| This study employed framing analysis to gain new theoretical and empirical insights into the media coverage of biotechnology in an international context. It maintains that there is a paradigmatic challenge in media representations of science, between the old paradigm and a new paradigm.; By comparing media coverage of the food biotechnology, this study was able to identify some similarities and differences between the arguments and sources encountered in the US and French mediated debate over genetically modified (GM) foods. Both US and French media were very likely to cover safety, economics, risks, and labeling issues. In addition, US media were also interested in regulation issues, while French media were also interested in food quality, and the politics and costs associated with the precautionary principle.; Even when covering the debate under similar frames, preference for use of actual content varied substantially in these two countries. Safety was connected to the environmental issues in the US media, whereas French media focused this frame more on consumer safety issues. Labeling was an official and regulatory issue in the US media, while French media approached the topic from the perspective of international trade relations, including those with the developing countries. Economics was a domestic frame in each data set: the US media focused on the US-based producers of GM foods and seeds, and French media focused on the UE reception of the GM soy and corn. Finally, risk was mainly connected to the Starlink episode in the US media, and touched a broader range of topics in the French media (consumer health and expectations, environmental consequences of producing GM crops).; It was also found that in US media coverage of GM foods, political and industry sources often shared arguments and voiced similar stances on publicly debated issues, sometimes in stark contrast with research sources. In French media coverage, on the contrary, research and industry sources were often preferred to use the same arguments, and were sometimes very dissimilar to political sources. Overall, the GM foods debate was covered under the old paradigm in US media, and the new paradigm in French media. |
