Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
These same sites have had an impact on the way traditional media—newspapers,
radio, and television—interact with their viewers and listeners. As a result, news-
papers now also shoot video of news stories and provide it to their readers through
the mechanism of their website. Radio stations do the same thing. Television sta-
tions now write news stories and publish them, similar to newspapers, on their
websites. This has had a major impact on the traditional deadlines for the various
forms of media.
Yet another World Wide Web-based phenomena has emerged recently—the
Weblog, or Blog. This phenomenon has blurred the distinction between traditional
press and bloggers.
In the media world, it used to be clear who was in the news business
and who was not. News businesses provided news, nonnews businesses
did not. Reporters worked for companies who were in the business to
provide news. News businesses got paid, usually by advertisers, to col-
lect, package and distribute information of interest to news audiences.
Nonnews businesses or organizations exist for other purposes—per-
haps to deliver public service such as environmental protection, or to
produce commercial goods such as fertilizer. Providing news for these
businesses is simply not their reason for existence. In an instant news
world, that distinction is becoming increasingly fuzzy.
One of the most significant trends to come out of the collection of
technologies we call the Internet, is the emergence of citizen journalists.
“Blogging,” from the term “Weblog,” which used to describe people
who would record and publish what they discovered on the Internet,
reflects the ease with which almost anyone who writes today can also
publish. As mentioned earlier, some of the bloggers have accumulated
audiences in the millions and have influence as great as any of the celeb-
rity journalists that used to be staples of our early evening hours at
home (Baron 2006, p. 47).
Because of these factors, the Emergency Manager or spokesperson for the jurisdic-
tion has to keep in mind that there are now more audiences for the information
they prepare than the traditional media. There are the families of those directly
impacted by the event or emergency, those in the immediate area of the emergency
or disaster, and the “traditional media” along with the citizen journalist.
Dealing with the Media in a Crisis
To begin our discussion about dealing with the media in a crisis, we need to under-
stand some of the basics about communication. We first learn to communicate as
babies—before we can even begin to say words. We communicate with gestures
