Shared Vulnerability: The Media and American Perceptions of the Bhopal Disaster

(Hardback)

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This book chronicles the American media's coverage of the 1984 chemical spill in Bhopal, India, and its aftermath in the US. It explains how the press reported about Bhopal and examines journalism's subsequent influence on public perceptions about technological safety. . . . It is an excellent addition to university collections in science writing, journalism criticism, and mass media research and should be useful to undergraduates at all levels. Choice More than two years after the Bhopal disaster, fatalities and illnesses in this central Indian city continue to be reported by U.S. media. Litigation involving Union Carbide still makes the front page. In this new book, Professor Wilkins offers a unique case study of news accounts of the worst industrial accident in history, combining a detailed review of media coverage with an analysis of public reaction to those reports.

Reviews

This book chronicles the American media's coverage of the 1984 chemical spill in Bhopal, India, and its aftermath in the US. It explains how the press reported about Bhopal and examines journalism's subsequent influence on public perceptions about technological safety. Wilkins brings excellent scholarly and journalistic credentials to one of the most thorough case studies of media performance ever published. The analysis of the news media's performance after Bhopal is critical, but fair. The book is an exception among media case studies because it (1) analyzes the impact of information and images on public understanding of events, and (2) combines statistical evidence with minimal jargon. The author's accessible writing style provides an excellent model for undergraduate college students. Is shows, by example, how to do applied media research and criticism. The text provides evidence for its conclusions via content analysis and imaginative public opinion polls in two US cities. The book contains appropriate photographs and has a comprehensive bibliography. It is an excellent addition to university collections in science writing, journalism criticism, and mass media research and should be useful to undergraduates at all levels.-Choice
"This book chronicles the American media's coverage of the 1984 chemical spill in Bhopal, India, and its aftermath in the US. It explains how the press reported about Bhopal and examines journalism's subsequent influence on public perceptions about technological safety. Wilkins brings excellent scholarly and journalistic credentials to one of the most thorough case studies of media performance ever published. The analysis of the news media's performance after Bhopal is critical, but fair. The book is an exception among media case studies because it (1) analyzes the impact of information and images on public understanding of events, and (2) combines statistical evidence with minimal jargon. The author's accessible writing style provides an excellent model for undergraduate college students. Is shows, by example, how to do applied media research and criticism. The text provides evidence for its conclusions via content analysis and imaginative public opinion polls in two US cities. The book contains appropriate photographs and has a comprehensive bibliography. It is an excellent addition to university collections in science writing, journalism criticism, and mass media research and should be useful to undergraduates at all levels."-Choice

Author Bio

LEE WILKINS is Assistant Professor in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Colorado, Boulder and earned her doctorate in political science.