ABSTRACT
This chapter reviews current research that examines news media coverage of environmental hazards, the factors that influence such coverage, and the ways in which the coverage influences the perceptions and behaviors of audiences and populations who are at risk. News coverage of environmental hazards varies on the basis of the type of hazard, the characteristics of populations affected, and the stage of the environmental hazard and subsequent disaster (pre-disaster, during the event, and post-disaster). This coverage is influenced by external (e.g. infrastructure damage or collapse), organizational (e.g. news organizations’ preparedness plans, resources), and individual factors (e.g. journalists’ past experiences, resilience). Coverage can have important effects on audiences’ protective behaviors, beliefs, and risk perceptions, but these effects depend on how much they trust the information or feel that a news source is credible, as well as on their past experiences with similar environmental hazards. Most of the research in this area has explored news coverage and audience effects in developed countries.
