Jensen, E. A. (2010). Celebrity life politics in US and UK journalistic coverage of therapeutic cloning research. New Genetics & Society, 29 (2): 119-132. DOI: 10.1080/14636778.2010.484894
This study investigates the role of celebrity life politics in American and British press coverage of therapeutic cloning. A large sample of articles in the US press and both elite and tabloid UK newspapers and periodicals was collected and analyzed for this study. The present analysis focuses on activist patients as key news sources in this coverage. These patients drew upon narratives of personal suffering with political implications that interfaced with journalists’ desire for human interest stories. Celebrity patients in particular were found to contribute to the construction of therapeutic cloning as the source of future cures for debilitating illnesses that are currently incurable. The intertwining of personal suffering and political advocacy identified in this case is linked to Giddens’ theorization of life politics.
