Health Law and Science Policy Group, Faculty of Law, University of Alberta, T6G 2H5, Edmonton, AB, Canada.
BMC Public Health. 2012 Jun 8;12:326. doi: 10.1186/1471-2458-12-326.
Debates persist around the world over the development and use of genetically modified organisms (GMO). News media has been shown to both reflect and influence public perceptions of health and science related debates, as well as policy development. To better understand the news coverage of GMOs in China, we analyzed the content of articles in two Chinese newspapers that relate to the development and promotion of genetically modified technologies and GMOs.
Searching in the Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure Core Newspaper Database (CNKI-CND), we collected 77 articles, including news reports, comments and notes, published between January 2002 and August 2011 in two of the major Chinese newspapers: People's Daily and Guangming Daily. We examined articles for perspectives that were discussed and/or mentioned regarding GMOs, the risks and benefits of GMOs, and the tone of news articles.
The newspaper articles reported on 29 different kinds of GMOs. Compared with the possible risks, the benefits of GMOs were much more frequently discussed in the articles. 48.1% of articles were largely supportive of the GM technology research and development programs and the adoption of GM cottons, while 51.9% of articles were neutral on the subject of GMOs. Risks associated with GMOs were mentioned in the newspaper articles, but none of the articles expressed negative tones in regards to GMOs.
This study demonstrates that the Chinese print media is largely supportive of GMOs. It also indicates that the print media describes the Chinese government as actively pursuing national GMO research and development programs and the promotion of GM cotton usage. So far, discussion of the risks associated with GMOs is minimal in the news reports. The media, scientists, and the government should work together to ensure that science communication is accurate and balanced.
关于转基因生物（GMO）的开发和使用，世界各地一直存在争议。新闻媒体不仅反映了公众对健康和科学相关辩论以及政策制定的看法，而且影响了公众的看法。为了更好地了解中国对 GMO 的新闻报道，我们分析了两份中国报纸上与转基因技术和 GMO 开发和推广有关的文章的内容。
我们在中国国家知识基础设施核心报纸数据库（CNKI-CND）中进行搜索，收集了 2002 年 1 月至 2011 年 8 月期间在两份主要报纸《人民日报》和《光明日报》上发表的 77 篇文章，包括新闻报道、评论和注释。我们检查了文章中讨论和/或提到的关于 GMO 的观点、GMO 的风险和益处，以及新闻文章的语气。
报纸文章报道了 29 种不同的 GMO。与可能的风险相比，文章中更频繁地讨论了 GMO 的好处。48.1%的文章主要支持 GM 技术研发计划和采用 GM 棉花，而 51.9%的文章对 GMO 主题持中立态度。报纸文章中提到了与 GMO 相关的风险，但没有一篇文章对 GMO 表示负面看法。
这项研究表明，中国的平面媒体在很大程度上支持 GMO。它还表明，平面媒体将中国政府描述为积极追求国家 GMO 研发计划和推广 GM 棉花的使用。到目前为止，新闻报道中对与 GMO 相关的风险的讨论很少。媒体、科学家和政府应共同努力，确保科学传播准确、平衡。
