Media Coverage of Disasters

Reading Summary #1 ESMG 4200

Randy Rask

References:

Jeong, Yongick; Lee, Sun Young. Conference Papers -- International Communication Association , 2010 Annual Meeting, p1, 0p

Theme:

This articles theme is based on the different various factors that influence the United States international news media coverage.  There was a study over the course of four weeks that mathematically broke down the different variables that different countries had on U.S. news media coverage.

Summary:

-          -There were 137 international disasters that took place over this 14 year study.  These disasters took place in 56 countries.  The different countries cultural, socio-economic, political and geographical conditions in regards to the United States were taken into consideration of how U.S. news media would cover their disasters.

-         - These different disasters are broken down into types of disasters, number of lives lost, and cost of losses.

-         - During the first week of these disasters, the degree of damage seemed to be the most significant factor in determining U.S. news media coverage, regardless of national ties to the United States. 

-        -  During the second week, nation ties such as U.S. trade imports and exports determined the news media's coverage of each individual disaster. 

-          -Crossing over into the third week, these trade imports and exports ties to the U.S. start to disappear.  Now we see a trend of the country's economic power in the world.  Countries with a large amount of economic power gained more U.S. news media coverage.

-          -During the fourth week of the disaster, the country's economic power still seems to be the biggest factor on news media coverage by the U.S. along still with the degree of damage by the disaster. 

-          -Overall, the degree of damage was the biggest variable in determining how much U.S. news media coverage would take place over each given disaster. 

Application to the lesson topic:

United States news media coverage of international disasters can relate to the lesson topic in a few ways.  First, the media coverage of these disasters forms the opinions of people viewing them.  If there is poor aid responses to these disasters, people are going to know and wonder why and how response can become better.  Also, this article can be related to our lesson topic because it can compare to our Nation's disasters.  Media coverage is going to cover those disasters that have the largest degree of damage.

Application to emergency services: 

I think that this article can be related to emergency services because it affects how international aid agencies will respond to these disasters.  The more U.S. news coverage that an international disaster might have, the more likely U.S. agencies will become involved. 

               

Media: Its impact on Disaster

John Scardena

Reference:

Houston, J. (2008). Experiencing disasters indirectly: how traditional and new media disaster coverage impacts youth. Prevention Researcher, 15(3), 14-17.

Theme:

Media can indirectly blast children after a disaster, but there is a growing risk with more media sources

Summary:

-All over the World, weather locally or internationally children were negatively affected by the events in 9/11.

- The stress from seeing images shown by media sources hurt children.

-Youth feel in danger as a result of viewing disasters via media.

-Children that have been exposed to media show Post Traumatic Stress.

-Media today has lower standards; they are based on how many people will be impressed by them, not the morality of the shot.

-Media today makes children form thoughts and opinions based on the graphic images they see not by the history books.

 - Children that were exposed to 9/11 via the internet showed greater trauma.

-It is the responsibility of adults to understand what children are watching around them.

Application to Lesson Topic:

            This lesson is all about how much we really do soak up from the media. This article is a perfect example of the exposure of that source it has on us. I believe that we need to be aware that media is a for profit business and to use it as a tool and not as the library.

Application to Emergency Services:

            I think just as important to be aware of what the media and the images it pushes on people, we need to be aware of the dangers of what happens when they see these disasters first hand. We can be positive to the media; we can keep calm and give hope. If we as responders show hope, we can move the message in a positive way. 

The role of news media in natural disaster risk and recovery

Mike Wayman

Refernce

Miles, B., & Morse, S. (2007). The role of news media in natural disaster risk and recovery. Ecological Economics, 63(2/3), 365-373.

Theme

The article addresses the way media addresses natural disasters such as Hurricane Katrina. Social media was important in bringing the country together.

