Environmental risk in the media: Modeling the reactions of the audience

Abstract

This article concerns media reports on environmental risks and, specifically, the question of how recipients react to typical media reports. To describe the content and quality of media reports, we first discuss the mechanisms of news selection by journalists and present results of a media analysis of newspaper reports on environmental risks. We then present a psychological theory of risk appraisal that includes emotional and behavioral reactions of recipients to typical media reports. The theory is implemented as a computer simulation (Intuitive Thinking in Environmental Risk Appraisal; ITERA). After introducing the ITERA model and its assumptions, empirical support for the model is provided. In doing so, we review previous experiments dealing with recipients' reactions to a single newspaper report and present in more detail a novel experiment that explores the effects of a series of two media reports with controversial information. We conclude by discussing the implications of our work for future research in the domain of risk perception and risk communication.

Citation

Nerb, J., Spada, H. and Lay, K. (2001), "Environmental risk in the media: Modeling the reactions of the audience", Böm, G., Nerb, J., McDaniels, T. and Spada, H. (Ed.) Environmental Risks: Perception, Evaluation and Management (Research in Social Problems and Public Policy, Vol. 9), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 57-85. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0196-1152(01)80024-7