Abstract

This study explored how government press releases and online news articles presented the dioxin egg incident in Taiwan during each stage of the crisis and the emergency risk communication (CERC) model. This study analyzed the number, tone, and content of the reports during each stage by performing a content analysis. A discourse analysis was also conducted to analyze the social and cultural implications of the reports. Coverage of the incident decreased in the later stages, and the news did not sufficiently review the incident during the evaluation stage. Both the government press releases and online news articles focused on the government’s response to the incident. The online news articles mostly had a negative tone, whereas the government press releases had neutral or positive tones.