Destination risk news framing effects – the power of audiences

This media effects study reflects on the practices tourists employ in making destination risk judgments on the basis of news coverage of terrorist attacks and events of political instability. Through qualitative research, insights are gained into the link between news media representations of risk and individual destination risk information processing. The paper discusses the nuanced ways in which audiences interpret destination risk by drawing on a blend of their knowledge of hazards and portrayals of risk embedded in news reports. The findings point towards a cognitive-transactional model of media effects, which recognise the active role and power of audiences in determining effects. Consideration is given to psychological mechanism underlying framing effects and destination marketing practice.