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When it comes to hazard events, framing of risks can lead to" risk amplification"(Kasperson et al.). The experience of risk is usually not one of direct physical harm, but the result of a social process whereby individuals or groups learn about hazards. In this social process, the media acts as an amplification station: collecting information about risks, responding to such information (eg, choosing to report or not report the risk event), and communicating the risk to the general public. Mass communication scholars have labeled this process of mediated public attention" agenda setting" or the concept that the" media may not tell us what to think, but they tell us what to think about"(McCombs and Shaw). How information is framed in risk judgments is also important and can influence public percep-tions (Goffman).

Several studies have investigated how media has covered agricultural biotechnology over the years. Priest …