Public Information and Community Outreach

Living With Risk

Project Coordinator:
Richard Jablonski
Research Associate
Department of Library Science and Informatics
Medical University of South Carolina

Overview
Since 1993, the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) and South Carolina Educational Television (SCETV) have co-produced and distributed 11 television programs on environmental risk to human health. This number includes four Living With Risk Series programs, which convene diverse panels of experts for moderated discussion of timely and significant issues. These programs deliver information to a wide audience, thereby enabling viewers to participate more effectively in environmental decision-making at the local, regional and national levels. The American Public Television Service (APTS) distributes the programs to public and educational broadcasters nationwide. Typically, a Living With Risk Series program airs in 100 markets nationwide, with approximately two million viewers watching each program. MUSC and SCETV also distribute hundreds of videotapes to colleges and universities, libraries, and federal, state and local agencies.

Most Recently In 2001, MUSC and SCETV co-produced Living With Risk: Bridging the Disparity Divide. The program focused on the effects of health-status disparities on low-income and minority Americans. Originally airing statewide in South Carolina on SCETV in January 2002, the program was distributed to public and educational broadcasters nationwide in May 2002, with projected airdates in late summer and early fall.

Previous Living With Risk programming examined the potential application of international approaches to risk assessment and risk management in American communities, cancer risk in areas surrounding federal nuclear facilities, and the moral and ethical implications of genetic testing in the workplace.

Relevance Public television is a credible, effective means of delivering concepts of environmental risk to general audiences nationwide. The linked messages that there are practical, effective ways to consider and address risk, and that community-based interests are an important part of the ongoing national dialogue on environmental risk, are integral and vital components of risk communication.