Hurricane warnings are only effective if people understand them.

A new study by Florida State University faculty in the School of Communication in the College of Communication and Information and the Department of Geography in the College of Social Sciences and Public Policy examined an experimental forecast graphic developed by the National Hurricane Center (NHC) that adds inland tropical storm and hurricane watches and warnings to the traditional track-forecast cone, which historically emphasized coastal impacts.

The FSU study found that the new graphic helps nonexperts identify which inland areas are under a hurricane or tropical storm watch. But the updated format, developed by NHC in 2024, didn’t change respondents’ perceptions of risk or their intentions to take protective action. It also didn’t improve their ability to identify regions under warnings. The research was published in the American Meteorological Society journal Weather, Climate, and Society.

“The National Hurricane Center has made a number of thoughtful changes to improve how hurricane information is communicated,” said Assistant Professor Elizabeth Ray, the study’s lead author. “We had a simple question. Do those changes actually help people understand what the graphic is telling them about the risk they face?”

Analyzing public understanding

The researchers surveyed participants in Florida and Georgia using both a traditional hurricane cone graphic and the updated experimental version. Respondents who viewed the inland-enhanced graphic were better able to identify areas under tropical storm or hurricane watches, but that improvement did not translate into higher perceptions of risk or plans to avoid storm danger. One challenge is that people often misunderstand what the familiar “cone of uncertainty” actually represents.

“For years, research has shown that people often mistake a wider cone for a bigger storm,” Ray said. “Our findings suggest that even with an updated graphic, that misconception can be hard to shake.”

Turning data into action

The NHC introduced the updated graphic in 2024 to better communicate inland hazards such as flooding, tornadoes and damaging winds. The revised version adds inland hurricane and tropical storm information to the familiar forecast cone to show that serious hurricane impacts often extend well beyond the coastline.

The researchers emphasized that the findings are not a criticism of NHC’s forecasting, which they describe as highly accurate. Instead, the study focuses on the communication challenge of translating complex scientific information into messages the public can quickly understand and use.

“Our question wasn’t whether the science is good,” said co-author Patrick Merle, professor and director of the School of Communication. “The science is excellent. The question is how we communicate that science so people who aren’t meteorologists understand the risk they’re facing.

If people find information credible but still don’t understand it well enough to take protective action, then communication has fallen short. The goal is to empower people with information they can use to stay safe.”

The researchers said people should not rely on the graphic alone but also seek out local forecasts and information about expected impacts.

“Our findings are a reminder that one graphic can only tell you part of the story,” Ray said. “Don’t rely on the cone alone. Pair it with clear, local information about what impacts to expect and what actions to take. That gives you a fuller picture of what the storm could mean where you live and what to do next.”

The research was supported by an internal Florida State University SEED grant and informed by conversations with NHC, which provided the experimental forecast graphics used in the study. Department of Geography Assistant Professor Bradford Johnson was a co-author of the research. The project is part of a broader line of research on crisis and risk communication being conducted through the College of Communication and Information’s Crisis and Communication Collaborative (C3), co-directed by Ray and Merle.

Visit the School of Communication website for more information about research conducted at the College of Communication and Information.

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Every day, millions of young women use social media to learn about health and wellness, yet few know that alcohol consumption increases the risk of breast cancer.

To help close this awareness gap, Russell Clayton, the Distinguished and Endowed Provost McKenzie Professor, professor in FSU’s School of Communication and director of the Cognition and Emotion Lab, is collaborating on a five-year study with researchers at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center – James, and UMass Chan Medical School.

Funded by a $3.1 million grant from the National Institutes of Health’s National Cancer Institute (NIH/NCI), the team is working to identify the most effective social media message strategies for raising awareness about the link between alcohol consumption and breast cancer risk among women ages 18 to 25.

“Drinking alcohol during young adulthood is associated with benign breast disease, which increases the risk of future breast cancer, as well as a higher risk of developing breast cancer before menopause,” Clayton said. “Despite these risks, fewer than one-third of young adult women are aware that alcohol consumption is a risk factor for breast cancer.”

