Perspective on ‘Four Questions for Risk Communication’

Abstract

In his essay, ‘Four Questions for Risk Communication,’ Roger Kasperson challenges the risk communication community to take better stock of the lessons it’s learned over the past several decades. Implicated are the failure of many to reap the rewards or benefits of our field’s discoveries and the attendant responsibility we collectively bear in not communicating them well enough. Less a scolding than a call to action, Kasperson thoughtfully reflects on his four questions before offering some summary principles. In so doing, he has initiated a conversation that offers some key points of reflection on where our community stands today and where we might be going. Neither exhaustive in its scope nor patronizing in his directives, his essay is an invitation – a nudge – to begin a dialog on these issues and become more mindful of our own successes and failures in risk communication.

Keywords:

• risk communication
• social trust
• uncertainty
• governance