Media Reporting on Air Pollution: Health Risk and Precautionary Measures in National and Regional Newspapers.

Steven Ramondt,A Susana Ramírez

doi:10.3390/ijerph17186516

Abstract

Exposure to air pollution is one of the primary global health risk factors, yet individuals lack the knowledge to engage in individual risk mitigation and the skills to mobilize for the change necessary to reduce such risks. News media is an important tool for influencing individual actions and support for public policies to reduce environmental threats; thus, a lack of news coverage of such issues may exacerbate knowledge deficits. This study examines the reporting of health risks and precautionary measures regarding air pollution in national and regional print news. We conducted a content analysis of two national and two local newspapers covering the USA’s most polluted region during a 5-year period. Coders identified information on threat, self-efficacy, protective measures and information sources. Nearly 40% of air pollution news articles mentioned human health risks. Fewer than 10% of news stories about air pollution provided information on the precautionary measures necessary for individuals to take action to mitigate their risk. Local newspapers did not report more threat (Χ2 = 1.931, p = 0.165) and efficacy (Χ2 = 1.118, p = 0.209) information. Although air pollution levels are high and continue to rise at alarming rates, our findings suggest that news media reporting is not conducive to raising environmental health literacy.

Highlights

Air pollution is the single largest environmental health risk and one of the largest global risk factors [1,2], with outdoor air pollution estimated to be responsible for almost 8% of total global deaths [3]
The findings of this study suggest that reporting about air pollution in newspapers is not conducive to risk-reducing behavior
There needs to be a better balance between threat and efficacy information—especially effective precautionary measures that individuals can take—in the reporting about air pollution

Summary

Introduction

Air pollution is the single largest environmental health risk and one of the largest global risk factors [1,2], with outdoor air pollution estimated to be responsible for almost 8% of total global deaths [3]. The primary official forms of communication about air pollution to achieve this goal are air quality advisories; the information environment is much broader than targeted campaigns [7]. The broad public information environment is an important determinant of knowledge, attitudes, and other cognitive and emotional determinants of behavior [8,9,10], and should be investigated beyond air quality advisories, especially since awareness of air quality advisories often does not lead to behavior change, and air quality advisories are among the least reported sources of information on air pollution [4,11]. Research has found that media, together with sensory and health cures, are the primary sources of information in air polluted regions [11,12]. Information found in the media can increase awareness and change perceptions of environmental risks, such as air pollution, and help individuals with processes that lead to risk-reducing behavior [13,14]. Public Health 2020, 17, 6516; doi:10.3390/ijerph17186516 www.mdpi.com/journal/ijerph

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Conclusion