Risk in the Media: Continuity and Change – A Sociological Workshop

The reporting and communication of risk seems to have changed since the days of routine 'scares' such as mobile phones giving us brain cancer or 'Frankenfoods' changing life as we know it. Around some issues at least, journalists and public alike may have become more cautious and sceptical about media presented risk. Smarter means of communicating risk have become embedded and organisations now keep the media on its toes to ensure stories have substance and credibility. Yet even within the field of lifestyle health risks the picture is far from clear, and continuity is apparent as much as change. In early 2017, the Food Standards Agency warned us about the dangers of burnt toast, for example, following dubious warnings about the cancer threat of even moderate amounts of alcohol from the Chief Medical Officer.

Call for Papers

Has there not so much been a change in the nature of reporting but simply a shift in focus from one type of issue to another? Is the issue now less one of media itself than how institutions themselves continue to promote particular dangers? Has the shift towards different types of media – from newspapers to digital and social media platforms – itself stimulated change in what and how risks are communicated?

These are some of the questions we will be exploring in a one-day workshop hosted by the British Sociological Association and University of Kent risk research groups. The organisers work in different areas of risk and its communication, from science and technology, to child protection and parenting and media, and risk and its changing meanings more generally. This will be a relatively small, participative event that we hope will encourage an environment where we can really think issues through and develop insights that can be taken further.

No particular areas, issues or national contexts are excluded but we would particularly welcome papers that look across single examples and encourage broader reflections on trends over time and place.

Guidance on Abstract Submission

Please submit an abstract of no more than 250 words by email to Jo Warner by Friday, 30 June 2017. We will advise you if your submission has been successful by the end of July.

The day will also offer opportunities for more general discussion about the study group's aims and objectives, and also ideas for future study day events. We plan to organise another study day event for 2018 and would like suggestions for possible themes.

Please note that we may also build on the event to develop ideas for a journal special issue. We will provide more details about this on the day.

Please contact Jo Warner (Study Group Convenor) with any academic queries you may have.

Venue Details

BSA Meeting Room, Suite 2, 2 Station Court, Imperial Wharf, Townmead Road, Fulham, London SW6 2PY. Find out more about the BSA London Meeting Room.