ABSTRACT
People naturally become concerned about problems that confront them directly, impinging overtly on themselves or their families. Think of the woman whose home lies in the flight path of a proposed new runway, or a man in bed, spooked by unrecognized footsteps in the hallway. These concerns are easily understood, needing no further explanation. This chapter focuses on how mass media affect public concern about risks that we would not know solely from personal experience, like climate change, stratospheric ozone depletion, ionizing radiation, chemical pollution, water contamination, pesticides, or genetically modified food. Its central assertion is that public concern about a putative risk rises with increasing news coverage and wanes as coverage decreases. US coverage was initially light despite Congressional hearings held in April 2000 by Representative Dan Burton, once a supporter of laetrile, now the grandfather of an autistic child, taking testimony about children developing autism after MMR vaccination.
