Tsunami Coverage: What was Missing

Tsunami Coverage:  What was Missing

Justin E. Ross

Reference: Tsunami Coverage. (2005). Nieman Reports, 59(1), 64.

Theme: The different ways in which media outlets covered the 2004 tsunamis.

Summary:

• Some areas that were effected by tsunamis had never been visited by reporters before

• There was a lack of cultural sensitivity on behalf of the media outlets and the reporters responding to the incident.

•  This information was informed by conversations between reporters and psychologist.

• In some countries there was a reluctance on behalf of the local media outlets to report on the devastation, for political reasons.

• Some reporters did an effective job by picking a few individuals and creating a long term "narrative" to accompany their story.

• Some stories led readers to believe that the people of the affected community had nothing to start with, but they were actually well off by their cultures standards.
  

Application to the lesson topic:

The media needs to pay attention to facts on the ground when writing a story about a disaster, but more importantly they need to look at the story from a lens other than their own.  That is to say they need to think about the cultural norms of the community in which they are reporting.

Application to emergency services:

As a PIO I could help guide media outlets towards stories that actually represent the situation on the ground.

 

Justin E. Ross
j_elliotte@yahoo.com
360 609-2839