human needs, autonomy, and justice. Each of these duties was addressed in six or fewer questions - autonomy in only one.
One question that referred generally to duties appeared in one of the first pieces on cloning, an NBC story that aired February 23. Anchor John Seigenthaler opened the story, the second of the network's two pieces for that day, in this way: "Even though the science is years away, the debate over whether humans should be cloned has already begun" (Bernard, 1997). This question, whose "should" implies concerns about ethical duties, launched the discussion about the implications of cloning. Similarly, CNN's anchor Fionnula Sweeney framed another early story in this way:
The image of the baby lamb may be comforting, but does it mask more troubling possibilities? News that scientists have cloned the sheep is sending shock waves through the scientific and medical communities. Experts say the first cloning of an adult animal raises serious questions. (Darrow, 1997)
Although the question about "troubling possibilities" implies a consequentialist concern about harm, it also suggests - again very generally -- a violation of ethical duty in the pursuit of these possibilities.
Another story, on ABC, used a source who was interviewed to raise a question that implied more specific concerns about ethical duties. Sociologist Dorothy Nelkin said: "I'm not so sure regulations are effective. It does raise the interesting issue that's been brought up many, many times about should there be limits to scientific inquiry?" (Potter, 1997) This issue strikes at the core of the ethical problem by probing ethical boundaries that create sometimes contradictory trajectories. The idea of limiting scientific inquiry would, in the case of cloning, uphold a duty not to overstep human bounds and "play God," and a duty to preserve and respect individuality. However, these duties are, from the standpoint of supporters of human cloning, in tension with the duty to be sensitive to human needs that might be met through cloning.
In a story for NBC, reporter Fred Frances presented a question that not only points to possible medical benefits from human cloning - another consequentialist concern -- but also exposes complex issues of ethical duties. (The visuals, although going beyond "talking heads" to show the filling of centrifuges with solution, were not compelling enough to strongly enhance the ethical message.) His question, leading into a comment by Steven Grebe of American University, said: "But what if the techniques used for cloning can lead to cures for inherited diseases like sickle cell anemia or diabetes?" (Frances, 1997) This question implies that faithfulness to commitments might include pursuing the benefits that human cloning may provide in the future. Accordingly, a choice to disregard human needs for a cure for insidious diseases - a cure provided by cloning techniques -- might paradoxically be regarded in the future as ethical misconduct by, for example, the victims' families. The question mirrors the actual discomfort that scientists, ethicists, and clergy experienced in defining the stance on a very general question a reporter raised in another story, on CBS: "How far should cloning be allowed to go?" (Roberts, 1997).
Faithfulness to commitments, sensitivity to justice, and sensitivity to autonomy of parties were implied in a story by CNN's Richard Blystone. This piece, characterized as an essay in its introduction, was notable because it was presented more in the reporter's own voice. Questions by the reporter, then, were an important part of the way the piece framed the ethical issues for viewers. Blystone vividly presented several questions about human cloning:
Those of us for whom all sheep are identical anyway are more intrigued with the possibility of cloning humans. How useful, if a new generation looks unsatisfactory, to put off the problem by cloning a revered monarch, or prime minister, or movie star. Bill Clinton says he finds the prospect disturbing. Would Bill Cloneton? How you would feel about your dog, or your spouse, or yourself, just knowing that all could be replicated ad infinitum? If you had a clone, would you have a right to farm it for a kidney transplant? (Blystone, 1997)
Blystone's burst, although filled with sarcasm, need not be received lightly as it addresses crucial ethical issues. Concern about autonomy, which is centrally a matter of free choice without coercion, is implied in the question about a person's right to "farm" his or her clone. Concern about justice, or fair treatment of individuals, is implied in that question, too, and in the question about replicating oneself or one's loved ones. The responsibility of faithfulness to act in the interest of others is also implied in these questions. The creation of a human clone would provoke different reactions across the public spectrum. Despite the good intention of the few, the cloned individual might become the object of a kind of segregation in which the "pure" individuals would be treated with more respect than the "cloned" ones, or vice versa. The appearance of the new form of life would inevitably start a social tremor with consequences that might challenge the major social tenets such
as equality and respect among members of the social structure. This CNN essay, though still within the confines of network TV brevity, is a significant contribution to the discussion of ethical aspects that were almost entirely ignored or too vaguely and generally addressed by the questions in other stories.
