Media Coverage of Hazard Events: Analyzing the Assumptions*

Freudenburg, William R.; Coleman, Cynthia-Lou; Gonzales, James E.; Helgeland, Catherine

doi:10.1111/j.1539-6924.1995.tb00762.x

Cited by 24 publications

(29 citation statements)

References 22 publications

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“…Unfortunately, the study could not point out the extent to which this difference is due to the social vulnerability, different in the two samples, or is caused by other parameters that did not constitute the object of the research (for example, the evaluation of the mass-media impact, Fritzsche 1995;Freudenburg et al 1996). However, we consider that these influences are negligible for the two samples, having a low level of education and a high rate of poverty.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 89%

Social vulnerability and seismic risk perception. Case study: the historic center of the Bucharest Municipality/Romania

Armaş

2008

Nat Hazards

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Social vulnerability is as much a part of risk as building damage, hazard magnitude, and economic loss. Social vulnerability refers to the capacity of a human community exposed during the impact of a natural hazard event (in this case, an earthquake) to resist, cope with, and recover from that impact. In the perspective of the 3rd millennium, we come to understand that the most efficient and accessible way to reduce the pressure of natural risks is to reduce the vulnerability level of the human communities exposed to that certain hazard. This study aims to test, in an exposed and vulnerable area, the relationship between social vulnerability and the perception of the seismic risk. The research focuses only on the first level of social vulnerability, defined as the ability of an individual within a household to recover from a natural hazard impact (Dwyer et al. 2004). A prevailing assumption was that social vulnerability influences the level of perception of the seismic risk, in an exposed, vulnerable area. To this end, two samples were used, different under the aspect of social vulnerability, in the context of the same residential area. Social vulnerability was computed as a normalized composed index that includes the poverty ratio and the demographic vulnerability ratio (depending on the age, gender, and education level indicators). The statistical processing has indicated a significant difference in the high perception level for the two samples that were compared, in the sense that in the context of an increased level of social vulnerability, people generally better acknowledge the seismic risk.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 89%

Social vulnerability and seismic risk perception. Case study: the historic center of the Bucharest Municipality/Romania

Armaş

2008

Nat Hazards

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“…Studies on media coverage of various events (e.g. natural disasters or hazard events) have found that the number of casualties and extent of damage has an effect on the level of reporting (Freudenburg et al 1996;Van Belle 2000). A similar logic can be applied to political agendas.…”

Section: The Logic Of Reaction To External Focusing Eventsmentioning

confidence: 97%

Upsetting the agenda: the clout of external focusing events in the European Council

Alexandrova

2015

J. Pub. Pol.

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: Focusing events are sudden, striking large-scale occurrences that attract political attention. However, not all potential focusing events appear on the agenda. Combining data from multiple sources, this study conducts an analysis of the determinants of prioritisation of external focusing events in the European Council over a period longer than two decades. The results demonstrate that decisions regarding the placement of crises on the agenda are underscored by exogenous (humanitarian) and endogenous (geopolitical interest) considerations. Those events with a higher likelihood of agenda access include manmade incidents (versus natural disasters), events with larger death tolls and crises in the neighbourhood. Stronger competition between potential focusing events across time and space reduces the chances of access. The level of attention each event receives depends on purely strategic interests. Focusing events in neighbouring countries gain a higher portion of attention, as do occurrences in states having a larger trade exchange with the European Union.

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“…These steps lead to transformation of risk signals, which in turn increases or decreases the salience of certain aspects of risk messages . Typical signal transformation processes include giving disproportionate, long-term attention to some risks while ignoring others (Combs & Slovic, 1978;Freudenburg, Coleman, Gonzales, & Helgeland, 1996;Mazur, 1984Mazur, , 1990McCabe & Fitzgerald, 1991), vocalizing and legitimizing some points of view more or less than others (Hornig, 1993), and dramatizing the nature of some risks but not others (Bauer, Kohring, Gutteling, & Allansdottir, 2001;Johnson & Covello, 1987). These different media responses play key roles in structuring the overall public debate about risk events and hazards (Hornig, 1993).…”

Section: The News Media As a Social Station Of Amplification And Attementioning

confidence: 99%

The Effects of Media Coverage of Scientific Retractions on Risk Perceptions

Sarathchandra

McCright

2017

Sage Open

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Media coverage of scientific studies identifying technological risks generally amplifies public risk perceptions. Yet, if subsequent media coverage reports that those studies have been retracted, are risk perceptions reversed or attenuated? Or, once amplified, do risk perceptions remain elevated? Answering such questions may improve our understanding of risk perceptions of some publicly controversial technologies, for example, childhood vaccines and genetically modified (GM) food. We engage with the social amplification of risk framework, especially scholarship on news media as a risk amplification (or attenuation) station. In a between-subjects experiment, we examine the extent to which perceived risk of GM food is influenced by (a) news of a study reporting that eating GM food causes cancer and/or (b) news of its retraction. Whereas initial news coverage amplified all measured risk perceptions, news of the study's retraction effectively reversed them to nonamplified levels.

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Media Coverage of Hazard Events: Analyzing the Assumptions*

Cited by 24 publications

References 22 publications

Social vulnerability and seismic risk perception. Case study: the historic center of the Bucharest Municipality/Romania

Social vulnerability and seismic risk perception. Case study: the historic center of the Bucharest Municipality/Romania

Upsetting the agenda: the clout of external focusing events in the European Council

The Effects of Media Coverage of Scientific Retractions on Risk Perceptions

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