Although alcohol is an established risk factor for breast cancer, public awareness of that link remains low. Compared with other modifiable cancer risk factors, such as tobacco use, alcohol has historically received less attention in cancer prevention messaging.

Because young adulthood is both a biologically vulnerable period for breast development and a time when alcohol use is common, researchers and public health agencies are increasingly focused on improving awareness of alcohol-related breast cancer risk.

“Social media, particularly Instagram and TikTok, provide a unique opportunity to reach young women with evidence-based health information at scale. Through this project, we will identify which social media message characteristics are most effective at increasing awareness of alcohol-related breast cancer risk and encouraging informed health decisions.”

The project will begin with a national online study examining how different social media messages about alcohol-related breast cancer risk influence young women’s responses. Clayton will then lead the laboratory phase at FSU’s Cognition and Emotion Lab, where researchers will combine self-report assessments and psychophysiological measures to better understand young women’s cognitive and emotional responses.

During the multi-site laboratory phase of the project, participants will view a simulated social media feed while researchers assess their responses to breast cancer prevention messages. Using eye-tracking technology, Clayton will examine which message features capture and hold participants’ visual attention, while measures of heart rate and skin conductance will provide objective indicators of participants’ emotional and cognitive responses to the messages.

Clayton and collaborators will then determine whether participants’ psychophysiological and self-reported responses differ by baseline alcohol use, informing whether digital health messages should be tailored to different drinking patterns.

“Social media, particularly Instagram and TikTok, provide a unique opportunity to reach young women with evidence-based health information at scale. Through this project, we will identify which social media message characteristics are most effective at increasing awareness of alcohol-related breast cancer risk and encouraging informed health decisions.”

— Russell Clayton, School of Communication professor and Cognition and Emotion Lab director

The study will generate evidence to help public health agencies design more effective digital communication strategies for reducing alcohol-related breast cancer risk among young women.

“This project will advance cancer communication science by identifying the social media message strategies that most effectively communicate the link between alcohol use and breast cancer risk,” Clayton said. “The findings will help public health agencies, breast cancer prevention organizations and policymakers strengthen future public health campaigns and ultimately reduce alcohol-related breast cancer risk.”

The five-year project brings together researchers from Florida State University, The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center – James, and UMass Chan Medical School with expertise in health communication, cancer prevention, biostatistics and behavioral science to develop more effective strategies for reducing alcohol-related breast cancer risk among young women.

The collaborative research team is led by multiple principal investigators — Russell Clayton at FSU, Darren Mays at Ohio State and Elise Stevens at UMass Chan, alongside Ohio State co-investigators Abigail Shoben and Margaret Gatti-Mays.

Clayton also acknowledges the support of Florida State’s College of Communication and Information, including Dean Michelle Kazmer, School of Communication Director Patrick Merle and grant specialist Cherie Pagan, whose leadership and administrative support were instrumental in securing the award.

To learn more about the FSU Cognition and Emotion Lab, visit the FSU Cognition and Emotion Lab webpage.

Optimizing Social Media Messages Targeting Young Adult Women About the Risks of Breast Cancer from Alcohol Consumption:

This multi-institutional project, is funded by a five-year Research Project Grant (R01) from the National Institutes of Health and the National Cancer Institute (NIH/NCI), expected to total $3,113,767.

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Since its inception in 2004, Florida State University’s Center for Hispanic Marketing Communication (CHMC) has conducted groundbreaking research and served as an innovative resource for the Hispanic and multicultural marketing industries.

The CHMC was founded by Felipe Korzenny in 2004 and is the first of its kind in the United States. Housed in the School of Communication within the College of Communication and Information, the Center offers training to students and professionals who want to serve Hispanic and other multicultural markets through courses, a minor program, certificate programs, conferences, scholarships, internships and mentorships.

“We are proud to be a pioneering Center dedicated to conducting and educating about groundbreaking research on understanding Hispanic consumers,” said Sindy Chapa, director of the CHMC. “It is our responsibility to support and advocate for our Hispanic and multicultural students, ensuring the ongoing work of the CHMC at FSU for generations to come.”