Another question that stirred issues of justice came from Gracie Hsu of the Family Research Council in a piece on CBS. Hsu asked: "How many countless lives, how many countless embryonic children will be destroyed in order for one clone to be made perfect?" (Pitts, 1997) Hsu's question was in reaction to the recommendation of the National Bioethics Advisory Commission that cloning of entire humans be banned but that research on human embryos be allowed. The question was also response to the fact that nearly 300 unsuccessful attempts preceded the one that brought to life the healthy sheep Dolly. This question implies concerns about faithfulness to commitments to persons ("embryonic children"), sensitivity to their needs, and sensitivity to just treatment of vulnerable parties.
As these examples show, some of the questions, though only implying rather than directly stating ethical duties, point to specific duties in this study's framework and to the complex interweaving of the ethical issues connected with cloning.
Questions As Windows on Ethical Consequences
Issues of consequence were present in about three-fourths (69) of the analyzed questions - a good deal more than for duties. As with the representations of duties, the general consequences of cloning were present most often. Questions that stated or implied harms appeared three times as often as questions that pointed to benefits (20 versus six). Also, in numerous cases, the questions pointed to concerns about both ethical duties and consequences.
Most of the questions expressed a sense of unease about the consequences of cloning if the method were to be used on humans. However, the extent to which ethics was present and the kind of ethical content varied within these questions. A story on CBS Evening News showed considerable consequentialist concern without specifically implying benefits or harms. Reporter Anthony Mason posed the possibility of re-creation of a child by confronting several views on the issue. His report, interweaved with "If's," ends this way: "That is the question Dolly may have raised. If science is creating the perfect sheep, what's to stop it from trying to create the perfect human?" (Mabrey & Mason, 1997) The general implication of this medical breakthrough - the possibility of human cloning -- was evident in this journalistic piece as a whole, as well as in its final question.
Another story, on ABC, raised a very brief question but enhanced it with powerful visuals. After reminding spectators that identical twins, as natural biological clones, were often brought into the world, reporter George Strait proceeded by asking: "But clones created in a laboratory?" (Strait, 1997). The first part of the visual sequence showed identical toddler twins innocently laughing and playing, while the second, brought up by Strait's question, showed the dreary practice and ambience of a Nazi experimental hospital that creates a "master race" -- rendered skillfully in the futuristic movie "The Boys from Brazil." This short and powerful combination of pictures and voice-over in its generality refers to the ambiguous results that the decision to proceed with human cloning might generate. Strait's question also provides another good example of a question that frames the story, this time in the reporter's opening rather than the anchor's.
A more ostensible form of consequentialist ethics emerged in questions that clearly inquired about the possible positive or negative impacts of the cloning method introduced by the Scottish scientific team. Questions that directly queried about the benefits of cloning were rare. One such question stated straightforwardly: "What are some of the positive applications of this technique?" (Meserve, 1997) Another, already noted in connection with duties, stated: "But what if the techniques used for cloning can lead to cures for inherited diseases like sickle cell anemia or diabetes?" (Frances, 1997)
One CNN story dwelt on some grim potential implications but also implied what some might see as a positive consequence. Reporter Siobhah Darrow offered a barrage of questions that carried some speculations about the imaginable outcome of cloning. This play between questions and other discussion of lingering consequences exposed features rather frequently observed in the reports on cloning:
But what are the darker implications of this breakthrough? If you can clone an animal, you can presumably copy a person. Where it will stop? Will parents want backup children in case of damage or death? Or could we create twins of ourselves to be used for spare parts? The possibilities are endless. Scenarios that fiction writers have only imagined could now come true -- be it dictators duplicating themselves or dead geniuses brought back to life and copied for posterity. (Darrow, 1997)
This whole segment is visually presented in two distinctive ways that usually define news reporting. The first visually characteristic part finishes with the question: "Or could we create twins for ourselves to be used for spare parts?" where Darrow speaks directly to the camera (audience) in an authoritative manner that signifies the importance of the issue. The strong message, evident in the number of questions, further escalates in the next segment, dominated by visuals and supported by voice-over. Images of Aldous Huxley's book "Brave New World," footage of Saddam Hussein, and a still of Albert Einstein that suddenly becomes multiplied to hundreds of copies strengthen the spoken word.
