First Published in 1993. In the 1970s, a book collecting research about the mass media and their role in disasters would have been unimaginable. This book, then, is an attempt to compile a somewhat eclectic view of research on mass communication and catastrophe. The editors have attempted to provide a sampling of the most recent empirical work on the mass media and disasters, including everything from content analysis of media reports to studies of audience response to those events.

Lynne Masel Walters Houston Area Research Center Lee Wilkins University of Colorado-Boulder Tim Walters University of Texas at Austin

Contents: E.L. Quarantelli, The Social Science Study of Disasters and Mass Communication. L. Wilkins, Bhopal: The Politics of Mediated Risk. J.A. Ledingham, L.M. Walters, The Sound and the Fury: Mass Media and Hurricanes. R.W. Perry, M.K. Lindell, Communicating Threat Information for Volcano Hazards. S.M. Friedman, TMI: The Media Story That Will Not Die. G. Burd, Preventive Journalism and AIDS Editorials: Dilemmas for Private and Public Health. J. Scanlon, The Hostage Taker, the Terrorist, the Media: Partners in Public Crime. P. Patterson, Reporting Chernobyl: Cutting the Government Fog to Cover the Nuclear Cloud. R.E. Shain, It's the Nuclear, Not the Power and It's in the Culture, Not Just the News. D. Elliott, Tales from the Darkside: Ethical Implications of Disaster Coverage. L. Wilkins, Conclusion: Accidents Will Happen.