1 Media in Hazards and DisastersGEOG 558 Hazards and Risk Management Dr. Chrys Rodrigue
2 Media Influence on PerceptionMedia are a huge influence on how the public perceives hazardous situations and disasters Risk amplification Risk attenuation A lot of my own work involves media performance
3 Themes in Media Analytic LiteratureMedia often bring sensationalism to hazards and disaster coverage This can amplify public concern inappropriately It can also hamper efforts to contain an emergency Think of disaster “lookie-loos” Media crews can be nearly as troublesome to first- responders' operations “If it bleeds, it leads” The audience is capable of embellishing a story as they relate it to friends and family, which leads to sensational rumors
4 Rumors Media stories, sometimes sensationalized, get warped further in peer-to-peer transmission: Rumors about FEMA hiding that the Northridge earthquake was “really” a “9.0” on the “Richter” scale and a bigger quake would hit on the next Saturday Iben Browning's prediction that the moon and sun would align on December 2-3, 1990, and trigger the New Madrid fault: schools closed (some good discussions about seismic risk in the Midwest ensued) National Geographic story on Vesuvius leading to rumors that the volcano was about to blow and people in Naples should evacuate (civil authorities got ahead of that rumor using social networking!)
5 Risk Attenuation Sometimes media do not cover a hazard or misrepresent it, attenuating public concern about a real risk Mike Davis being attacked by a Malibu realtor writing under a phony name after his “The case for letting Malibu burn” chapter came out The media hoopla let readers think that Davis had it all wrong (and eased WUI residents' concerns about the fire risk that comes with living up there) Biogeographers, ecologists, planners, and fire departments basically agree with Davis that suburban expansion into the WUI is risky
6 Assessing Media AccuracySome effort has gone into comparing media stories with actual measures of damage or danger Scanlon et al. (1978) re-investigated 6 stories in Canadian media on a crime and 5 disasters Media did pretty well with the gist of a story They often reported misleading details, though
7 Assessing Media AccuracySome effort has gone into comparing media stories with actual measures of damage or danger -- and tracing out implications Rodrigue, Rovai, & Place projects on the Northridge earthquake fell into this category linear regression: damaged buildings vs. media attention focussed only on gross departures from the regression line Times overcovered communities: $26,314 per capita, 63% non-Hispanic white TImes undercovered communities: $11, 130, 20% non-Hispanic white La Opinión: same pattern, less extreme: overcovered: $ and 55% non-Hispanic white undercovered: $13,003 and 23% non-Hispanic white
8 Maybe Comparison Is Unfair?The argument is that the media aren't there to copy reality, to reproduce only expert opinion Their rôle could be providing helpful information for people to evaluate their risk and make decisions Maybe they should be less about reportage than mass communication and public education They should focus on breakdowns in public institutions responsible for public protection Maybe they should mainly provide a public forum or set the agenda for debate on issues not well covered by official or expert statistics
9 Filters that Can Bias MediaFilters internal to the culture of media professionals They try to simplify complex situations by: Framing stories as human interest conflict dramas: You will find yourself reported as in “conflict” with someone you never knew you had a gripe with! Muckraking: The “blame-seeking missile” (this can induce more “circling of the wagons” than “organizational learning”) Perpetuating disaster myths (panic, looting, dead bodies creating epidemics) Trying to be “objective” by reporting “both” sides (even when expert opinion is 99:1 and even when the 1 is a crackpot) Systematic biases in areas/groups covered by class, ethnicity Sometimes this is unintentional, an accidental byproduct of who the reporters are Sometimes it is explicit and intentional
10 Filters that Can Bias MediaFilters external to reporters and having to do with the media business model Intense capital concentration in media 13 companies own the vast bulk of global media Media expected to be profit-centers for these firms Expensive functions being cut back (science reportage, international bureaus) Sensationalism revs up to increase audience share Local emergencies may not get into “local” media broadcasting centralized feeds Investigative reporting of parent company or other subsidiaries' misdeeds?
11 Filters that Can Bias MediaFilters external to reporters and having to do with the media business model Media dependance on advertising revenue 80:20 rule Advertisers trying to maximize access to the 20% Editors trying to demonstrate that their media provides access to the desirable market segment Stories might showcase people “just like us” That's why reporters may be told not to “waste” energy reporting on “less desirable market segments” And fear of losing a major advertiser reduces editorial openness to investigating its misdeeds
12 So, What to Do? Media are problematic in the way they cover hazards and disasters, as well as other issues. To summarize: Sensationalism Occasional inaccuracies and oversimplification Framing stories as human dramas or blame games Eccentric idea of objectivity Systematic biases Effects of media consolidation Effects of dependance on advertising
13 So, What to Do? What can a risk assessment scientist, disaster planner, emergency manager, or first-responder do? Dealing with bias Plan on routine canvassing of all neighborhoods within a couple of days: Media can't guide you If you're coming in from outside, have your organization print out Census maps of the poorer areas for you to canvass in Develop a list of local ethnic media and contact them after a disaster to give you channels for learning about the disaster and communicating with all communities
14 So, What to Do? What can a risk assessment scientist, disaster planner, emergency manager, or first-responder do? During pre-event times: Identify groups that may be undercovered in media Minority ethnic/racial groups, immigrant communities, LGBT community, senior and youth groups, disabled advocacy groups, women's organizations, unions? Who are the influential individuals in the groups? What sorts of organizations work with them already (maybe churches or political advocacy groups)? Task someone with cultivating these individuals and organizations, an effort that will ease your work in an emergency
15 So, What to Do? Getting ahead of media inaccuracies, sensation- alism, and story-framing Reporters are under killer deadline pressure Your organization might cultivate particular reporters ahead of time, the ones who might have a hazards or disasters or science “beat” They do value learning from a professional who the experts are and being put in touch with them Many value becoming recognized as the local journalistic expert on a particular issue Your organization might think about designating a particular go-to person for the media, e.g., Kate Hutton of Caltech or Lucy Jones of the USGS (earthquakes) You could use time with them to debunk disaster myths
16 About to Be Interviewed?Anyone who takes on the rôle of media point-person (or anyone who gets buttonholed) should learn to focus messages very tightly Pick out ~3 main points you need to get across to them (and their audiences) Maybe pick out another 2 you can work in Stay on message -- if you're led away from your focus, bring your answers right back to your points This kind of repetition helps reporters a lot This can be really hard to do and not everyone is up to it -- your organization needs to identify someone who can and encourage them to become the media “stars” for the organization (the Drs. Hutton and Jones of your outfit)
17 Then, There's the InternetThe rise of the citizen-journalist online (think: Raw Story, Huffpo, Drudge Report) Democratizes access to media-scale audiences Also enables demagoguery Rumor-mongering during a disaster can now go viral My Cassini project traced the huge mobilization to stop the mission's launch to two individuals! This will be a bigger part of the background noise in disaster science and emergency management (as media themselves are in trouble due to the Internet) But you can directly control your own messages on websites, social networking, and listservers