Risk communication for GM foods in South Korea: The role of media and government

Abstract

Understanding of Media's risk perception towards GM foods is important since media is the direct contact for the public in terms of information source for GM foods. How media disseminate information on GM in its medium have significant impact on the public opinion and attitude towards sensitive issues such as GM foods. The purpose of this paper is to explore media's perception of risk towards GM foods in South Korea through a qualitative study. The study explicitly compare the difference of risk perception of GM foods among two major journalist groups: general journalists vs. science-journalists. It is appropriate to segregate these two journalist group for the evaluation since they have different approach and impact on risk communication of GM foods in South Korea. General journalists were found to have relatively limited knowledge on GMOs and their attitudes were similar to consumers who have vague anxiety for GM foods. Science-journalists were found to have relatively higher level of knowledge on GMOs and their attitudes were objective and relatively more open-minded compared to the general journalist group. This group of journalists appeared to have more trust towards gene technology compared to the other group. Findings from this study shed light for government in terms how to differentiate risk communication strategy for general journalists and science-journalists.