Question

what are some different types of media as well as their goals and typical media behavioral patterns during emergencies or disasters

Answer 1

Solution -

Media plays a very important role in our daily lives in providing us with information, entertainment and also providing a medium to reach out to the larger audience.

The common forms of media are -

Print Media - This is in the form of newspapers and magazines. Their primary objectives are to provide information and also be a source of reaching the wider audience. This media is highly flexible with a large availability of language options and a different publishing houses. Apart from its major objective of providing information, it has a long reach and hence it provides for source of advertisement. There are categorised magazines available which provide for the needs of different target customers. These are datailed information providers but their limited time-span is a challenge.

Broadcast Media - This consists of television and radio. This is more impactful in nature. It has a much more wider reach. The presence of sound, motion, color and visual effects make this a highly flexible form of media. This media can generate a lot of action from the audience. It can be used as a propoganda generation medium. This media is also a major form of entertainment for its audience.

Internet - This is the innovative media which has even more wider and broader reach across the globe. This media is a dynamic form of media which allows viewers to share and react to forms of information available. This is the biggest propogada generating medium. There are different forms of information project techniques that can be employed through internet and the longevity of the information is much higher in this form of media.

In times of emergencies and disaster these forms of media become prominent on not just as a source of information for the affected and their dear ones but there is also a sense of responsibility on these media forms to provide messages of encouragement and reduce panic. Interestingly these media forms can also lead to panic situations and hence there has been a practice across the globe to control these media forms and not allow them to create unnecessary perceptions which can lead to consequences of grave nature for the society. Internet is the highly uncontrolled form of media as communication is much wider and faster. This results in many governments trying to manage this media during such situations through their own presence on this media.