The Influence of Outrage Factors on Journalists’ Gatekeeping of Health Risks

Abstract

Public risk perception is critical in understanding the modern “risk society,” and news media can be a significant influence on the perception. Based on Peter Sandman’s concept of “outrage factors” of risk, this study investigated whether these factors influence journalistic risk gatekeeping. A survey of 200 Korean journalists was conducted and results showed that the average outrage factors perceived by the reporters were influential in determining the degree of newsworthiness in all the cases across the five hazards. In particular, “catastrophic potential” was the most salient influence in that it was influential in three of the five hazards.