Informational Sources,Social Media Use,and Race in the Flint,Michigan, Water Crisis |
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| Authors: | Ashleigh M Day Sydney O’Shay-Wallace Matthew W Seeger Shawn P McElmurry |
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| Institution: | 1. Ashleigh M. Day is a PhD candidate, Thomas C. Rumble Fellow, and graduate teaching assistant in the Department of Communication at Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan. Ashleigh’s research interests center around crisis, risk, organizational and health communication.;2. Sydney O’Shay-Wallace is a PhD candidate and graduate research assistant in the Department of Communication at Wayne State University, as well as a fellow with the Merrill Palmer Skillman Institute for Child and Family Development. She is a health and risk communication scholar whose work is centered around stigma communication in healthcare contexts. Her research focuses on how stigma is constructed in communication between healthcare workers and patients as well as among healthcare workers.;3. Matthew W. Seeger (PhD, Indiana University) has been a faculty member and administrator at Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan for over 30 years. He currently serves as dean for the College of Fine, Performing and Communication Arts. Dean Seeger’s research interests concern crisis and risk communication, health promotion and communication, crisis response and agency coordination, the role of media, including new media, in crisis, crisis and communication ethics, failure of complex systems and post-crisis renewal. He has worked closely with the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on communication and the anthrax attack and on communication and pandemic influenza preparedness. Work with the CDC also includes assistance in developing the Crisis and Emergency Risk Communication (CERC) framework. He has also worked with the World Health Organization on developing risk communication guidance.;4. Dr. Shawn P. McElmurry is an Associate Professor in the Department of Civil &5. Environmental Engineering at Wayne State University in Detroit. He received his PhD in Environmental Engineering from Michigan State University and is a licensed Professional Engineer. Dr. McElmurry teaches graduate and undergraduate courses focused on environmental engineering and water systems. His research aims to address fundamental gaps in understanding which inhibit sustainable development and adversely impact human health, with a special interest in water infrastructure. Recently, Dr. McElmurry’s work has focused on understanding the complex interactions between exposure to chemicals and pathogens in Flint’s municipal water system. He is co-leader of the Flint Area Community Health and Environment Partnership (FACHEP), a multi-institutional collaboration formed to evaluate associations between changes in Flint’s water system and adverse public health impacts. |
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| Abstract: | Safe, clean water is necessary for health and well-being. Water issues affect minority and vulnerable populations at disproportionate rates, including the poor and racial and ethnic minorities. An investigation of the relationships of race, social media use, and informational sources during the municipal water crisis in Flint, Michigan, reflects an instrumental view of communication and uses and gratifications theory in this study. Data from 208 Flint residents in 2016 indicated that African American respondents favored interpersonal networks and resources and were more likely than other racial groups to obtain current information about the water crisis via Instagram. Preferred channels and sources to receive additional crisis information varied on the basis of race. |
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| Keywords: | Informational Sources Social Media Uses And Gratifications Theory Water Crisis |
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