Summary

• Media plays various rolls on modern society, from information, and education, to emergency functions between the public and the emergency
• On a social level mass media provides the social glue that connects society
• Media is responsible for referring information to the public as well as those who are affected by the disaster
• By making the information available to all mass media allows for a social experience
• Information distributed by the media is influenced by editorial decisions driven by cultural bias and profit motive
• Media hype is fueled by natural disasters and tragidy
• Hypes are excelerated by journalistic competition
• During Katrina national news reached the masses more than local news
• Each news outlet chose what aspect of the hurricane to focus on
• Imediantly after the hurricane the focus was on the people. The media wanted to give a human face to the disaster
• Eventually the media found a happy medium between the people affected and the distruction

Application to lesson topic:

The topic of media coverage of a disaster was the focus of this article. With virtually every media outlet covering the hurricane, they had to decide what part to focus on and what information to bring to the public's attention.

Application to Emergency Services:

In my opinion, how the media portrays an emergency can help or hinder how emergency services operates. Information can help the public know what to do and where to go. But if the information isn't presented accurately or effectivley the media can do more harm than good.

Reading Summary #1: News Media Coverage of Disasters

NEWS MEDIA COVERAGE OF DISASTERS (ESMG 4200)

Ray Huntzinger

Reference:

Skeel, J. (2005, November). Thoughts on coverage of Hurricane Katrina.
Quill, 93(8), p.3.

Theme:

The theme of the article was that the modern news media coverage of
Hurricanes Katrina and Rita were only concerned with drama and
sensationalism, thereby minimizing coverage of factual events.

Summary:

--Media outlets only stayed around Hurricane Katrina until the next
disaster because the excitement was over

--It was suggested although there were very important stories to
cover, the media outlets pulled reporters out of the area because of
financial reasons.

--Many important social problems like poverty, government
inadequacies, and the financial impacts of disasters could have
provided lessons but were not focused on by the media.

--Media reports during the hurricane often reported inflated body
counts, sensational rumors that were not fact, and many other myths
that were treated as facts.

--Because reporters were in a hurry to deliver the latest sensational
story, they reported information that was not always factual, failing
to ensure their resources were accurate.

--Reporting of this nature fails to deliver the real story that may
teach society a lesson, and instead perpetuates fear and hopelessness.

Application to the lesson topic:

Media coverage that is primarily focused on sensationalism can often
have a negative impact on society as a whole by encouraging fear and
hopelessness. The media has an opportunity on either encourage this
fear/hopelessness or to also focus on reporting issues that can
benefit society in terms of education, preparation, and awareness.

Application to emergency services:

Since the media is such a powerful tool that can be used to promote
messages that are productive, emergency service agencies should focus
their messages in this direction when possible. Although the primary
role of media is to merely report the facts during a disaster,
emergency response organizations should also use the media as a tool
to promote education, preparedness, and awareness before they move on
to the next incident that may be more exciting.

News Organizations and Information Gathering During a Natural Disaster: Lessons Learned from Hurricane Katrina

Rob Letterman

Reference  Goidel, R., & Miller, A. (2009). News Organizations and Information Gathering During a Natural Disaster: Lessons Learned from Hurricane Katrina. Journal of Contingencies and Crisis Management, 266-273.

Theme:  News organizations play a critical role disseminating information to the public, however their biases can sometimes filter their view of the facts.

Summary: 

·        The role that the media plays in gathering and reporting information is amplified during times of crisis.

·        The News media is able to perform their work efficiently and report even in the face of natural and man-made disaster.

·        Their role in relaying messages to the public from emergency personnel is critical a successful recovery from an incident.

·        Examples from Katrina illustrate how the news media informed government officials of situations and victims that they were not aware of yet.

·        Government officials were often times viewed as inadequate or incompetent because they were not fully informed of every situation during Katrina.  The reality is the news media are the professionals at finding stories and informing the public.

·        News is information, and information is merchandise to a journalist.

