Top

Journal of Nanoparticle Research

Published in:

01-02-2012 | Perspectives

The many faces of nano in newspaper reporting

Authors: Max Boholm, Åsa Boholm

Published in: Journal of Nanoparticle Research | Issue 2/2012

Activate our intelligent search to find suitable subject content or patents.

search-config

AI-assisted search

Off

Abstract

The morpheme nano in languages such as Swedish and English is a constituent of many words. This article linguistically analyses the meaning potential of nano by focusing on word use in a Swedish newspaper corpus comprising 2,564 articles (1.6 million words) covering a 22-year period (1988–2010). Close to 400 word forms having nano as a constituent have been identified and analyzed. The results suggest that nano covers a broad and heterogeneous conceptual field: (i) as a prefix of the SI system; (ii) in relation to the scientific activities of nanoscience and nanotechnology, including their sub-processes and actors; and (iii) in relation to objects. The identified meanings of nano, besides the standard definition (i.e. ‘billionth part’ in relation to SI units), are ‘operating at the nanometre level’ in relation to activities and their actors and ‘nanometre sized’ and ‘nanotechnological’ in relation to objects; in addition, the less precise and non-technical meaning ‘very small’ is identified. We discuss the implications of the findings for a hypothesis about media influence on public understanding of technology, suggesting that repeated findings in Europe and the USA of little self-reported understanding and knowledge of nanotechnology or nanoscience among the public make sense in light of the polysemy of nano reflected in its broad variety of verbal forms and usages.

previous article Research output in nanoscience and nanotechnology: Pakistan scenario

next article Polymer-supported metals and metal oxide nanoparticles: synthesis, characterization, and applications

Dont have a licence yet? Then find out more about our products and how to get one now:

Springer Professional "Wirtschaft+Technik"

Online-Abonnement

Mit Springer Professional "Wirtschaft+Technik" erhalten Sie Zugriff auf:

über 102.000 Bücher
über 537 Zeitschriften

aus folgenden Fachgebieten:

Automobil + Motoren
Bauwesen + Immobilien
Business IT + Informatik
Elektrotechnik + Elektronik
Energie + Nachhaltigkeit
Finance + Banking
Management + Führung
Marketing + Vertrieb
Maschinenbau + Werkstoffe
Versicherung + Risiko

Jetzt Wissensvorsprung sichern!

inform now

Springer Professional "Technik"

Online-Abonnement

Mit Springer Professional "Technik" erhalten Sie Zugriff auf:

über 67.000 Bücher
über 390 Zeitschriften

aus folgenden Fachgebieten:

Automobil + Motoren
Bauwesen + Immobilien
Business IT + Informatik
Elektrotechnik + Elektronik
Energie + Nachhaltigkeit
Maschinenbau + Werkstoffe

Jetzt Wissensvorsprung sichern!

inform now

The fifteen most frequently represented newspapers in the corpus, accounting for 75% of the articles, are the respected national morning papers Svenska Dagbladet (269 articles) and Dagens Nyheter (200 articles), the national daily evening tabloids Aftonbladet (120 articles), Expressen (68 articles), and GT (27 articles), the free daily morning paper Metro (101 articles), the daily local/regional morning papers Sydsvenskan (383 articles), Göteborgs Posten (267 articles), Helsingborgs Dagblad (124 articles), Borås Tidning (83 articles), Nerikes Allehanda (67 articles), Hallands Nyheter (49 articles), Västerbottens Kuriren (37 articles), and Dala Demokraten (33 articles) and the national business-oriented newspaper Dagens Industri (110 articles).

Many of the proper names excluded from analysis are indeed related to the Greek word nanos meaning ‘dwarf’, for example, Ipod Nano, the Tata Nano, and the company name Nanosolar, but these proper names are excluded due to space limitations. Furthermore, determining whether or not two or more words are homonyms can be exacting, so apparent homonyms might indeed be related to the Greek word for dwarf in the way that, for example, the female name Sophia is related to the Greek word sophia for ‘wisdom’, as in philosophy (meaning ‘love of wisdom’). Until a detailed etymological analysis of these supposed homonyms is conducted, this possibility cannot ultimately be ruled out.

The polysemous word word is referred to in the sense of lexeme (or lemma), i.e., an abstract notion for a set of word forms related by inflection (Lyons 1968; Stubbs 2002). For example, the lemma nanoteknologi (‘nanotechnology’), a noun, includes the word forms nanoteknologi (‘nanotechnology’), i.e., the singular form, nanoteknologier (‘nanotechnologies’), i.e., the plural form, and the genitive forms of these, nanoteknologis (‘nanotechnology’s’) and nanoteknologiers (‘nanotechnologies’). In Swedish, definiteness is also indicated by inflection, for example, nanoteknologin (‘the nanotechnology’). This means that the words (lexemes) referred to below, and their frequencies, often encompass many inflected word forms in the corpus.

Both words are here translated as ‘nanotechnology’. Etymologically, teknologi in Swedish, and technology in English, would stand for ‘the knowledge of technique’, and teknik for the practical application of knowledge or skill, as in the English word technique. However, the word teknik is (today) often used as more or less synonymous with teknologi.

