Media reporting amplifies perceived risk beyond actual probability.
Kasperson's 1988 framework. The Three Mile Island release caused no measurable deaths and reshaped US energy policy for decades — the social amplification did the work, not the dose.
In practice
- A minor contamination at one plant is covered for a fortnight, and the sector's insurance premiums move for five years.
- A single product recall covered nationally changes purchasing behaviour far beyond the affected batch, and the amplification is the effect.