The role of the media in the public perception of unmanned aerial vehicles

Richards, D, 2018. The role of the media in the public perception of unmanned aerial vehicles. In: Proceedings of the 2018 Aviation Technology, Integration, and Operations Conference. Reston, VA, United States: American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. ISBN 9781624105562

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Abstract

We are still some distance from seeing the routine flight of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in national airspace. Apart from issues associated with technology and regulatory requirements and constraints, a key factor will be the perceptions and acceptance of UAVs held by the general public. A number of surveys have started to examine the views and attitudes held by different sectors of the population and these begin to reveal the nature of concerns about UAV operations. However, one key aspect of how an attitude develops and forms is the manner in which information is conveyed to us. This paper examines the role that the media has in conveying information pertaining to UAV news articles and features using a survey (N=48) that examines the perception of UAVs merely by the manner in which the headline is conveyed. A sample of 60 UAV media headlines from three media sources (BBC, CNN and Shephard) were selected and tested for how the public perceived them. Results indicated that attitude towards headlines reported in both BBC and CNN were very similar, but not in comparison to the industry publication. Also, the theme within which the headline was framed appeared to influence whether it was perceived as either positive or negative. The importance of understanding public attitude and the role of the media is discussed.

Item Type:	Chapter in book
Description:	Paper presented at the 2018 Aviation Technology, Integration, and Operations Conference, Atlanta, Georgia, United States, 25-29 June 2018.
Creators:	Richards, D.
Publisher:	American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics
Place of Publication:	Reston, VA, United States
Date:	25 June 2018
ISBN:	9781624105562
Identifiers:	Number Type 10.2514/6.2018-3514 DOI 1299832 Other
Divisions:	Schools > School of Science and Technology
Record created by:	Jonathan Gallacher
Date Added:	25 Mar 2020 13:48
Last Modified:	25 Mar 2020 13:48
URI:	https://irep.ntu.ac.uk/id/eprint/39484

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