Cloudy with a Chance of Sexism: Examining Race and Sex of Broadcast Meteorologists on Trust and Credibility

Background

“Americans have long looked to the ‘weatherman’ to keep them informed on the atmosphere’s itinerary. In the first few years of television, a new medium gave people exactly what the word weatherman implies: a man, and usually a white one” (Henson, 2013, p. 109). Often dubbed the ‘station scientist,’ broadcast meteorologists hold a unique set of skills relative to the remainder of a broadcast newsroom; most positions in the field of news and broadcasting focus on training individuals with skills necessary for public speaking, television scriptwriting, and journalistic ethics. Meteorologists situated in the field of broadcasting require the similar skillsets akin to a newscaster: relaxed, conversational, yet enthusiastic (Mirsky, 2000); yet these skills must be uniquely coupled with physical science knowledge, including upon atmospheric dynamics, physics, radar meteorology, and other related science fields (Henson, 2013).

Since weather events are one of the largest risks to society – both economically and as a health and safety risk – understanding if differences of forecaster appearance, more specifically sex and race, influence audience perceptions is important to both researchers and those who may be attempting to mitigate against some risk (Collins, 2018). More explicitly, understanding if trust, credibility, and retention of information are influenced among an audience dependent on whether the broadcast meteorologist is white or black, and male or female, can help researchers and practitioners better understand the biases and limitations which individuals have in processing and considering weather forecasts and warning messages.

Unfortunately, there is a substantial disparity between men and women, and different racial groups, when breaking down the job statistics of positions held in the field of meteorology. Females are outnumbered by males in terms of overall positions held, and this trend is especially present in broadcast positions. Polling has suggested that approximately 25% or fewer of local television weather positions are held by women (Cranford, 2018), and this rate has remained relatively constant over the last twenty years. During their surveys of broadcast meteorologists’ views on climate change, Maibach and colleagues found females comprise 18-25% of positions (Maibach et al., 2011; Maibach et al., 2017), with others finding approximately 20% of local positions being held by women (Malone, 2011). Unsurprisingly, this figure is even lower for those in prominent positions, with 10-12% of local news stations having females holding the chief meteorologist position (Malone, 2011). This trend also spans into the field of meteorology more generally, as women typically comprise 15% of all professional roles in meteorology, which can include government, academia, private sector, and non-profits (among others; Gonzalez, 2010).

Racial demographics of broadcast meteorologists paint an even more bleak picture. Though not specifically meteorology (the fields of meteorology and climatology are closely related, falling under the umbrella of atmospheric science), a 2017 analysis of broadcast network Sunday morning shows by Media Matters found that only 13% of guests or contributors to climate-related segments were from minority racial groups. In 2016, only one member of a racial minority group appeared on these same broadcast network shows to discuss climate (in a United States presidential election year; Kalhoefer, 2018). In broadcast more generally, a 2004 survey of local television stations found that only about 10% of the broadcast news workforce was black (and being less than 4% of news directors for the stations; Papper, 2005).

Moreover, broadcast meteorologists have diverse educational backgrounds, being able to gain employment having a traditional meteorology degree, earning a certification through some type of secondary or post-education certificate program, or through a journalism-related major and become informally trained in meteorology. A recent study by Green Jr. and colleagues (2019) found that approximately two-thirds of broadcasters surveyed had traditional Bachelor of Science degrees in meteorologist, white approximately 20% had training from a Mississippi State broadcast meteorology-specific program, 12% having some type of other training, and 2% coming from a minor or military-related background. These numbers are consistent with other surveys in the field as well (Cranford, 2018; Maibach et al., 2017).

Theoretical Framework

Media System Dependency arose as a shift away from focusing mainly on effects related to individual choice and use (see Ball-Rokeach, 1998), toward a counter-perspective of considering the inter-related role with society. Since news broadcasts (weather included) are not consumed inside a media vacuum and often include some consideration of what is going on societally or environmentally, MSD Theory seems most appropriate for this present work. Rubin and Windahl (1986) attempted to get at this combination of ideas, by including the dependency model with gratifications as an interaction with media dependency, which served to enhance media effects. Since humans can derive useful and functional goals from media consumption and use, addressing similarities between U&G and media dependency can explain why individuals may find these platforms useful and the subsequent effects arising from media usage. Individuals tend to be more dependent on media during times of dangerous weather (Loges, 1994; Hirschburg, Dillman, & Ball-Rokeach, 1986), such that it may heighten the level of dependency to which they normally have with media to fulfill goals (Ball-Rokeach, Rokeach, & Grube, 1984) and subsequently enhance the desired outcome behavior.

Drawing on U&G and MSD Theory, this dissertation project examined the effects of race, biological sex, and forecaster education on the audience perceptions of forecaster trust, credibility, and information retention. Two experiments are proposed, and analysis of variance and mediation testing were used to examine the research questions. The first experiment tests the manipulations of forecaster race and sex in the form of a mock weather hit - using a student sample. The results generally suggest that there are mixed findings for the effects of forecaster race and sex on the dependent variables of trust, credibility, and information retention. The second experiment tests the same two manipulations from experiment one, with an additional manipulation of forecaster education added. The overall findings are discussed in terms of how individuals may perceive forecasters given their race, sex, or degree level, and the potential implications for processing information or forming attitudes and decisions based off this behavior.