Dangerous Towers, Harmless Phones? Swiss Newspaper Coverage of the Risk Associated With Non-Ionizing Radiation

This article addresses the paradox that society seems to be concerned with radiation emissions from cell phone towers rather than with emissions from cell phones themselves. Experts, however, consider cell phones riskier than towers. The reasons for this paradox are likely to be rooted in psychological mechanisms of risk perception, but communication may also play a role. A content analysis of Swiss newspapers shows that they cover radiation in ways that legitimize worries about phones and towers, but they talk about towers six times more often than phones, suggesting that the risk comes from the towers rather than the phones. The differences in attention can be explained by journalists' routine reliance on news sources from the authorities and on discernable events, such as committee meetings, construction, and opening ceremonies. The study also finds that representatives of politics, administration, and business are cited in ways that often delegitimize worries about radiation, but coverage often legitimizes worries when these groups become the object of coverage.