Human Cloning and the Raelians: Media Coverage and the Rhetoric of Science

Abstract

In this article, the author analyzes the reported coverage on human cloning and the Raelians in the Spanish newspaper El País. On December 27, 2002, Brigitte Boisselier, the director of the biotechnology company Clonaid, part of the International Raelian Movement, announced they had successfully cloned a baby girl. This news report enlivened the controversy on human cloning, which originated in February 1997 with the news of Dolly’s birth. El País constructed the controversy as a fundamental problem of scientific policy. This study suggests that El País wants to persuade policy makers to establish limited regulations on experimentation with embryo stem cells for therapeutic purposes. To achieve this goal, this newspaper used scientific sources selected ad hoc and a series of well-defined rhetorical strategies.