The philosopher Bertrand Russell (1923) argued that all words are more or less vague.

A Swedish mil is ten kilometers, approximately six English miles.

A nanosatellite is not a nanosized satellite (1–100 nm); rather, it is a satellite weighing 1–10 kg, making it small in relation to others.

The distinction between count and mass nouns, or non-count nouns, is less trivial than it first may seem. It would perhaps be better to distinguish count and non-count (mass) uses of nouns. See, for example, Collins and Hollo (2010) for a standard textbook discussion of the distinction in linguistics, and Laycock (2005) for a philosophical/ontological discussion of problems with the distinction.

The word nanofabrik (‘nanofactory’) is not used as a counterpart to nanolaboratory for the commercial application of nanotechnology. It instead refers to a hypothetical system of nanolevel machines able to construct atomically precise nanostructures, which would in turn be components of macro-level devices.

An alternative explanation is that these words are instances of the less precise meaning of nano, namely, ‘very small’ as in nanobil (‘nanocar’), nanosattelite (‘nanosatellite’) or nanoblogg (‘nanoblog’) (see next section), and hence need not be modified by any rhetorical exaggeration.

Allan S, Anderson A, Petersen A (2010) Framing risk: nanotechnology in the news. J Risk Res 13(1–2):29–44CrossRef

Allwood J (1998) Semantics as meaning determination with semantic–epistemic operations. In: Allwood J, Gärdenfors P (eds) Cognitive semantics: meaning and cognition. John Benjamins, Amsterdam, Philadelphia, pp 1–18

Allwood J (2003) Meaning potential and context: some consequences for the analysis of variation in meaning. In: Cuyckens H, Dirven R, Taylor JR (eds) Cognitive approaches to lexical semantics. Mouton de Gruyter, Berlin, New York, pp 29–66CrossRef

Anderson A, Allan S, Petersen A, Wilkinson C (2005) The framing of nanotechnologies in the British newspaper press. Sci Commun 27:200–220CrossRef

Anderson A, Petersen A, Wilkinson C, Allan S (2009) Nanotechnology, risk and communication. Palgrave Macmillan, Basingstoke, New YorkCrossRef

Balzani V (2005) Nanoscience and nanotechnology: a personal view of a chemist. Small 1(3):278–283CrossRef

Collins P, Hollo C (2010) English grammar: an introduction. Palgrave Macmillan, London

Cormick C (2009) Why do we need to know what the public thinks about nanotechnology? Nanoethics 3:167–173CrossRef

Crichton M (2002) Prey. HarperCollins, New York

Drexler E (1986) Engines of creation: the coming era of nanotechnology. Anchor Press/Doubleday, Garden City

Dudo AD, Choi D-H, Scheufele DA (2011) Food nanotechnology in the news: coverage patterns and thematic emphases during the last decade. Appetite 56(1):78–89CrossRef

Entman RM (1993) Framing: toward clarification of a fractured paradigm. J Commun 43(4):51–58CrossRef

Faber B (2006) Popularizing nanoscience: the public rhetoric of nanotechnology, 1986–1999. Tech Commun Q 15(2):141–169CrossRef

Faber B, Mackinnon J, Petroccione M (2005) Media portraits of nanotech in North American written media: 1986–2000. Nanotechnol Law Bus 2(4):248–363

Fillmore CJ (1985) Frames and the semantics of understanding. Quaderni di Semantica 6(2):222–254

Friedman SM, Egolf BP (2005) Nanotechnology: risks and the media. IEEE Technol Soc Mag 24:5–11CrossRef

Gaskell G, Eyck TT, Jackson J (2005) Imagining nanotechnology: cultural support for technological innovation in Europe and the United States. Public Underst Sci 14:81–90CrossRef

Goffman E (1974) Frame analysis: an essay on the organisation of experience. Pengiun Books, Harmondsworth

Gorss J, Lewenstein B (2005) The salience of the small: nanotechnology coverage in the American press, 1986–2004. Paper presented at the International Communication Association, May 27, New York

Grice HP (1975) Logic and conversation. In: Cole P, Morgan JL (eds) Syntax and semantics: speech acts, vol 3. Academic Press, New York, pp 41–58

Halliday MAK (1973) Explorations in the functions of language. Edward Arnold, London

Hunston S, Francis G (2000) Pattern grammar: a corpus-driven approach to the lexical grammar of English. John Benjamins, Amsterdam

Joachim C (2005) To be nano or not to be nano? Nat Mater 4(2):107–109CrossRef

Kahan DM, Braman D, Slovic P, Gastil J, Cohen G (2008) Cultural cognition of the risks and benefits of nanotechnology. Nat Nanotechnol 4:87–90CrossRef

Kjølberg KL (2009) Representations of nanotechnology in Norwegian newspapers: implications for public participation. Nanoethics 3(1):61–72CrossRef

Laing A (2005) A report on Canadian and American news media coverage of nanotechnology issues. Report from The Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies. http://www.nanotechproject.org/process/assets/files/2723/25_canadianandamericannewsmediacoveragenanotechnologyissues.pdf. Accessed 6 October 2011

