ABSTRACT

In regions of Eastern Kentucky, access to potable water has been diminished due to pollution and ageing infrastructure. Current communications regarding contaminated water are often inaccessible and infrequent to appropriately address the issues in target communities. To explore possible improvements to the community’s communication infrastructure, the researchers explored what types of stories should be used to communicate about water quality risks, who should communicate the stories, and how stories should be communicated. Researchers conduct 24 interviews with community members to derive emergent themes. The researchers concluded the communication infrastructure should be enhanced to engage the public about water quality risks. Risk messaging should share water quality information through stories that are designed to be easily digested and frequently distributed using laypeople’s terms, visuals, graphs, and maps. These stories should be shared using an integrated communication infrastructure where key community storytellers work together to share risk information across platforms and channels.

摘要

在肯塔基州东部地区，由于污染和基础设施老化，饮用水的供应量已经减少。目前有关受污染水的沟通往往无法进行，也很少能适当解决目标社区的问题。为了探索社区沟通基础设施的可能改进，研究人员探讨了应该使用什么类型的故事来传达水质风险、谁应该传达故事以及如何传达故事。研究人员对社区成员进行了 24 次访谈，以得出新的主题。研究人员得出的结论是，应加强通信基础设施，让公众了解水质风险。风险信息传递应通过易于理解的故事来分享水质信息，并经常使用外行术语、视觉效果、图表和地图进行分发。这些故事应该使用集成的通信基础设施来共享，其中关键的社区故事讲述者可以共同跨平台和渠道共享风险信息。