·        Katrina was an unprecedented disaster that caused many to blame government officials.  However the media failed to ask or analyze the social and geographic vulnerability present before the hurricane.

Application to the Lesson Topic

Without the news media doing their job searching for information during disasters many victims will remain helpless.  Their reporting and news will at times be biased, but they are still a valuable tool in responding to incidents.

Application to Emergency Services:

It's critical for emergency personnel and especially public information officers to establish working relationships with the news media.  While Emergency Services is not concerned with grabbing headlines, I believe both sides do not want people to remain helpless longer than necessary.

 

 

Media Coverage of Disasters

James Delli Gatti

 

Media Coverage of Disasters

Reference: Yell, S. (Nov2010) 'Breakfast is now tea, toast and tissues': Affect and the media coverage of bushfires. Media International Australia. 137, p109-119, 11p.

 

Theme: how the news media coverage can affect the public perspectives Immediately after a catastrophe.

Summary:

 

·         Social media platforms are much more widely used for the purpose of journalistic reporting allowing unprofessional journalists or reporters eg. Everyday citizens to report on incidents.

·         The daily management and routines of the incident management teams helped to influence the journalists coverage of the incident and affected what journalists decided to keep and omit from reports.

·         Journalistic reporting tends to be much more empathetic to the victims of wild fires and far more adversarial toward incident management and other emergency services.

·         The media is more likely to focus on the failures and misjudgments of the emergency services personnel rather than place the focus on the governmental policies that may be the root cause of citizen deaths.

Application to the lesson topic: The media has a wide range of influence and affect on the population during and immediately after an incident. How you handle the various types of news media personnel can make or break your ability to garner public support and to effectively relay critical and accurate information in a timely manner.

Application to emergency services: In an emergency situation such as brush fires it is imperative that you utilize the media in an organized and professional manner in order to efficiently and adequately communicate with the community that you serve on matters of safety, as well as to garner the communities support.

South Asia Tsunami and Pakistan Earthquake Compared

Lesson 1 Reading Summary
By Michael Newland
 Reference:

Weberling, B. (2009). Mobilizing Disaster Relief: U.S. Media Coverage and Public Response to the Tsunami and Pakistan Earthquake. Conference Papers -- International Communication Association; Annual Meeting, pg 1-31.

South Asia Tsunami 2004

Theme: In 2004 and 2005 a massive tsunami devastated South Asia and a massive earthquake devastated Pakistan. The media provided coverage for both disasters but the tsunami relief efforts raised $1.8 billion compared to only $129 million raised for the earthquake.

Summary:

·         In 2004 a large earthquake formed a tsunami that completely devastated South East Asia.

·         In 2005 a 7.6 magnitude earthquake hit Pakistan and parts of India and Afghanistan.

·         The Tsunami killed more than 165,000 people leaving thousands more homeless, injured, or missing.

·         The earthquake killed more than 73,000 people, injured 128,000, and more than 3,000,000 were left homeless.

·         U.S. donations for the tsunami totaled more than $1.8 billion while Pakistan only got $129 million.

·         Far more people were affected by the earthquake in Pakistan but they received far less money from donations.

·         The Tsunami occurred first and it was all over the media so people were very willing to donate.

·         When the earthquake happened they had just finished hearing all about the Tsunami. Patrick Rooney of Indiana University said the response to the tsunami was “Off the charts.” He also said that donor fatigue was a possible reason for reduced aid to Pakistan.

·         The media overplayed the tsunami so much that when the earthquake happened the public was just tired of hearing about pledges of support.

Application to the lesson topic: The mass media is the main source of information the public gets about disasters. When something huge happens like the tsunami or earthquake it is all over the media for weeks. That much coverage of  an issue can lead to a public outcry and possible even a policy change.

Application to emergency services: These disasters can be extremely devastating to a community. It can be especially devastating to a third world country where they don’t have the resources to manage these situations. It is important for these countries to receive any help they can get so the emergency services can get out there and help.