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A Risky Object? How Microplastics Are Represented in the German Media
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Analysis of German print media coverage of microplastics from 2012 to 2019 found a shift from framing microplastics as a distant marine problem to a personal health risk, with the discovery of microplastics in human bodies driving increased alarm and calls for precautionary regulatory action.
Microplastics are increasingly populating the environment and human and nonhuman bodies. Their presence has invoked concerns about potential environmental and health effects, resulting in increasing research and media reporting. Here, we explore how the German print media reported on microplastics between 2004 and 2018. We find three distinct phases of reporting in which microplastics are introduced, stabilized, and destabilized as a “risk object.” We show that different attributions of risk go hand in hand with divergent assessments of who is responsible for risk management and argue that media cycles of affirming and contesting risk might undermine public trust in scientific findings.
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Telling stories about (micro)plastic pollution: Media images, public perceptions and social change
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This paper examines how microplastic pollution has been framed in media reporting and how the public understands the issue, finding that culturally embedded ideas about risk and health shape people's responses. Understanding media framing and public perception is important for designing effective communication strategies around microplastic contamination.
The influence of media narratives on microplastics risk perception
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Researchers examined how media narratives about microplastic pollution influence public risk perception. The study argues that accurate and balanced reporting is essential to prevent misinformation and ensure people clearly understand the risks associated with microplastics. The findings suggest that understanding public perceptions can help design better interventions to reduce plastic consumption and its associated health and environmental impacts.
Media Issue Crystallization: The Case of Microplastic in Denmark
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This study examined how Danish news media constructed and framed microplastic pollution as an emerging environmental issue, analyzing the process by which a complex scientific problem becomes a public concern. Media framing of microplastics influences public awareness and political action on plastic pollution.
How are the potential health impacts of micro-and-nanoplastics represented and framed in UK national newspapers?
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This research planned to examine how UK national newspapers describe possible health effects of micro- and nanoplastics. The abstract available is a study protocol, so it outlines planned methods rather than reporting findings.
Research digests by email
When a large batch of papers lands in the Atlas, we read through it and send a short write-up of what stood out.