Keeping Our Options Closed: the Dominance of the Conflict Story-Telling Frame in Media Coverage of the Royal Commission's Report On Genetic Modification in New Zealand

Abstract

The debate on Genetic ModificationlEngineering in New Zealand was extensively covered in the press, particularly on the release of a Royal Commission report on the subject in July 2001. Examination of that coverage reveals that the print media framed the story primarily as a political conflict between environmentalists and a government that was routinely employed as an authoritative (rather than a contested) source. The press —and not just in its editorial columns — also took a strongly pro-GM/GE stance, notwithstanding the fact that it did not appear to reflect the opinions of its readers.