To what effect does the media alter the way the public feels and reacts to volcanoes?

rocky Stephen Banquier

Hi Stephen,

Now there's a loaded question. I guess the media do a relatively responsible job of covering volcanoes. They tend to only pay attention to them when there is a big disaster but that is to be expected, I think. Most reporters are able to understand the basic ideas of volcanology and report them reasonably well. One sometimes gets the impression that there is some impatience about why volcanoes and eruptions are not better understood, but that is probably the same with mass media reporting on all science topics. There is little appreciation for the slowness and methodical-ness of science, of the fact that big discoveries are very rare, of the fact that the natural world is incredibly hard to understanc, etc.

I was given a copy of a video put out by ABC news that contains their coverage of the Mt. Saint Helens eruption. They may have edited out any dumb statements that might have been in there, but by and large it is quite understandable and reasonable.

This has been kind of a rambling non-answer. Sorry.

Scott Rowland, University of Hawaii 

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