Information, Media, and the Riskiness of Fracking

• In Event: 254 - Section on Environment and Technology Roundtables (one-hour)
  In Refereed Roundtable: Table 02. Environmental Perception

Abstract

This project compares television and newspaper coverage of fracking in an attempt to assess the possibility of differential coverage leading audiences toward differential stances regarding the issue. After explaining why the theoretical link between media coverage and environmental attitudes is less than straightforward, I outline three different facets of how media sources convey information—through facts, through images, and through quantities of coverage. I then examine media coverage of fracking through each of these three facets. My results suggest that quantities of coverage are more important than facts or images, but not to the extent that content is totally irrelevant.

Author

• Robert Duffy, State University of New Jersey-Rutgers