Nursing

Gene

Crisis communication

Engineering

Attribution

Public health

Social psychology

Public relations

West virginia

Archaeology

Biochemistry

Computer science

Acoustics

Business

Dominance (genetics)

Physics

Advertising

Psychology

Geography

Political science

Sociology

Content analysis

Media coverage

Environmental protection

Medicine

Chemistry

News media

Channel (broadcasting)

Oil spill

Stakeholder

Media content

Period (music)

Media studies

Electrical engineering

Social science

Multimedia

Science Communication

This study examined how news media framed West Virginia’s 2014 Elk River Chemical Spill, an industrial disaster that began a national discussion about chemical safety. A content analysis of media was conducted to explore disaster coverage. Additionally, in-depth stakeholder interviews were conducted to examine how audiences interpreted and evaluated media coverage. Both content analysis and interview findings highlighted the media’s reliance on the attribution of responsibility news frame, which dominated media coverage, although the dominance of particular frames differed according to media channel and time period.

Media Coverage of the 2014 West Virginia Elk River Chemical Spill