Document Type

Presentation

Publication Date

6-1992

Publisher

Robert Bosch Foundation

Source Publication

Report of the Fourth Robert Bosch Colloquium

Abstract

In this study, we explore the impact of community structure on the behaviors of journalists and their media organizations as they construct messages about health risks from environmental contamination for their audiences. We concentrate on community structure for two main reasons: (1) community structure has been shown to have important effects on media coverage of environmental and other issues, and (2) many risk communication programs assume incorrectly that "one message fits all," and therefore do not take macro-level variables such as community structure into account. As Grunig (1989) notes, public information efforts must be directed to carefully selected "segments" of the audience. Just as individuals may vary greatly in their need for specific types of risk information, so may communities--and the media organizations in them—require different communication strategies.

Comments

Author version. "Environment Reporting In The U.S Media: Press Coverage Of Risk From Environmental Contaminants." A Paper presented to the Fourth Robert Bosch Colloquium, "Risk Communication and Science Reporting" Berlin, Germany, June 1992.

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