A survey of television meteorologists about their sources for and understanding of pollen counts.

Abstract

Pollen counts are widely used by television stations in news programming but little is known about the sources for and quality of this information. The purpose of this investigation was to survey television meteorologists about their sources for pollen counts and to assess their general understanding of these data. Sixty-seven meteorologists employed by television stations in the nation's 20 largest Designated Market Areas (DMAs) were contacted by telephone. A brief survey was administered verbally and their responses were recorded. Thirty-seven meteorologists indicated that their station used pollen counts in news programming. Most were aware of their station's source for this information and reported that viewers contacted them about the pollen count. Few meteorologists, however, knew the type of instrument that was used to obtain pollen samples they aired and only 10 selected the correct definition of a pollen count from a list of three choices. Pollen counts are an important element in television news programming that are poorly understood by the meteorologists who present them to the public. Allergists are encouraged to better educate the personnel at stations to which they supply pollen counts.