Natural Disasters, Coverage of

Disasters are catastrophic events that share five characteristics: they involve the destruction of property, injury and/or loss of life; they adversely affect a large number of people; they have identifiable beginnings and endings; they are relatively sudden; and they receive extensive news media coverage. Frequently a distinction is made between “natural” and “man-made” disasters with “natural” disasters attributed to climatological phenomena (e.g., hurricanes, floods, fires, and earthquakes) and the cause for “man-made” disasters attributed to human error (e.g., nuclear power plant explosions and chemical spills). This distinction, however, is sometimes hazy. Consider, for example, Hurricane Katrina in 2005, which resulted in the displacement of more than 500,000 families. The hurricane was natural, but the hurricane's effects were aggravated by human errors that allowed floods to submerge nearly 80 percent of the city after Katrina made landfall.

News media play a pivotal role in preparing the public for disasters and assisting the response to them. News media are the public's primary and often only source for important disaster messages. Before a disaster occurs, news reports help the public determine whether the disaster will directly affect them and what they should do to prepare for it. After a disaster occurs, news media inform the public about the extent of damage caused and provide critical recovery information (e.g., shelter locations, financial aid opportunities, and donation/volunteer opportunities). Essentially, journalism serves as an interpreter of disasters, helping the [Page 936]public make sense of what would otherwise seem incomprehensible. In this interpretation role, news media face several unique challenges, including (a) providing accurate and timely information in chaotic environments, (b) selecting reliable sources, (c) assigning disaster responsibility, (d) balancing the government watchdog role with reasonable expectations of authorities, and (e) balancing their function as journalists with their possible role as disaster survivors.

Images such as this of the destruction caused by Hurricane Katrina in 2005 were common on many media outlets during and after the disaster; without a single person in the frame of the shot, it evokes the emotional context of much of the coverage.

Source: © http://iStockphoto.com/PattieS.

Providing accurate and timely information is by far the journalist's largest challenge in covering disasters. There is huge demand for information after disasters because they so adversely affect many people. Those directly affected need to know first where they can find shelter, food, and water, and later who will help them rebuild their lives. Even those not directly involved want to know about those affected, the extent of the damage, methods to locate and contact loved ones, and actions they can take to aid disaster victims. Given the high demand for timely information, journalists feel pressure to provide information about disaster effects during and immediately after disasters. For example, when in October 2007 wildfires rapidly spread across Southern California, resulting in the evacuation of a million people, news agencies filed stories within hours of the first fires being reported. Quick packaging and dispersal of news content can give rise to problems when journalists allow demand for information, rather than facts, to guide their reporting.

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