Television weathercasters as potentially prominent science communicators

Abstract

An important, but mostly overlooked aspect of science communication is the potential role US television weathercasters may perform. In some cases, these specialists may be the only source of scientific information that some people encounter on a regular basis. Audience research indicates that the weathercast is the most-watched part of the local newscast and the primary reason people choose a local television news product. But very little is known about the qualifications of weathercasters as a group and their inclinations as individuals to educate viewers about scientific topics. This study begins with results from the largest survey ever conducted about television weathercasters. Most of them say their broadcasts are appropriate venues for teaching their audiences about science, and most of them are already doing so. Other results provide a baseline foundation on a variety of other work-related factors, including the consistent public service function for most television weathercasters that includes science communication in their communities. Finally, the study discusses the increasing number of initiatives recently being developed to formalize this potentially powerful role of television weathercasters as prominent science communicators

300 Billion Served

“…Except perhaps for current news events, there is probably no other type of information that is obtained on such a routine basis from such a variety of sources. It is quite likely that no other scientific information is accessed so frequently (Wilson 2008). As shown in Fig.…”

Opportunities and Obstacles for Television Weathercasters to Report on Climate Change

“…While Coleman refers to himself as "a mere TV weatherman" in his "Comments on Global Warming" blog (w w w.kusi.com /weather/ colemanscorner/11621966.html), recent peerreviewed research confirms that television weathercasters may be "the most prominent science communicators in our society" (Wilson 2008). Coleman's assertion was cited frequently by radio and cable TV political commentators like Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck and also inf luenced other television weathercasters' reporting on the topic.…”

An exploratory study of the influence of severe weather radar broadcasts

“…He or she serves as an expert upon whom a viewer can depend for accurate warning information (Wilson 2008), and as a closer acquaintance to whom one can turn to for warning confirmation (ShermanMorris 2005). Because much of the communication between two people is non-verbal, a broadcaster's hand gestures, facial expressions, and other physical motions are used by the viewer to make sense of, and respond to, the weather situation (Cassell et al 1998;Beattie and Shovelton 1999;Mogg and Bradley 1999;Anderson et al 2003;Green et al 2003;Liddell et al 2005).…”

“…Television has been historically the most common source of both routine (Tan 1976;Lazo et al 2009) and severe weather (Legates and Biddle 1999;Balluz et al 2000;Brown et al 2002;Hammer and Schmidlin 2002;Sherman-Morris 2005, 2010Schmidlin et al 2009) information; and the primary communicator of the weather information on television is the local weathercaster (Wilson 2008). Despite this importance, few studies (e.g., Sherman-Morris et al 2005;Drost et al 2015) have examined the influence that the weathercaster has on factors such as trust in severe weather information, risk perception, behavior, or recall of information.…”

“…Explanation of radar images takes a significant portion of this on-air time, although we know little about what viewers know or take away from watching the radar explanation. Broadcasters tend to use body language to help viewers understand what the images mean (Cassell et al 1998;Beattie and Shovelton 1999;Wilson 2008;Drost et al 2015). For example, the location of a storm and areas likely to be affected by the most dangerous portion of the storminterpreted from reflectivity radar products-can be easily communicated to viewers by hand gestures.…”