Disaster journalism: fostering citizen and community disaster mitigation, preparedness, response, recovery, and resilience across the disaster cycle

Abstract

Natural and human‐caused disasters pose a significant risk to the health and well‐being of people. Journalists and news organisations can fulfil multiple roles related to disasters, ranging from providing warnings, assessing disaster mitigation and preparedness, and reporting on what occurs, to aiding long‐term recovery and fostering disaster resilience. This paper considers these possible functions of disaster journalism and draws on semi‐structured interviews with 24 journalists in the United States to understand better their approach to the discipline. A thematic analysis was employed, which resulted in the identification of five main themes and accompanying subthemes: (i) examining disaster mitigation and preparedness; (ii) facilitating recovery; (iii) self‐care and care of journalists; (iv) continued spread of social media; and (v) disaster journalism ethics. The paper concludes that disaster journalism done poorly can result in harm, but done well, it can be an essential instrument with respect to public disaster planning, management, response, and recovery.

A review of social media use during disaster response and recovery phases

“…However, in some cases, no specific disaster contexts were chosen. Some explored the use of social media for post-disaster emergency response through in-depth interviews and surveys [30][31][32][33] and others explored the use of social media for post-disaster temporary memorializing, journalists' use of social media, or approaches to bridging the gap between emergency managers and the public [34][35][36]. Finally, other studies -most notably the ones conducted by Wukich and Mergel [37], and Dutt et al [38] -looked at more than one disaster event.…”

“…Research also suggests that social media can foster relationships between affected communities and journalists during recovery. Research has found that U.S. journalists could act as facilitators between recovering communities and the agencies tasked with overseeing that process, as well as information providers to recovery entities on existing community needs and resources [35].…”

“…• Although they recognized its benefits, emergency managers did not always have the resources or personnel to monitor and respond to recovery-related queries posted in social media [76]. • Social media could help journalists mediate recovery-focused discussions between affected communities and emergency managers [35]. • Social media could also assist in developing a sense of community and increase members' ability to manage their own recovery processes after a disaster event [78][79][80][81].…”

Accelerating Tourism Development by Community Preparedness on Disaster Risk in Lombok, Indonesia

“…The community preparedness framework is needed as a standard to find out what needs to be prepared before, a moment, and immediately after a disaster occurs (Hidayati, 2008). This framework is used as a tool to assess the extent of community preparedness in an area (Houston et al, 2019). This framework has been based on the LIPI-UNESCO / ISDR standard in 2006, which includes knowledge and attitudes, policies, emergency response plans, disaster warning systems, and resource mobilization (Paramesti, 2011).…”

“…Social functioning will develop if individuals are satisfied with roles in their lives, and are satisfied with relationships with others. In this case, the government has not yet played its role optimally, and this has an impact on community preparedness especially concerning information disclosure (Appleby-Arnold et al, 2018;Houston et al, 2019;Raharjo, 2013). Acceptance of public outreach and education from the government is one obstacle besides the accessibility factor in preparedness.…”