Question

What types of media exist and what type of information or material do they seek both pre-hazard/disaster and post-hazard/disaster? Why can be/is the media important to the emergency manager? Give examples of its importance to the emergency manager.

Answer 1

Media: Media is simply defined as the means to carry a message to a target audience. They select appropriate media channels and use them to effectively communicate the message to the audience.

Types of Media:
Media can be broadly classified into four types. They are:

1. PRINT MEDIA - Includes Newspaper and Magazines where the media is printed and circulated around the audience. They update the information on a daily, fortnightly, monthly, semi-annually, or on an annual basis.
2. BROADCAST MEDIA - Includes Television and Radio where the information is broadcasted for the target audiences to see and/or listen. These broadcast media provide wide coverage.
3. OUTDOOR MEDIA - Include billboards, posters, neon signs, boardings, video and cinema advertising, etc. It has geographical flexibility and is cheap and efficient.
4. INTERNET - Internet is a worldwide medium that involves the use of the worldwide web (www) to provide sophisticated graphic media information to the users. Its main advantage is that it can be accessible by anyone at any given time.

Type of information that the media seeks both pre-disaster and post-disaster:
The media is continuously seeking more information to broadcast to the audience. The type of information they seek before a disaster is different to the information they seek after a disaster has taken place.

The type of information they seek pre-disaster may include:

• The estimation of the magnitude of the disaster/hazard
• How the general public can be prepared to face such a situation
• How the government is planning on providing help
• Areas that will be most affected by this disaster
• How we can minimize the destruction about to be caused
• The origin of the disaster will also be discussed and broadcasted

The type of information they seek post-disaster may include:

• The magnitude of the disaster/hazard
• The after-math of the situation
• Damage caused by the disaster to living and non-living entities
• The consequences of the disaster
• How it has affected the general public
• The disaster's social, and economical impact
• How the survivors and affected have been coping
• Relief measures taken by the government

Importance of disaster-related information to the Emergency Manager:
The media's coverage regarding disasters and/or hazards are quite important to an emergency manager. The following are the reasons why such information is important to the emergency manager:

1. By keeping in touch with the media about a disaster, the emergency manager can warn his employees before-hand about the disaster
2. He raises community awareness and sees that everybody is well educated about the disaster and nobody undermines the threat posed by the disaster/hazard
3. He sees that the employees are well-trained to combat the disaster when it occurs
4. He plays a key role in protecting and preserving the safety of the employees and the organization as a whole
5. He coordinates the efforts of the management and gives full effort to minimize the damage that will be caused by the disaster that is about to happen