Between credulity and scepticism: envisaging the fourth estate in 21st-century science journalism

For years Anglo-American news media participated in hyping claims of imminent cures from therapeutic cloning. This hype was scrutinized following the scientific fraud of South Korean therapeutic cloning researcher Hwang Woo-Suk. The scandal left questions about contemporary science journalists' commitment to the ideals of the press as fourth estate or watchdog. The present study adduces data from qualitative interviews with Anglo-American journalists (n = 18) who covered the issue of therapeutic cloning for major newspapers and periodicals. The journalists expressed commitment to the fourth estate ideal, although previous research has shown that their actual coverage fell short of this ideal. Synthesizing previous theory and research with the present study, four meso-level theoretical explanations are postulated for this disjuncture between ideals and practice in journalistic coverage of therapeutic cloning.