Landau J, Groscurth CR, Wright L, Condit CM (2009) Visualizing nanotechnology: the impact of visual images on lay American audience associations with nanotechnology. Public Underst Sci 18(3):325–337CrossRef

Laycock H (2005) Mass nouns, count nouns and non-count nouns. In: Brown K (ed) Encyclopedia of language and linguistics, 2nd edn. Elsevier, Oxford, pp 534–538

Lösch A (2006) Anticipating the futures of nanotechnology: visionary images as means of communication. Technol Anal Strateg Manag 18(3/4):393–409

Lyons J (1968) Introduction to theoretical linguistics. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge

Matthiessen CMIM (2009) Meaning in the making: meaning potential emerging from acts of meaning. Lang Learn 59(1):206–229CrossRef

Nerlich B (2008) Powered by imagination: nanobots at the Science Photo Library. Sci Cult 17(3):269–292CrossRef

Neuman WR, Just MR, Cringler AN (1992) Common knowledge: news and the construction of political meaning. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, London

Pidgeon N, Harthorn BH, Bryant H, Rogers-Hayden T (2009) Deliberating the risks of nanotechnologies for energy and health applications in the United States and United Kingdom. Nat Nanotechnol 4:95–98CrossRef

Priest S, Greenhalgh T, Kramer V (2010) Risk perceptions starting to shift? U.S. citizens are forming opinions about nanotechnology. J Nanopart Res 12:11–20CrossRef

Recanati F (2004) Literal meaning. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge

Russell B (1923) Vagueness. Australas J Psychol Philos 1:84–92CrossRef

Scheufele DA (1999) Framing as a theory of media effects. J Commun 49(1):103–122CrossRef

Scheufele DA, Lewenstein BV (2005) The public and nanotechnology: how citizens make sense of emerging technologies. J Nanopart Res 7:659–667CrossRef

Scheufele DA, Corley EA, Shih T, Dalrymple KE, Ho SS (2008) Religious beliefs and public attitudes toward nanotechnology in Europe and the United States. Nat Nanotechnol 4:91–94CrossRef

Schmidt Kjaergard R (2010) Making a small country count: nanotechnology in Danish newspapers from 1996–2006. Public Underst Sci 19(1):80–97CrossRef

Schütz H, Wiedemann PM (2008) Faming effects on risk perception of nanotechnology. Public Underst Sci 17:369–379CrossRef

Siegrist M, Keller C, Kastenholz H, Frey S, Wiek A (2007) Laypeople’s and experts’ perception of nanotechnology hazards. Risk Anal 27(1):59–69CrossRef

Siegrist M, Stampfli N, Kastenholz H, Keller C (2008) Perceived risks and perceived benefits of different nanotechnology foods and nanotechnology food packaging. Appetite 51(2):283–290CrossRef

Simons J, Zimmer R, Vierboom C, Härlen I, Hertel R, Böl G-F (2009) The slings and arrows of communication on nanotechnology. J Nanopart Res 11:1555–1571CrossRef

Sinclair J (1991) Corpus, concordance, collocation. Oxford University Press, Oxford

Sperber D, Wilson D (1995, orig. 1986) Relevance: communication and cognition, 2nd edn. Blackwell Publishing, Oxford

Stephens LF (2005) News narratives about nano S&T in major U.S. and non-U.S. newspapers. Sci Commun 27:175–199CrossRef

Stubbs M (2002) Words and phrases: corpus studies of lexical semantics. Blackwell Publishing, Oxford

Te Kulve H (2006) Evolving repertoires: nanotechnology in daily newspapers in the Netherlands. Sci Cult 15(4):367–382CrossRef

Tversky A, Kahneman D (1981) The framing of decisions and the psychology of choice. Science 211(4481):453–458CrossRef

Weaver DA, Lively E, Bimber B (2009) Searching for a frame: news media tell the story of technological progress, risk, and regulation. Sci Commun 31:139–166CrossRef

Title: The many faces of nano in newspaper reporting
Authors: Max Boholm
Åsa Boholm
Publication date: 01-02-2012
Publisher: Springer Netherlands
Published in: Journal of Nanoparticle Research / Issue 2/2012
Print ISSN: 1388-0764
Electronic ISSN: 1572-896X
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11051-012-0722-y

Springer Professional

Abstract

Please log in to get access to your license.

Dont have a licence yet? Then find out more about our products and how to get one now:

Springer Professional "Wirtschaft+Technik"

Springer Professional "Technik"

Other articles of this Issue 2/2012

In Situ Charge Characterization of TiO2 and Cu–TiO2 Nanoparticles in a Flame Aerosol Reactor

A novel two-phase thermal approach for synthesizing CdSe/CdS core/shell nanostructure

Pyrophoricity of nano-sized aluminum particles

Solvothermal preparation of nano-β-HgS from a precursor, bis(dibenzyldithiocarbamato)mercury(II)

Valency control in MoO3−δ nanoparticles generated by pulsed laser liquid solid interaction

Patterning silver nanocubes in monolayers using phase separated lipids as templates

Premium Partners