Sharon M. Friedman

Communicating uncertainty: media coverage of new and controversial science.

Exploring the interactions that swirl around scientific uncertainty and its coverage by the mass media, this volume breaks new ground by looking at these issues from three different perspectives: that of communication scholars who have studied uncertainty in a number of ways; that of science journalists who have covered these issues; and that of scientists who have been actively involved in researching uncertain science and talking to reporters about it. In particular, Communicating Uncertainty examines how well the mass media convey to the public the complexities, ambiguities, and controversies that are part of scientific uncertainty. In addition to its new approach to scientific uncertainty and mass media interactions, this book distinguishes itself in the quality of work it assembles by some of the best known science communication scholars in the world. This volume continues the exploration of interactions between scientists and journalists that the three coeditors first documented in their highly successful volume, Scientists and Journalists: Reporting Science as News which was used for many years as a text in science journalism courses around the world.

Alar and apples: newspapers, risk and media responsibility

During 1989, a major environmental and health risk issue, the spraying of Alar on apples, created a furor among the American people. After hearing charges from the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) that eating Alar-laden apples significantly increased a childs risk of developing cancer, numbers of school districts dropped apples from their menus and parents poured apple juice down the drains. Apple sales plummeted. The NRDCs charges, which were disseminated by a well-planned and effective public relations campaign, brought counter-charges from the US Environmental Protection Agency, which accused the NRDC of basing its study on poor data, among other things. The core of the dispute was in the risk figures and risk interpretations being used by each organization. This study reviewed coverage in 13 newspapers during 1989 of the Alar issue. It found good and bad aspects, but little to support the degree of criticism applied by many people to media coverage of Alar. The 13 newspapers produced a total of 297 articles during the year and were not sensational in their approach. Many played the story in the prime news sections, alerting people to possible problems as suggested in most interpretations of media responsibility. Many articles also included a large number of sources and gave the apple industry a prominent voice. More problematic was their treatment of the Alar story as a hard news event, with short, superficial articles that lacked detailed analysis of the central part of the controversy—the risk issues. Four newspapers from apple-growing regions provided generally better coverage of the issue than did those from non-apple regions. The Alar issue has become a major landmark in media coverage of risk. The coverage had great economic and other repercussions that still continue. These newspapers would have been more responsible had they made health risk information more central in their coverage. Instead, reporters covered the conflict itself instead of the science behind the conflict. The study suggests a new model of risk reporting to better serve readers and viewers.

Nuclear Waste: Knowledge Waste?

A stalled nuclear waste program, and possible increase in wastes, beg for social science input into acceptable solutions. Nuclear power is re-emerging as a major part of the energy portfolios of a wide variety of nations. With over 50 reactors being built around the world today and over 100 more planned to come online in the next decade, many observers are proclaiming a “nuclear renaissance” (1). The success of a nuclear revival is dependent upon addressing a well-known set of challenges, for example, plant safety (even in the light of improved reactor designs), costs and liabilities, terrorism at plants and in transport, weapons proliferation, and the successful siting of the plants themselves (2, 3).

Chernobyl coverage: how the US media treated the nuclear industry

This study attempted to uncover whether enough background information about nuclear power and the nuclear industries in the USA, USSR and Eastern and Western Europe had been included during the first two weeks of US coverage of the Chernobyl accident so that Americans would not be misled in their understanding of and attitudes toward nuclear power in general. It also sought to determine if reporters took advantage of the Chernobyl accident to attack nuclear technology or the nuclear industry in general. Coverage was analysed in five US newspapers and on the evening newscasts of the three major US television networks. Despite heavy coverage of the accident, no more than 25% of the coverage was devoted to information on safety records, history of accidents and current status of nuclear industries. Not enough information was provided to help the publics level of understanding of nuclear power or to put the Chernobyl accident in context. However, articles and newscasts generally balanced use of pro- and anti-nuclear statements, and did not include excessive amounts of fear-inducing and negative information.

Environmental Journalism: Guardian of the Asian Commons

The role of journalists in creating awareness of environmental problems in Asia is described. Poverty, unchecked population growth, deforestation coral reef destruction, desertification and air pollution are some of the more glaring problems. Some of the constraints on reporting which are discussed include government censorship, high-level private interference, editorial bias, lack of training in journalism and environmental sciences, and difficulty in locating sources. Workshops for the training of environmental journalists have been sponsored by the United Nations Environment Programme and by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific. Other self-training methods are described that should help journalists develop uniformity and consistency in reporting.

Environmental Reporting: Before and After TMI

Mass media coverage of environmental events and issues, including problems at nuclear power plants, is a complicated affair, full of controversy and constraints imposed by the complexity of the information to be covered and by journalistic traditions and media economic conditions. Smaller newspapers and broadcast stations have a particularly hard time because they do not often employ reporters that have enough educational background or experience in a given area to cover complex technical topics. The author covered the Three Mile Island accident and studied the media coverage of TMI before and during the accident to find out how much local residents have been told about the general nuclear plant operations and possible consequences of the accident. She discussed her findings in this paper.

Environmental Reporting: Reporting on Radon: The Role of Local Newspapers

Radon has become a major environmental issue for newspapers in the vicinity of Reading Prong, Pennsylvania since one of the homes nearby was found to contain one of the highest known radon levels of any house in the world. Radon is not an easy issue for the media to cover due to the complexity of subject matter, and the lack of resources to employ reporters with enough specialized background to report on complex technical subjects. An attempt is made to assess how well the press in the Reading Prong area informed readers about the risks and concerns involved with radon. Newspaper articles from January 1 to September 30, 1985 were analyzed from a number of perspectives.