Mecha-Media: How Are Androids, Cyborgs, and Robots Presented and Received Through the Media?

Abstract

How are robots, androids and cyborgs presented and received in the media? This chapter applies a social media analysis to this question by using empirical research on news stories that feature robotic technologies to see how robots are presented, consider what reporters focus on when writing about robots, and review how the public discusses and receives robots. The theoretical framework utilised focuses on how robot narratives are framed, how robot controversies are presented in different media, and how robots are domesticated through the media. The two main cases are a “robot hotel” in Japan, and a “killer robot” at a Volkswagen factory in Germany. News coverage of both stories shows widely differing ways for how the robot-narrative is framed.