Public Reliance on Risk Communication Channels in the Wake of a Cryptosporidium Outbreak

Authors

Robert J. Griffin, Marquette UniversityFollow
Sharon Dunwoody, University of Wisconsin - MadisonFollow
Fernando Zabala, Marquette UniversityFollow

Document Type

Article

Language

eng

Format of Original

13 p.

Publication Date

8-1998

Publisher

Wiley

Source Publication

Risk Analysis

Source ISSN

0272-4332

Original Item ID

doi: 10.1111/j.1539-6924.1998.tb00350.x

Abstract

In the spring of 1993, about 39% of Milwaukee-area residents suffered through a nationally publicized illness brought about by cryptosporidium, a parasite that had infested the metropolitan drinking water supply. Our study, based on a telephone survey of 610 local adult residents, indicates that worry about becoming ill in the future with cryptosporidiosis relates more strongly and consistently to public reliance on, and use of, media for cryptosporidium information than do a range of risk perception and experience variables. We propose that more studies should take an audience-centered approach to understanding risk communication.

Comments

Risk Analysis, Vol. 18, No. 4 (August 1998): 367–375. DOI.

Recommended Citation

Griffin, Robert J.; Dunwoody, Sharon; and Zabala, Fernando, "Public Reliance on Risk Communication Channels in the Wake of a Cryptosporidium Outbreak" (1998). College of Communication Faculty Research and Publications. 220.
https://epublications.marquette.edu/comm_fac/220