The growth of the U.S. Hispanic market leaves the industry in constant need of trained professionals. Most advertising, public relations and marketing organizations encounter difficulties filling their Hispanic marketing positions.

“We now need to have the ability to communicate to a multitude of culturally diverse audiences,” said Patrick Merle, director of the School of Communication. “The CHMC promotes research and provides classes to help students who are eager to work in multicultural and Hispanic environments in the United States and abroad. As such, the Center is fundamental.”

“We are proud to be a pioneering Center dedicated to conducting and educating about groundbreaking research on understanding Hispanic consumers.”

– Sindy Chapa, director of the Center for Hispanic Marketing Communication

The CHMC’s goals focus on educating students to serve the Hispanic and multicultural marketing industries, training professionals who currently serve the Hispanic public in the U.S., conducting relevant research to further the understanding of the Hispanic market and serving as a source of knowledge about the Hispanic market for industry professionals.

Known for its minor in Hispanic marketing communication, the CHMC also offers undergraduate and graduate certificates in multicultural marketing. Over the last 20 years, the Center has expanded its research efforts to understand Hispanic consumer behavior and improve communication with Hispanic communities.

In October, the CHMC hosted a 20th anniversary gala with the theme “Embrace. Empower. Elevate.” to celebrate the growth of the Center over the last two decades.

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New state budget supports water quality research

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A Florida State University College of Communication and Information professor and his students have created a sign to honor a civil rights activist in his hometown.

Davis Houck, Fannie Lou Hamer Professor of Rhetorical Studies, and his spring 2024 rhetorical criticism class set out on a mission to preserve the legacy of James Meredith, the first Black student admitted to the University of Mississippi in 1962.

“I’ve been driving through Mississippi for years; occasionally, I drive through Attala County where Mr. Meredith grew up and specifically the little community of Kosciusko,” Houck said. “I was very surprised that I could find nothing celebrating the fact that Meredith grew up there, and so I started asking some questions, first with friends of Meredith and later with the mayor of Kosciusko, Tim Kyle. Turns out it was true. Save for a mural in the visitors’ center, there’s nothing commemorating Meredith’s life in the community.”

Houck’s 17 students worked in groups to create a sign to commemorate the forgotten activist.

Creating the sign was challenging.. Signs are limited to 14 lines with only 42 characters per line, so students had to be specific and thoughtful about what they commemorated and how they communicated it.

“When working with everyone to combine our ideas into one, we had to use our communication skills to be decisive and creative to ensure we had an encompassing result we were proud of,” student Elle Schumm said.

“The project proved to be more than just an opportunity to test their communication skills. It was a chance to contribute to Meredith’s legacy,” student Annie Blanchard said. “To know that we were helping in some small way to ensure (James Meredith) is forever remembered in his hometown was a humbling experience, and I’m so thankful that Dr. Houck invited our class to take part in this project.”

Houck said their project has received support from James Meredith himself, his family and the Kosciusko community.

“I kept reminding (the students) that they were writing themselves into history, and we had to pause and think about what that meant,” Houck said. “And then I told them that one day when they were grandparents, they could take their grandkids to see the sign and narrate their part in its creation.”

The students involved were Adrian Valdes, Kyle Haniff, Everett Reed, Nick Schwab, Elle Schumm, Haylie Humphrey, Hayden Springer, Alex Webster, Lauren Greenbaum, Annie Blanchard, Alexis Sears, Rebecca Piriz, Grace Cashman, Shana Khan, Emma Borchuck, Sullivan Swink and Jordan Schwartz.

The Mississippi Department of Archives and History approved the class’s submission on July 12 and will begin work to install the sign in Kosciusko.

For more information about the College of Communication and Information, visit cci.fsu.edu.

The sign will read:

James H. Meredith
“James H. Meredith was born in Kosciusko
on June 25, 1933, to Roxie and Moses “Cap”
Meredith. Raised on an Attala County farm,
he attended segregated public schools and
served in the Air Force. He was the first
Black student to integrate the University
of Mississippi in 1962. In 1966, he
survived being shot while leading the
March Against Fear to encourage Black
Mississippians to register to vote. A
lifelong proponent of education, Meredith
authored numerous books and was a key
figure in the civil rights movement.”

