Enhancing Threat: Using Cartographic Principles to Explain Differences in Hurricane Threat Perception
Abstract
Advancement in the ability to create and display weather graphics have made it possible for stations throughout the country to give the public live, up to the minute accounts and warnings during times of severe weather
in ways that are visually appealing and eye catching. News stations also routinely break into local programming to announce the threat of a tornado and show very detailed and colorful images that indicate where this tornado is, and where it is likely heading.Whether wanling the audience of a tornado or hurricane, these graphics, as part of the message sent by the newscast have a role in shaping the viewers' perceptions of the existing threat.