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December 20, 2007

PEN Hosts a Seminar on Nanotechnology and the Media

Lynn L. Bergeson

On December 18, 2007, the Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies (PEN) at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars hosted a seminar, Nanotechnology & the Media: The Inside Story, to mark the release of a new PEN study on mass media coverage of nanotechnology risks. Conducted by Professor Sharon M. Friedman and Brenda P. Egolf of Lehigh University, the study identified a sizable increase in 2006 over previous years in the number of stories appearing in American and British newspapers and wire services on nanotechnology risks. The study also showed a surge in the number of articles addressing government regulation of nano and a simultaneous decrease in media reports focused on scientific issues (e.g., nano-related study/research results).