However, it is not entirely clear how to distinguish the negative consequences from the positive ones in this section. While the reference to the dictator has established itself as an easily recognizable negative symbol even among the least informed members of a society, the phrase "dead geniuses" (not in a question directly but stated in connection with questions) is more ambiguous. Some supporters of cloning might view the genetic duplication of an Einstein as a great benefit to society, though those who oppose cloning in any form would deem it unacceptable regardless of the results.
Another example where a possibly positive consequence had a similarly gray quality while coupled with negative results comes from Wyatt Andrews of CBS. Andrews explored the potential consequences of cloning just a day after the official ban on federal funding of cloning was presented by President Clinton. Andrews stated: "Human cloning raises moral questions, such as the resurrection of a Hitler, and ethical questions, like the re-creation of deceased children" (Andrews, 1997). This statement blurs the line even more between the re-creation of children that some might one day term as a positive achievement and the epitomized evil seen in the resurrection of Hitler. Both potential prospects were powerfully illustrated by two sequences. The first segment showed black-and-white archival material of Adolf Hitler, who menacingly rushes toward the camera followed enthusiastically by the members of his clique while cheered by the members of the phalange. And the second showed pallbeare
rs, dressed mostly in black, setting down a coffin. Images were intensely used to emphasize the reporter's voice-over. With a simple inclusion of the pre-filmed material the message gained severity.
Some questions directly inquired about the negative consequences of cloning. For example, in Vicki Mabrey's report on cloning broadcast on CBS, Dr. Patrick Dixon suggested the potential risk that would suddenly occur if the method were acquired by problematic personalities: "What kind of ways could this technology be abused by a dictator?" (Mabrey, 1997) He followed the question by pointing right away to Saddam Hussein, whose firmly established iconography supports this casual comparison. This question, like nearly all of the others studied, was stated without explicit use of the word "ethics" or a cognate term. Nonetheless, it conveyed a concern that was clearly ethical when viewed from a consequentialist standpoint.
These examples show that, as with duties, while some questions were general, others focused attention more sharply on specific ethical concerns. In some cases the consequentialist questions came home strongly through wording supplemented by powerful visuals.
Discussion
The analysis of 36 network TV news segments about cloning showed that more than three-fourths of them - 28 -- included ethical questions. Although the questions seldom explicitly used the word "ethics" or its related terms, nearly 90 ethical questions appeared, and almost all could be categorized as at least implying concerns related to issues of duty, consequences, or both. Consequentialist issues were present more often than deontological ones. For both kinds of ethical issues, most questions did not include any elaborated inquiry about cloning extending beyond generalizations. In only a few instances did questions address the deontological issues of faithfulness to commitments, sensitivity to human needs, autonomy, and justice included in the framework on which this study was based (Craig, 1999). A larger number of questions pointed specifically to benefits or harms - the consequentialist concerns included in the framework - and harms appeared more often than benefits. By giving at least some attention to ethics, the stories met an element of what Craig (1999) would term a moral obligation of the media.
Visuals, in most cases, did not seem to add much to the value of the story in an ethical sense. Although this study did not assess audience response to the visuals (or text) - a topic worthy of further research -- only a few stories used images that appeared to powerfully enhance the message of ethical implications. In several cases the stories avoided the uninventive "talking head" strategy but nonetheless used only the obvious for illustration - for example, a shot of sheep (Dolly, a couple of sheep, or a herd of sheep), followed by humans (a young couple kissing, or masses of humanity walking unidentified streets). The most frequent approach to visualization was presented in the manner of a simple shot of the speaker (anchor, reporter, or sources) that directly or indirectly engaged the audience by raising a question. The lack of a stronger approach to visuals to underscore the voice-overs might lie in the natural brevity of the questions, which arguably does not allow for muc
h visualization. However, the few examples of well-structured interplay of words and pictures related to ethics contradict this notion. They showed that creativity could resist time constraints.
Overall, the cloning of Dolly did appear to cause the emergence of "larger" questions about the potential for human cloning -- an activity often portrayed as troubling, serious, intriguing, horrific, or important. The questions were mostly formulated on the basis of potentiality, and as such these questions were enveloped in futuristic concerns. As a result, the answers remain within the realm of conjectures that will stay provisional until cloning develops further. However, the fact that the stories raised ethical questions at all - and especially this many - is significant. (The amount of air time given to the segments, within the time constraints of network TV news, is also significant.) The posing of questions at least opens the possibility of discussion within the different spheres of society on the ethical issues that are inherent in the prospect of human cloning. Priest (2001b) argues that this kind of discussion of biotechnology issues is in the interests of both scientis
ts and those who want to foster democracy.
