This paper examines how mass media in Japan influenced upon the public awareness of the global environmental issues during and prior to the Earth Summit (UNCED) in 1992. Our survey revealed substantial public concern about environmental issues in Japan. Content analysis of television news during the UNCED, however, found relatively weak relationship between the salient environmental issues of the audience and the portrayal of environmental issues in television news during the UNCED. An agenda-setting study of the newspapers during and before the UNCED showed a gradual and cumulative nature of the effects rather than the immediate effects. The amount of television viewing and the attitudes toward environmental tax showed positive association, after controlling for demographic variables, which suggested cultivation effects of the media.
We first discuss psychological response and coping behavior in disaster situations. We confirm earlier findings that people have a tendency to interpret the signs of danger within their daily context and to underestimate the possibility of a disaster. It is suggested that repetitive and consistent information would help to induce adaptive responses. The typical coping patterns found were: (1) information-gathering behavior, (2) activities closely related to one's family, (3) preventive or protective behaviors, and (4) self-protection by moving. We found the following six psychological determinants of coping behavior: (1) recognizing the seriousness of the situation, (2) knowing appropriate behavior for the situation faced, (3) expecting the projected coping response to be feasible, (4) perceiving the cost and reward of acting, (5) feeling of imminence of danger, and (6) the state of emotion of those involved. In the last part of the article we examine evacuation behavior in particular, based on our surveys in four communities in Japan. The central factors which determine evacuation decisions were: (1) direct perception of threat, (2) exposure to the evacuation advice, (3) factors relating to family, (4) community preparedness, and (5) demographic characteristics. We distinguish three basic phases in the evacuation process, that is, the timing of evacuation, the choice of transportation, and the sheltering activity. Threat conditions, exposure to evacuation advice, and one's location were found to relate to the timing of evacuation. Most people evacuated by car. No consistent pattern was found in the choice of shelters.
Abstract In this paper, we inquire into the role of news media in forming the public awareness of global environmental problems and in facilitating pro-environmental behavior of individuals, by analyzing survey data and newspaper articles in Japan. We find that public awareness of the global environment has been kept at high level since 1992. Exposure to the news media is found to have a positive correlation with the level of concern over environmental issues. Strong agenda-setting effects are not apparent in the short run, but become more significant with time, suggesting a cumulative and long-term cognitive impact of the news media. Meanwhile, the overall level of exposure to television shows a significant correlation with anti-environmental attitudes, suggesting a negative cultivation effect of television programs on public awareness of environmental issues in Japan.
We first discuss psychological response and coping behavior in disaster situations. We confirm earlier findings that people have a tendency to interpret the signs of danger within their daily context and to underestimate the possibility of a disaster. It is suggested that the repetitive and consistent information would help to induce adaptive responses. The typical coping patterns found were: (1) information gathering behavior, (2) activities closely related to one's family, (3) preventive or protective behaviors, and (4) self protection by moving. We found the following six psychological determinants of coping behavior: (1) recognizing the seriousness of the situation, (2) knowing appropriate behavior for the situation faced, (3) expecting the projected coping response to be feasible, (4) perceiving the cost and reward of acting, (5) feeling of imminence of danger and, (6) the state of emotion of those involved. In the last part of the article we examine evacuation behavior in particular, based on our surveys in four communities in Japan. The central factors which determine evacuation decisions were: (1) direct perception of threat, (2) exposure to the evacuation advice, (3) factors relating to family, (4) community preparedness, and (5) ’ demographic charactersties. We distinguish three basic phases in the evacuation process, that is, the timing of evacuation, the choice of transportation, and the sheltering activity. Threat conditions, exposure to evacuation advice, and one's location were found to relate to the timing of evacuation. Most people evacuated by car. No consistent pattern was found in the choice of shelters.
This paper examines the operations of mass media in disasters, the content of messages in disaster reporting, and the distortion in reporting warnings and disasters, based on empirical studies in several communities in Japan. In the warning stage, we found that the broadcast media are the primary source of information in most cases. However, the warnings often did not reach a complete range of audience, nor could it induce an adaptive response among these recipients. As for the mass media operation during and after the disasters, we found that the difficulties in mobilizing resources, uncertainties in reliable news sources, and malfuntioning communication channels were the main obstacles in reporting damages. The main characteristics of the content of mass media reporting in disasters are described. Six types of information are found in the disaster reporting of the broadcast media: Information on (1) advice or directions, (2) disaster agent, (3) safety message, (4) damage, (5) countermeasures, and (6) restoration. The results of the content analysis of the broadcast of two stations on the day of the Nihonkai-Chuubu Earthquake shows that personal messages and damages information were the most heavily broadcast. This did not always match the information needs of the residents. The media in Japan tend to exaggerate damages in disasters, leading to the distorted perception of hazards. They also tend not to report sufficiently the news people want to get. The reasons for these inaccurate reportings are: (1) journalist's attitude to news editing and reporting, and (2) distorted images or myths among journalists. The content of newspaper reporting of a false warning was analyzed as a case study.
This work reports on the first ever effort by researchers from tfie
United States and Japan to undertake a collaborative social science
study in the disaster area. The agreed upon focus was the
operation of local mass communication systems during the emergency
time periods of disasters in both societies. Using a mostly
common, although not identical research design, the Americans
studied local reporting of a major hurricane (Hurricane Alicia in
the Houston, Texas metropolitan area in 1983) and a major sudden
flood (around Tulsa, Oklahoma in 1984). The Japanese in turn
researched the local reporting of two similar disasters (the floods
and landslides around Nagasaki in 1982 and the earthquake-tsunami
disaster in Noshiro City in northern Japan in 1983). The overall
objective of the collaborative work was to ascertain the
similarities and differences in disaster news gathering and
reporting at the local community level in the two societies.
