Seti and the media: Improving science communication

 From its beginnings, the scientific Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence has faced the 'giggle factor' - that all it amounted to was 'looking for Little Green Men'. Yet SETI has gained credibility as well as recognition that the endeavour is very much part of the rapidly emerging science of astrobiology. SETI is also unusual among areas of science in that almost from the beginning, researchers have considered the social and cultural implications of the experiment. Over the past 15 years, the SETI Institute in Mountain View, California, the largest organisation among a group of independent international efforts, has developed formal education curricula reflective of its research, which continues today. The Institute is also engaged in public outreach in an effort to improve the public understanding of SETI and SETI-related science. In particular, SETI has encouraged mass media attention through a variety of initiatives. This thesis will view science communication through the experiences of SETI - and mostly the SETI Institute. This - probably unique - approach will explore relevant elements of SETI and science communication to show that the current perspective of promulgating the public understanding of science via the mass media may be flawed and worthy of further investigation.