1. An Attack on Science? Media Use, Trust in
Scientists, and Perceptions of Global Warming
Jay Hmielowski, Lauren Feldman, Teresa Myers,
Anthony Leiserowitz, and Edward Maibach

2. General Research Questions
How does attention to various media outlets relate to (a) trust in
scientists and (b) beliefs about whether global warming is occurring?
Does trust in scientists serve as a mediating variable between media
use and beliefs about global warming?

3. Conservative Media
-Are more likely to cover
climate contrarians and
conservative think tanks
-Use of conservative
media shown to decrease
belief that global warming
is happening

4. Non-Conservative Media
-Less likely to give voice
to climate skeptics and
tends to reflect the
scientific consensus
-Use of non-conservative
media shown to increase
belief that global warming
is happening

5. Trust in Scientists
-Public possess limited
knowledge about global warming
-Rely on heuristics when
reporting attitudes, opinions, etc.
-Trust in scientists has been
shown to be a
heuristic, especially for scientific
issues (e.g., global warming)
-Media have been shown to
influence public trust in scientists

6. Data & Analysis
• Panel data from the Fall 2008 and Spring
2011
– 1,036 participants completed both waves
• Two types of analysis
– Fixed effects regression
– Lagged regression

7. Fixed Effects
-
Conservative
Media Use
- -
+ Global
Trust in
Warming is
Scientists
Happening
Non- + +
Conservative
Media Use
+

8. Lag Model A
Time 1 Time 2
-
Conservative
Media Use
- -
+ Global
Trust in
Warming is
Scientists
Happening
Non- + +
Conservative
Media Use
+

9. Lag Model B
Time 1 Time 2
-
Conservative
Media Use
- -
+ Global
Trust in
Warming is
Scientists
Happening
Non- + +
Conservative
Media Use
+

10. Conclusion
• Media, trust and beliefs
– Conservative media- decreases trust in
scientists and belief that global warming is
happening
– Non-conservative media- increases trust in
scientists and belief that global warming is
happening
• Trust serves as a mediating variable
• Over time effect- T1 media use influences
T2 beliefs