The media and government officials: environmental policy communication

The media play an important role in connecting citizens to government officials. Much of what citizens learn about environmental policy making and implementation is learned through media coverage of government actions. We have evidence to suggest that the media can influence citizens' perceptions of government, but we know less about the media's dependence on govemment. This paper is meant to extend our knowledge about medidgovernment relations by studying media coverage of one environmental policy, Superfund, over a ten year period.