Still, some of the questions showed a weakness from the standpoint of their value for public discourse in that they tended to sensationalize and distort the possible results of human cloning. For example, CNN's Siobhah Darrow (1997) mentioned two scenarios: creating "backups" of injured or deceased children, or creating twins to get spare parts. But these scenarios rest on speculation that surges toward the overly dramatic. In addition, the idea of creating a "backup" child misrepresents the science of cloning because a clone of a deceased child would be a distinct person who would grow up under different influences, not an exact duplicate as this scenario implies. This kind of misrepresentation echoes Turner's (1997) concern about "genetic essentialism" in media discussions of cloning - the failure to adequately communicate that many factors besides genetics influence who a person becomes.
The tendency toward the extreme, dramatic case - also shown in the use of images of Hitler and the "Boys from Brazil" -- may stem from the inclination of television news to immediacy and the language of spectacles. While these words and images do highlight the ethical concerns in a general way, there appears to be a cost to this approach from the standpoint of public understanding and discussion. As Craig (1997) noted in discussing coverage of genetic testing, proper portrayal of the scientific foundation for a topic is important for good ethical decision-making. Imagery borrowed from movies might have a short-lived theatrical stimulation in the minds of spectators, but the nuances of ethical concern may slip away. At the same time, the ways in which human cloning might one day promote physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual harm - by, for example, leading to discrimination against cloned individuals - seldom come to the public's attention.
The general nature of many of the questions - another weakness in their potential value for public understanding - is somewhat at odds with Hopkins' (1998) findings in his study of cloning coverage, though Hopkins did not focus specifically on the use of questions. Hopkins found that loss of human uniqueness and individuality was one of "three connected worries" (p. 6) that were prominent in the coverage he reviewed. Priest (2001a, 2001b) also noted the emphasis on human individuality at the backdrop of cloning coverage. This concern did not manifest itself in the present study in such a way as to be regarded as an important feature - at least in the questions themselves. This was a result of the fact that interest about cloning often did not cross the boundary of generality, with the pivotal concern placed on whether the introduced cloning method could be used in production of human beings. However, the two other "worries" that Hopkins found were more evident in the present study
. For example, "the pathological motivations of anyone who would want to clone" were seen in questions that addressed the possibility that dictators would abuse the practice. In addition, there were concerns that such an attempt would put scientists in jail or lead them to be ostracized by their colleagues. Hopkins' finding of "fear of 'out-of-control' science creating a 'brave new world'" was also evident, largely thanks to the events that followed the introduction of the method, in particular the prompt response of officials to regulate what many people considered a scary practice.
It is also worth noting that the findings of the present study bear out the idea that coverage of cloning treated the discovery as a "scary story" (title of the Freedom Forum panel). The leader in this breakthrough, Ian Wilmut, had also displayed concern about attention to "lurid science fiction fantasies" (Griffin & Wilmut, 1997, p. 49). The rationale for this lingering pattern might be found in the natural reaction of humans toward the ambiguous. Novel practices such as cloning do not provide many satisfying answers that would define the unknown and squelch the mere imagination. The networks' coverage of cloning seemed to thrive on this ambiguity.
This study contributes to scholarly understanding of ethics coverage by adding to the limited literature on portrayals of cloning as well as other bioethical topics. In particular, it agrees with previous studies of coverage of genetic testing (Craig, 1998, 2000b) and physician-assisted suicide (Craig, 2000a) in finding that questions can be important carriers of ethical content in news coverage. Further studies could examine use of questions in coverage of other topics related to medicine and science, business, government, or journalism itself - in keeping with Craig's (1999) suggestion of research on ethics coverage across a variety of topics. In addition, in light of the recent announcement of efforts toward human cloning, analysis of portrayal of ethics in the developing coverage in this area would be fruitful. This research might include the analysis of reaction to human cloning itself if it happens - particularly analysis of whether questions shift in ethical content or bec
ome more specific.
