Using a new analytical tool, supervised machine learning (SML), a large number of newspaper articles is analysed to answer the question how newspapers frame the news of public risks, in this case of earthquakes caused by gas drilling in The Netherlands. SML enabled the study of 2265 news articles published over a period of 25 years. Our study shows that there is a disproportional relation between media reporting and actual risk; and that the use of dramatization bias in framing the issue about gas drilling increased, but the use of personalization and negativity bias did not become more dominant after a major media change in 2013. Sensational/tabloid newspapers make more use of personalization bias, whereas quality newspapers make more use of value conflict and political disagreement in the framing about gas drilling.
This study aims to provide a more sensitive understanding of the dynamics and tipping points of issue attention in news media by combining the strengths of quantitative and qualitative research. The topic of this 25-year longitudinal study is the volume and the content of newspaper articles about the emerging risk of gas drilling in The Netherlands. We applied supervised machine learning (SML) because this allowed us to study changes in the quantitative use of subtopics at the detailed sentence level in a large number of articles. The study shows that the actual risk of drilling-induced seismicity gradually increased and that the volume of newspaper attention for the issue also gradually increased for two decades. The sub-topics extracted from media articles during the low media attention period, covering factual information, can be interpreted as a part of episodic frame patterns about the drilling and its consequences. However, a sudden major shift in newspaper attention can be observed in 2013. This sudden disjointed expansion in the volume of media attention on this large-scale technology occurred after a governmental authority classified the drilling-induced earthquakes as a safety issue. After the disjointed issue expansion, safety and decision making were the main subtopics linked to the thematic frames, responsibility, conflict, human interest, and morality. We conclude that SML is a promising tool for future analysis of the growing number of publicly available digitalized textual big datasets, particularly for longitudinal studies and analysis of tipping points and reframing.
Is there a relation between street-level bureaucrats’ enforcement style and their perception of the risk of getting blamed? This article answers this question on the basis of a survey ( n = 507) among inspectors of the Netherlands Food and Product Safety Authority. We included perceived media attention on their work as a factor that might influence street-level bureaucrats’ perception of blame risk and their enforcement style. Three dimensions of enforcement style were distinguished from earlier research: legal, facilitative and accommodative. We found that when inspectors perceive more blame risk, they employ a slightly less legal style and, instead, employ a more accommodative style. Thus, they act a little less formally and less coercively (i.e. legal) and take greater account of their peers’ opinions (i.e. accommodative). However, perceived media attention did not have a significant influence on enforcement style. Points for practitioners 1. When inspectors perceive more blame risk, they tend to pay more attention to the opinion of peers (other inspectors, supervisors, etc.). 2. Blame risk does not lead to the use of a more formal inspection style. 3. Media attention does not play an important role in enhancing the blame risk perception of inspectors. 4. This media and blame risk is less important than often found in the case of politicians. This may be connected to the fact that the work of inspectors as street-level bureaucrats is less visible to the wider public (and the media).
This study analyzes news media's role in governmental decision-making processes related to a gradually intensifying series of earthquakes resulting from gas drilling in the Netherlands, and catastrophic natural earthquakes in Italy. According to the risk governance actors interviewed in both cases, media play three roles, as: democratic fora, agenda setters, and strategic instruments. Media attention for risk can create ripple effects in governmental decision-making processes. However, media attention tends to be risk-event driven and focuses on direct newsworthy consequences of events. For 'non-event risks', or when newsworthiness after a risk-event fades, the media's agenda setting and democratic fora roles are limited. This contributes to risk attenuation in society, potentially resulting in limited risk prevention and preparedness. Governmental actors report difficulties in using news media for strategic communication to facilitate risk governance because of media's tendency towards sensationalism. Our research suggests that, in the governance of earthquake-risk news, media logic overrules other institutional logics only for a short while and not in the long run when the three roles of media do not reinforce each other.
Existe-t-il une relation entre le style d’inspection et la perception du risque de mise en cause chez les fonctionnaires de terrain ? Dans cet article, nous répondons à cette question en nous appuyant sur une enquête ( n = 507) réalisée auprès d’inspecteurs de l’autorité néerlandaise de la sécurité des aliments et des produits. Nous avons inclus leur perception de l’attention des médias sur leur travail en tant que facteur pouvant influer sur leur perception du risque de mise en cause et leur style d’inspection. Trois dimensions du style d’inspection ont été retenues à partir de recherches antérieures : légaliste, facilitante et accommodante. Selon nos observations, lorsque les inspecteurs perçoivent un risque de mise en cause plus élevé, ils adoptent un style légèrement moins légaliste et plus accommodant. Ils agissent alors d’une manière un peu moins formelle et rigide (moins légaliste) et prenant plus en compte l’avis des pairs (plus accommodante). Toutefois, la perception de l’attention des médias n’a pas eu d’influence significative sur le style d’inspection. Remarques à l’intention des praticiens Lorsque les inspecteurs perçoivent un risque de mise en cause plus élevé, ils ont tendance à accorder plus d’attention à l’avis de leurs pairs (autres inspecteurs, supérieurs hiérarchiques, etc.). Le risque de mise en cause ne conduit pas à l’adoption d’un style d’inspection plus formel. L’attention des médias ne joue pas un rôle important sur l’augmentation de la perception du risque de mise en cause chez les inspecteurs. Ce risque de médiatisation et de mise en cause est moins important que celui auquel les responsables politiques sont souvent exposés. Cela peut être lié au fait que le travail des inspecteurs, en tant que fonctionnaires de terrain, est moins visible pour le grand public (et les médias).
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