Department of Languages, Philosophy, and Communication Studies, Utah State University.
Department of Communication, University of Texas at Tyler.
Health Commun. 2022 Feb;37(2):152-162. doi: 10.1080/10410236.2020.1827540. Epub 2020 Oct 4.
The Safe Drinking Water Act Public Notification Rule requires that customers of public water systems (PWS) be informed of problems that may pose a risk to public health. Boil water advisories (BWA) are a form of communication intended to mitigate potential health risks. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) developed guidance for BWAs. We examined how local US news media incorporate the CDC's guidelines when reporting on BWAs. A content analysis of 1040 local news media articles shows these reports did not consistently incorporate CDC guidelines. Overall, 89% of the articles communicated enough information for readers to determine if they were included in the impacted area. Articles that included at least of the CDC's instructions for boiling water were likely ( < .001) to include other risk information, such as the functions for which water should be boiled (e.g., drinking, brushing teeth) and that bottled water could be used as an alternative source. However, this information was included in only 47% of the articles evaluated. Results suggest public notifications often do not serve the public need for clear risk communication.
《安全饮用水法案公众通知规则》要求公共供水系统（PWS）的客户了解可能对公众健康构成风险的问题。沸水警报（BWA）是一种旨在减轻潜在健康风险的沟通形式。疾病控制与预防中心（CDC）制定了沸水警报的指南。我们研究了美国当地新闻媒体在报道 BWA 时如何纳入 CDC 的指南。对 1040 篇本地新闻媒体文章的内容分析表明，这些报道并没有始终如一地纳入 CDC 指南。总体而言，89%的文章为读者提供了足够的信息，以确定他们是否在受影响的地区内。至少包含 CDC 关于煮沸水的说明的文章更有可能（<0.001）包括其他风险信息，例如应煮沸水的用途（例如，饮用、刷牙）以及可以使用瓶装水作为替代水源。然而，只有 47%的评估文章包含了这些信息。结果表明，公众通知通常不能满足公众对明确风险沟通的需求。
