Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
Chapter 21
and the Media
Randall C. Duncan
Contents
Newspapers .......................................................................................................494
Radio ................................................................................................................494
Television ..........................................................................................................496
Social Network Sites and the World Wide Web .................................................496
Dealing with the Media in a Crisis ....................................................................498
The Public Information Officer .........................................................................502
The Joint Information System/Joint Information Center .................................. 504
References ......................................................................................................... 511
Understanding and working with the media is an important part of an overall
emergency management system. This relationship—between the emergency man-
ager and the media—is one that has more opportunity to excel, or fail, than almost
any other.
Let us begin our examination of the relationship between emergency manage-
ment and the media by defining what the media are.
Traditionally, we think of the media as consisting of newspapers, radio, and
television. Newspapers have been the media staple since the modern printing press
was invented in 1450 by Johannes Gutenberg. Radio and television entered the
world of media much more recently, but changed the way media operated and
functioned within our society by bringing news on a timelier basis (live reports)
and adding the elements of voices (radio) and moving pictures (television).
493
