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. 2020;162(4):2379-2396.
doi: 10.1007/s10584-020-02813-3. Epub 2020 Sep 2.

The coverage of cultured meat in the US and UK traditional media, 2013-2019: drivers, sources, and competing narratives

James Painter  1 , J Scott Brennen  2 , Silje Kristiansen  3
Affiliations

The coverage of cultured meat in the US and UK traditional media, 2013-2019: drivers, sources, and competing narratives

James Painter et al. Clim Change. 2020.

Abstract

'Cultured' meat has attracted a considerable amount of investor and media interest as an early-stage technology. Despite uncertainties about its future impact, news media may be contributing to promissory discourses, by stressing the potential benefits from cultured meat to the environment, health, animal welfare, and feeding a growing population. The results from a content analysis of 255 articles from 12 US and UK traditional media from 2013 to 2019 show that much of the coverage is prompted by the industry sector, whose representatives are also the most quoted. Positive narratives about cultured meat are much more prominent than cautionary ones. Our findings support previous scholarship on other emerging technologies which concluded that with important variations, media treatments are largely positive.

Keywords: Actor analysis; Cultured meat; Lab-grown meat; Media coverage.

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Figures

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Fig. 1
Volume of coverage in the US and UK media, by year, 2013–2019
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Fig. 2
Volume of coverage in the USA and UK, by media title and year, 2013–2018
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Fig. 3
Presence of different types of actors
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Fig. 4
Presence of positive narratives in articles
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Fig. 5
Presence of negative narratives in articles
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