The role of the media in risk communication

Lichtenberg, Judith; MacLean, Douglas

doi:10.1007/978-94-009-1952-5_9

Cited by 21 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 7 publications

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“…The role of the mass media in risk communication, within health and more generally, has been debated for many years (Griffin & Dunwoody, 1998;Harrabin & Coote, 2003;Hill, 2001;Lichtenberg & MacLean, 1991). Recently, this debate has included work related to SARS.…”

Section: Sars and The Mass Mediamentioning

confidence: 99%

Responding to global infectious disease outbreaks: Lessons from SARS on the role of risk perception, communication and management

Smith

2006

Social Science & Medicine

671

567

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With increased globalisation comes the likelihood that infectious disease appearing in one country will spread rapidly to another, severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) being a recent example. However, although SARS infected some 10,000 individuals, killing around 1000, it did not lead to the devastating health impact that many feared, but a rather disproportionate economic impact. The disproportionate scale and nature of this impact has caused concern that outbreaks of more serious disease could cause catastrophic impacts on the global economy. Understanding factors that led to the impact of SARS might help to deal with the possible impact and management of such other infectious disease outbreaks. In this respect, the role of risk--its perception, communication and management--is critical. This paper looks at the role that risk, and especially the perception of risk, its communication and management, played in driving the economic impact of SARS. It considers the public and public health response to SARS, the role of the media and official organisations, and proposes policy and research priorities for establishing a system to better deal with the next global infectious disease outbreak. It is concluded that the potential for the rapid spread of infectious disease is not necessarily a greater threat than it has always been, but the effect that an outbreak can have on the economy is, which requires further research and policy development.

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Section: Sars and The Mass Mediamentioning

confidence: 99%

Responding to global infectious disease outbreaks: Lessons from SARS on the role of risk perception, communication and management

Smith

2006

Social Science & Medicine

671

567

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“…(4,14) However, the level of media coverage given to a risk and the intensity of public concern for the issue are not always proportional to the severity of the risk problem in reality. (30,31) Eldridge and Reilly (13) found discrepancies between the level of media coverage measured by the number of newspaper articles and the actual number of infection cases of BSE in Britain from 1986 to 1996. Media concern over the issue stayed relatively low in 1992 and 1993, when the actual infection reached the highest level.…”

Section: Media and Risk Amplificationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Social Amplification of Risk in the Internet Environment

Chung

2011

Risk Analysis

120

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This article analyzes the dynamic process of risk amplification in the Internet environment with special emphasis on public concern for environmental risks from a high-speed railway tunnel construction project in South Korea. Environmental organizations and activists serving as social stations collected information about the project and its ecological impact, and communicated this with the general public, social groups, and institutions. The Internet provides social stations and the public with an efficient means for interactive communication and an open space for active information sharing and public participation. For example, while the website of an organization such as an environmental activist group can initially trigger local interest, the Internet allows this information to be disseminated to a much wider audience in a manner unavailable to the traditional media. Interaction among social stations demonstrates an amplifying process of public attention to the risk. Analyses of the volume of readers' comments to online newspaper articles and public opinions posted on message board of public and nonprofit organizations show the ripple effects of the amplification process as measured along temporal, geographical, and sectoral dimensions. Public attention is also influenced by the symbolic connotations of risk information. Interpretations of risk in religious, political, or legal terms intensify public concern for the environmental risk.

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“…-Study that is oriented on the organizational aspects of risk (Perrow 1984;Clarke 1989) -Study of the context of the sociology of disaster (Dynes et al 1987) -Analysis of mass media and risk communication (Mazur 1981;Lichtenberg and MacLean 1991;Peltu 1988;Stallings 1990;Peters et al 1997;Lombardi 2005) -Risk conflicts and their causes (O'Riodan et al 1997;von Winterfeldt and Edwards 1984;Edwars and von Winterfeldt 1986;Dietz et al 1989) -Analysis of equity and lack of correctness (Kasperson and Kasperson 1983;MacLean 1986;Rosa 1998) -Analysis of risk distribution among classes and populations (Schnaiberg 1980;Beck 1986) -Study regarding epistemology and legitimization of knowledge of risk (Rip 1985;Jasanoff 1986;Dietz and Rycroft 1987;Evers and Nowotny 1987) In this specific work, the concept of risk is considered in the field of the sociology of disaster according to different traditions of thinking and, considering the importance of such studies for the risk perception and the social dynamics, which are the basis for adequate and effective prevention and planning activities, to potential risk for the population living in a specific social space (Krimsky and Golding 1992).…”

Section: Or Environment Damage) Resulting From the Interaction Betweementioning

confidence: 99%

Disaster Resilience from a Sociological Perspective

Lucini

2014

Humanitarian Solutions in the 21st Century

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The role of the media in risk communication

Cited by 21 publications

References 7 publications

Responding to global infectious disease outbreaks: Lessons from SARS on the role of risk perception, communication and management

Responding to global infectious disease outbreaks: Lessons from SARS on the role of risk perception, communication and management

Social Amplification of Risk in the Internet Environment

Disaster Resilience from a Sociological Perspective

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