This Article Full Text (PDF) References Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by GRIFFIN, R. J. Articles by DUNWOODY, S. Search for Related Content Social Bookmarking                         What's this?

Community Structure and Science Framing of News About Local Environmental Risks

Marquette University

SHARON DUNWOODY

University of Wisconsin-Madison

When newspapers cover stories about environmental pollution, the nature of the community they serve can indirectly influence the contents of that coverage. This article describes research showing that newspapers in pluralistic (i.e., usually larger) communities are more likely than papers in homogeneous (i.e., usually smaller) communities to interpret the pollution as a science story. Framing a pollution incident as a science story makes it more likely that the story will link the pollution to health effects, especially when (1) newspapers in pluralistic communities are dealing with a local polluter, and (2) newspapers in homogeneous communities are writing about pollution problems outside the community. These results are consistent with the Tichenor, Donohue, and Olien conflict/consensus model, which posits that the way power is distributed in a community affects the way that stories are selected and framed by local mass media.

Science Communication, Vol. 18, No. 4, 362-384 (1997)
DOI: 10.1177/1075547097018004005


CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter    What's this?

This article has been cited by other articles:

				C. E. Clarke A Question of Balance: The Autism-Vaccine Controversy in the British and American Elite Press Science Communication, September 1, 2008; 30(1): 77 - 107. [Abstract] [PDF]

				J. R. Goodman and B. P. Goodman Beneficial or biohazard? How the media frame biosolids Public Understanding of Science, July 1, 2006; 15(3): 359 - 375. [Abstract] [PDF]

				L. Kahlor, S. Dunwoody, and R. J. Griffin Predicting Knowledge Complexity in the Wake of an Environmental Risk Science Communication, September 1, 2004; 26(1): 5 - 30. [Abstract] [PDF]

				L. Kahlor, S. Dunwoody, and R. J. Griffin Attributions in explanations of risk estimates Public Understanding of Science, July 1, 2002; 11(3): 243 - 257. [Abstract] [PDF]