Shared Vulnerability The Media and American Perceptions of the Bhopal Disaster

Subjects:

• Communications » Mass Media

Awards:

• Choice Outstanding Academic Book, 1987

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

Table of Contents:

• Illustrations
• Preface
• The Year of Bhopal
• The Scholarly Framework
• Bhopal in Black and White
• The Living Room Tragedy
• Patterns of Power
• The Public Perception
• What Price Connection?
• Shared Vulnerability
• Selected Bibliography
• Index