Open AccessReassuring or Risky: The Presentation of Seafood Safety in the Aftermath of the British Petroleum Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill
Author(s) -
Amelia Greiner,
Lisa P. Lagassé,
Roni A. Neff,
David C. Love,
Rachel P. Chase,
Natasha Sokol,
Katherine Clegg Smith
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
american journal of public health
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.284
H-Index - 264
eISSN - 1541-0048
pISSN - 0090-0036
DOI - 10.2105/ajph.2012.301093
Subject(s) - deepwater horizon , framing (construction) , stakeholder , context (archaeology) , environmental health , oil spill , business , government (linguistics) , risk communication , risk assessment , presentation (obstetrics) , medicine , environmental protection , environmental science , engineering , political science , public relations , geography , computer security , computer science , structural engineering , linguistics , philosophy , archaeology , radiology
The BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill was enormously newsworthy; coverage interlaced discussions of health, economic, and environmental impacts and risks. We analyzed 315 news articles that considered Gulf seafood safety from the year following the spill. We explored reporting trends, risk presentation, message source, stakeholder perspectives on safety, and framing of safety messages. Approximately one third of articles presented risk associated with seafood consumption as a standalone issue, rather than in conjunction with environmental or economic risks. Government sources were most frequent and their messages were largely framed as reassuring as to seafood safety. Discussions of prevention were limited to short-term, secondary prevention approaches. These data demonstrate a need for risk communication in news coverage of food safety that addresses the larger risk context, primary prevention, and structural causes of risk.