Geological hazards, disasters and the media: The Italian case study

Abstract

The present work illustrates the outcomes of a research focusing on the print media's accounts of the natural catastrophic events that took place in Italy from September 2002 to April 2003, and the relevant hazard-related issues. Purpose of the research was to assess the quality of the coverage by means of key indicators such as accuracy, selection of information sources, amplification of political conflict, attention to hazard prevention and mitigation. The analysed sample is composed of 430 news stories of natural catastrophic events and related geological hazards in Italy in the above-mentioned time interval. News stories were selected from: (i) national print newspapers, (ii) national online newspapers and (iii) local print newspapers. The results here presented show that the Italian scientific and environmental print media convey messages that are often characterised by a lack of accuracy and pluralism; furthermore, environmental journalists often tend to shape their reports in such a way as to amplify political-, economic- and human-related implications of natural disasters. Moreover, journalists often avoid providing in-depth scientific coverage of natural causes of extreme geological events and hardly ever highlight the need to prevent and mitigate their consequences. Suggestions are made to take specific actions aimed at bridging the gap between scientists and the media in Italy.