This study also points to a place for research that connects ethical theory with media framing theory in analyses of ethics coverage. A large body of literature has addressed how the media frame issues for the public. Among these studies, numerous analyses have touched implicitly on ethics coverage by examining moral and value framing. These studies have included analyses of specific areas of coverage such as nuclear power (Gamson & Modigliani, 1989) and abortion (Ball-Rokeach et al., 1990) and assessments linking media framing to voter decision-making (Shah et al., 1996; Shah et al., 1997; Domke et al., 1998). In addition, some studies have discussed frames that connect with concerns of ethical theory evident in the present study, although these other studies did not make the connection to ethical theory. Valkenburg et al. (1999), pointing to four news frames that emerge from the literature, note the responsibility frame - which relates to the ethical notion of duty - and to the economic consequences frame - which connects to the notion of benefits or harms in consequentialist ethics. A third frame they cite, human interest, is relevant to the ethical duty of concern for human needs, also at the backdrop of the current study. An earlier study of news coverage of several topics (Neuman et al., 1992) referred to a human impact frame and also to another frame that connects even more directly to ethics: moral values. These analyses, however, are not themselves explicitly grounded in the concerns of ethical theory, while the present study is not systematically grounded in framing theory.
Further research could strive to systematically assess ethics coverage from the standpoint of both framing theory and ethical theory.
From the standpoint of journalistic practice, improvements in coverage of complex ethical topics such as cloning rest partly with the ability to go beyond the constraints of brevity inherent in network TV news formats, though the networks should be credited for giving the coverage as much air time as they did. The possibility for improvement also lies in the ability of TV journalists themselves to pursue deeper understanding of the ethical duties and consequences of cloning or other topics, enabling them to clearly and thoroughly frame the issues for the public and, it is hoped, initiate public debate. This depth of understanding may also prevent journalists in the future from coming to treat cloning as a commonplace issue without serious ethical implications. It also may help them to continue pointing the public to concerns about how such a practice is not merely a potential research wonder but also an issue that raises serious matters of one's duties as a human being.
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[1] Although some of the segments followed one another directly within a newscast, the total number considers pieces by different reporters, or other segments introduced separately by the anchor, to be separate pieces.
[2] The definitions, from Craig (2000a), were as follows:
ùDuties: Words, phrases or sentences that make general reference to duty or obligation, or right or wrong, or state or imply specific duties not among the four specific ones listed.
ùFaithfulness to commitments: Words, phrases or sentences that state or imply an obligation, responsibility or commitment to act in an ongoing, even long-term, way in the interest of another person or group of persons. This definition reflects a synthesis of the perspectives of Ramsey (1950, 1970) and May (1991).
ùSensitivity to human needs: Words, phrases or sentences that state or imply concrete needs of individuals or groups of individuals, or the planned or actual meeting of those needs, or failure to meet those needs. This, too, is grounded in the work of Ramsey (1950, 1970) and May (1991).
ùSensitivity to autonomy of parties: Words, phrases or sentences that state or imply respect for the free choice or action of a person or group of persons -- or lack of respect for, or interference with, free choice or action by others or through personal limitations, such as inadequate understanding. This is based on the definition of autonomy Beauchamp and Childress (1994).
ùSensitivity to justice: Words, phrases or sentences that state or imply fair, equitable and appropriate treatment of individuals or groups of people in light of what is due or owed to them or to others, or respect for this kind of treatment -- or the lack of fair, equitable and appropriate treatment of individuals or groups of people in light of what is due or owed to them or to others, or respect for this kind of treatment. This is based on Beauchamp and Childress's (1994) definition of justice.
ùConsequences: Words, phrases or sentences that make general reference to results, or state or imply specific actual or potential results of a decision, policy or action that are not clearly tied to benefits or harms.
ùBenefits: Words, phrases or sentences that state or imply actual or potential positive results of a decision, policy or action -- results that would promote real or perceived physical, emotional, mental or spiritual well-being; accomplish real or perceived social or ethical good; or avoid or reduce real or perceived harm.
ùHarms: Words, phrases or sentences that state or imply real or potential negative results of a decision, policy or action -- results that would cause physical injury or suffering; real or perceived emotional, mental or spiritual duress; or real or perceived social or ethical problems.
[3] The second author was the primary coder; the first author checked the coding against his own interpretation of the stories. However, in keeping with a qualitative approach, no formal reliability tests were performed.