EXPLORING THE COSMOS: THE RHETORIC OF SUCCESSFUL SCIENCE TELEVISION By ALEXANDREA MATTHEWS A THESIS PRESENTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS IN MASS COMMUNICATION UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA 2015 1 © 2015 Alexandrea Matthews 2 To my mom, Dina Matthews, for the never-ending love, encouragement, and support 3 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I thank my chair, Dr. Debbie Treise, who not only guided me through my thesis but my entire graduate school experience. She has been patient and always accommodating, answering my many questions by e-mail almost immediately, even on weekends, and always found time for me despite her busy schedule. Through the research, coding, and analysis, she has always offered me invaluable insight and editing. I could not be more grateful to have had such a caring, supportive, and experienced thesis chair, advisor, and professor. Thank you for always going above and beyond in these roles. I also thank my other two committee members, Dr. Johanna Cleary and Dr. Elizabeth Lada. They have been supportive and enthusiastic about my research from the beginning and have offered me guidance that really shaped my methodology and research. Dr. Cleary gave me insight from her expertise in telecommunications and offered many great suggestions. Dr. Lada helped me from her expertise in astronomy, as both a committee member and a professor, who gave me the knowledge to approach my thesis from a more informed perspective. I am so thankful to have had such an experienced, diverse committee which could offer me guidance from multiple areas. I thank my family for their endless love and support, even just making me laugh when I’ve felt overwhelmed. I couldn’t have gotten through this without you. My aunt and uncle, John and Aldina Warters, helped me in countless ways to get through my thesis and graduate school and never stopped reminding me to ‘believe.’ My mother, Dina Matthews, has been a big source of my inspiration and energy and has been there for me no matter what. Thank you, for everything. 4 TABLE OF CONTENTS page ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................................... 4 LIST OF FIGURES .......................................................................................................... 8 ABSTRACT ..................................................................................................................... 9 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................... 11 2 REVIEW OF LITERATURE .................................................................................... 17 A Need for Science Television ................................................................................ 17 Television for Increasing Science Knowledge ......................................................... 22 Television for Influencing Interest and Attitude ....................................................... 25 Television’s Impact on Funding .............................................................................. 29 The Popularity of Cosmos ....................................................................................... 32 From Public to Commercial Broadcasting ............................................................... 36 Sorensen’s Framework for Science Television and the Use of Rhetoric................. 38 Kairos in Cosmos .................................................................................................... 39 Ethos in Cosmos ..................................................................................................... 44 Aethos in Cosmos ................................................................................................... 47 Mythos in Cosmos .................................................................................................. 52 Interview with Steven Soter .................................................................................... 58 Research Questions ............................................................................................... 60 3 METHODOLOGY ................................................................................................... 61 Design ..................................................................................................................... 61 Sampling ................................................................................................................. 63 Coding Categories .................................................................................................. 63 Analysis .................................................................................................................. 67 4 RESULTS ............................................................................................................... 70 RQ1a: What Elements of Kairos Were Present in Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey? ............................................................................................................. 70 Creation ............................................................................................................ 71 Religion ............................................................................................................ 73 Environmental .................................................................................................. 75 Challenging Authority ....................................................................................... 77 Political ............................................................................................................. 79 Health ............................................................................................................... 80 RQ1b: How Did the Elements of Kairos Compare with Those of Cosmos? ............ 80 Creation ............................................................................................................ 81 5 Religion ............................................................................................................ 83 Political ............................................................................................................. 85 Challenging Authority ....................................................................................... 86 Environmental .................................................................................................. 88 Health ............................................................................................................... 88 RQ2a: What Elements of Ethos Were Present in Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey? ............................................................................................................. 89 RQ2b: How did the elements of ethos compare with those of Cosmos? ................ 90 RQ3a: What Elements of Aethos Were Present in Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey? ............................................................................................................. 92 Dominant Types of Imagery ............................................................................. 92 Description of Imagery...................................................................................... 92 Use of Enthymeme ........................................................................................... 93 RQ3b: How Did the Elements of Aethos Compare with Those of Cosmos? ........... 95 Dominant Types of Imagery ............................................................................. 95 Description of Imagery...................................................................................... 95 Use of Enthymeme ........................................................................................... 96 RQ4a: What Elements of Mythos Were Present in Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey? ............................................................................................................. 97 Journey/Adventure ........................................................................................... 97 Ship of the Imagination/Cosmic Calendar ........................................................ 98 Scientist Stories ................................................................................................ 99 Science Metaphors/Personification ................................................................ 100 Poetic Language ............................................................................................ 102 RQ4b: How Did the Elements of Mythos Compare with Those of Cosmos? ......... 103 Journey/Adventure ......................................................................................... 104 Ship of the Imagination/Cosmic Calendar ...................................................... 104 Scientist Stories .............................................................................................. 105 Science Metaphors/Personification ................................................................ 107 Poetic Language ............................................................................................ 109 5 DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION ...................................................................... 114 Kairos .................................................................................................................... 114 Creation .......................................................................................................... 115 Religion .........................................................................................................