BP Oil and the Coastline of Florida: A Risky Situation
Abbie Casey, BS junior, Interdisciplinary Studies: Sustainability Studies, Anthropology, and Watershed Sciences, Provost; Chelsea Clark, BS junior, Pre-Medicine Biomedical Sciences, College of Science and Mathematics; Anna Gates, BS senior, Pre-Veterinary Wildlife Sciences, School of Forestry and Wildlife Sciences.
Abstract
Although the oil from the April 20, 2010,
Deepwater Horizon spill did not reach the
Florida beaches, the risk did have an effect on
the health of the people, the industries of the
area, and the nongovernmental organizations’
(NGO) preparation. Specifically, we examined
how the media depicted the risk to humans
and local industry, as well as the risk addressed
by NGOs. By examining broadcast transcripts,
we found common types of discourse, claims,
and claim-framing between the three arenas.
The majority of the transcripts utilized
exemplars to rally support for ecosystemjustice.
Introduction
This study assessed the broadcast news
portrayal of the risk of the Deepwater
Horizon oil spill on Florida coastlines (see
photo 1). Allan (2002) suggests that people
are heavily dependent on the media for
reliable information; they are the bell
ringers of the “social alarm.” According to
the literature reviews, mental health along
with the tourism and fishing industries were
significantly impacted due to the BP oil spill,
however, physical health was only
minimally affected (Cope 2013; Smith
2011). Additionally, Chen et al (2013) found
that it is beneficial for NGOs to have an
operations network to be ready to act as
soon as risk is perceived. Because Florida
was only minimally impacted by the oil spill,
we thought it would be interesting to study
the techniques used by the media – such as
general discourse, claims, and framing – to
portray risk.
Research Question
1. How did the media portray the risk of oil
to the Florida coastline?
2. What are the connections between the
media’s depiction of risk to humans,
industries, and preparation of NGOs?
3. How does the media portrayal of risk
compare to previous case studies detailed
in the peer-reviewed literature?
Methods
• LexisNexis and Access World News were used to search
through national and local broadcast news transcripts
for keywords pertaining to the risk of the oil associated
with human health, local industry, and NGOs in Florida.
• After collecting relevant transcripts, these documents
were placed into Microsoft Excel sheets and analyzed
for various qualities such as general discourse and
claim-framing.
• Each members’ data was collated in a spreadsheet and
color coded for common attributes within general
discourse, claims, and claims-framing.
• (example) General Discourse:
• Red = Economic
• Yellow = Ecosystem
• Blue = Ecosystem Justice
• If each transcript fit under more than one
category, mixed colors were used (blue +
yellow = green), and these were counted
separately.
• The color coded data sets were then quantified to find
correlations of attributes between the subtopics – NGO
preparation and the risk to humans and the local
economy.
Findings
• A total of 26 broadcast transcripts and 20 research articles were used.
• General discourse (Fig. 1): most common type of discourse in the broadcast transcripts was ecosystem justice at
42%, followed by economic and ecosystem discourse at 42%.
• Claim (Fig. 2): Rallying support was the most common type of claim in the broadcast transcripts at 49%,
followed by government disapproval at 27% and urgency at 24%.
• Framing (Fig. 3): The most common type of framing used in the broadcast transcripts was exemplars at 51%
followed by exaggerated/impassioned speech at 30%, and long-term predictions at 19%.
• Governmental organizations received more press than nongovernmental organizations; nongovernmental
organizations were most sought to expound on governmental regulations, substantiating government
disapproval claims.
• Overall, we found that most claims were made for rallying support. Exemplars were most commonly used to
frame the risk to human health as well as long-term impact on fishing and tourism industries.
General Discourse
Ecosystem
Justice
42%
Framing
Economic
29%
Ecosystem
29%
Fig. 1 This graph displays the type of discourse found
throughout the broadcast transcripts.
Exaggerated/Im
passioned
Speech
30%
Claims
Urgency
24%
Government
Disapproval
27%
Long-term
Predictions
19%
Exemplars
51%
Rallying
49%
Fig. 3 Displays the framing techniques used by claimmakers in the broadcast transcripts.
Fig.2 This pie chart shows the categories of claims
made in each transcript.
Conclusion
Photo 1: This map shows the extent of the oil spill along the entire Southeastern Gulf Coast. Credit: SkyTruth
References
Allan, S. 2002. “Media, risk, and the environment.” Pp. 97-120 in Media, Risk, and Science. Buckingham, UK: Open University Press.
Chen, J., T.H. Chen, I. Vertrinksy, L. Yumagulova, and C. Park. 2013. “Public-private partnerships for the development of disaster resilient
communities.” Journal of Contingencies and Crisis Management 21(3):130-143.
Cope, Michael R., Tim Slack, Troy C. Blanchard and Matthew R. Lee. 2013. "Does Time Heal all Wounds? Community Attachment, Natural
Resource Employment, and Health Impacts in the Wake of the BP Deepwater Horizon Disaster." Social Science Research 42(3):872-881.
Hannigan, John. 2006. Environmental Sociology. New York, New York. Routledge.
Smith Jr., Lawrence, C. Smith, L. Murphy, and P.A. Ashcroft. 2011. “Analysis of environmental and economic damages from British Petroleum’s
Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill.” Albany Law Review 74(1):563-585.
Allan (2002) suggests that “media attention is held to be a key determinant in the legitimization of the
environment as a major political issue.” In this way, the media has a large influence in framing potential
risk, exemplified in the media’s presentation of the risk to the Florida coastline after the BP oil spill. Our
findings supported the literature in that perceived risk caused some psychological ill-effects, but the media
overplayed the physical health impacts as compared to the findings in the peer-reviewed literature; they
achieved this exaggeration by using exemplars and impassioned speech. Long-term speculation of the oil’s
effects on fishing (estimated $4.2 billion in damage) and tourism ($3.80 billion) of the Gulf Coast as well as
exemplars presented by the media negatively impacted these industries, thus supporting the peerreviewed literature (Smith 2011). As suggested by Chen et al. (2013), there was indeed a network of
organizations, but the media only presented the governmental coalitions, not the nongovernmental
organizations. This upholds Hannigan’s (2006) claim that the media tends to “monofocus” on certain
events, and often gives certain entities an overarching power (as the government was often portrayed).
Overall, the media in all three areas used exemplars to rally support for environmental justice.