THE RISE AND FALL OF RISK REPORTING - MEDIA COVERAGE OF HUMAN-GENETICS RESEARCH, FALSE-MEMORY-SYNDROME AND MAD-COW-DISEASE

Which risks attract mass media attention! When and why do particular t hreats become headline news! Using three diverse case studies, this ar ticle charts the rise and fall of risk crises and draws on interviews with journalists and their sources to identify the key factors affecti ng these processes. We demonstrate how source competition, journalists ' training, 'newsworthiness', news momentum and the organization of ne ws beats and media outlets encourage certain risks to be highlighted a t particular times, but encourage other risk debates to be entirely ov erlooked. We argue that standard accounts of news production processes fail adequately to account for the media profile of 'risk' unless the y are integrated with an understanding of 'cultural givens', changes o ver time, occasional suspensions of 'normal' journalistic practice and consideration of the particular conditions which come into play on 'r isk reporting'. Similarly, our research suggests that theoretical acco unts of 'risk society' often oversimplify the media's role. Par from b eing eager reporters of risk, the press and TV news are ill adapted fo r sustaining high level coverage of long-term threats. Media interest is rarely maintained in the face of ongoing uncertainty and official s ilence or inaction. In spite of this, the media can serve as one avenu e for public information and political/policy leverage for those who b elieve that risk assessment is 'too important to leave to the experts' . However, the media cannot be assumed to be automatic allies in the ' democratization of risk', and the success of some unofficial sources i n attracting media attention should not be celebrated uncritically.