Commentary: Should Reporters Use Risk as a Determinant of Environmental Coverage?

Abstract

Although many of the news sources that provide environmental information to the media discuss environmental issues in terms of degree of risk, journalists continue to rely on their own traditional determinants of news. They cover the politics, the economics, the social aspects, and even the racial aspects of environmental stories, in addition to the scientific questions involved. By hanging on to their own ways of looking at things, the media have steered clear of the influence of those involved in environmental affairs. They have set their own environmental agendas instead of relying on the value judgments of their sources.