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World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) President Adil Najam emphasized the urgent need to tackle environmental degradation during the keynote address of the 10th annual South Asian Media and Cultural Studies (SAMCS) Conference on Friday, Feb. 2, at Florida State University.

The events were hosted by the College of Communication and Information at FSU along with the College of Social Sciences and Public Policy’s Ruth K. & Shepard Broad International Lecture Series and the Center for Global Engagement’s Engage Your World Speaker Series.

The SAMCS Conference is a leading global platform for researchers, academics and practitioners who actively contribute to the advancements of the media and cultural research, policies and practices in South Asia. This year’s conference theme, “Digital for Good,” focused on digital platforms being used as crucial tools to transform social, cultural and political interactions in the South Asian subregion.

In his keynote address, Najam discussed the environmental, financial, communication, global and health aspects of climate change. He proposed that “the age of adaptation fundamentally changes the nature of climate policy and politics. It introduces new challenges — and opportunities — to communicating.”

As the president of WWF International and professor of international relations and earth and environment at Boston University, Najam explained how climate change is a pressing and immediate challenge, especially for highly vulnerable countries — economically, politically and climatically. In arguing that we have now reached the age of adaptation, Najam said we must examine issues of climate and development from a global perspective instead of an international perspective.

“The climate is no longer a future issue — urgency has to turn into action,” he said.

His presentation resonated with the more than 100 students, faculty, staff and conference attendees in The Globe Auditorium.

“My academic background is research about activism through citizen journalism in the remote regions of India,” said Pooja Ichplani, FSU doctoral candidate. “Watching these talks, which presented similar initiatives in participatory media not just within India but also Bangladesh and Pakistan, makes me appreciative of the changing media landscape in the entire region. I am extremely grateful to learn about the research advances in South Asia and have the opportunity to network within and beyond FSU.”

“The SAMCS Conference provided a collaborative platform for scholars and practitioners to discuss the way forward to achieve a sustainable and inclusive future for South Asia,” said Steve McDowell, the John H. Phipps Professor of Communication and assistant provost for International Initiatives at FSU. “The theme changes each year as we try to address important questions.”

South Asia is the southern subregion of Asia, which is defined in both geographical and ethnic-cultural terms. The modern states of South Asia include Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

“Through collaborative efforts, we can bring leading voices like Adil Najam to illuminate the interconnectedness of the world’s challenges and the role that we play in crafting solutions.”

— Bryant Harden, program director of the Global Citizenship Certificate

The SAMCS Conference was held in partnership with the Department of Media Studies at CHRIST University, a deemed-to-be university in Bangalore, India.

The connection between FSU’s School of Communication and CHRIST University was built by Kailash Khoushik, an FSU alumnus who earned his Ph.D. in Media Studies from the School of Communication and is now an assistant professor at CHRIST University. Each year experts in South Asian media are encouraged to present at SAMCS and Media Meet, the Department of Media Studies at CHRIST University’s annual conference on media, culture and society.

“Something about the conference that I am most proud of is the commitment to offer a global platform that brings together scholars, practitioners and policymakers, without any registration cost,” said Vaibhav Diwanji, executive director of the SAMCS Conference and research assistant professor at the University of Kansas. “I am also very proud of the lifelong relationships I have developed with our speakers, presenters, and other dignitaries across the globe. I am honored and humbled to be a part of such an important initiative. Here’s to many more successful decades of the conference.”

The SAMCS conference kicked off with a virtual networking session where attendees were encouraged to share their work and meet fellow scholars in the field.

The program then consisted of four presentation panels, where speakers representing universities from around the world including countries like India, Pakistan, the United Arab Emirates, Germany and the United States spoke on the digital transformation of the South Asian mediascape, digital individuals, culture and data, digital knowledge and digital media for an inclusive and sustainable South Asia.

For more information about the SAMCS Conference, visit comm.cci.fsu.edu.

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