Who Runs This Disaster? The Media and the Blame Game

Katrina Anniversary Coverage and New Orleans Residents

“…Psychologists examining trauma note that additional stimuli, like media images, are likely to increase PTSD among those with close proximity to a disaster (Elsesser, Sartor & Tackenberg, 2005;Maercker & Mehr, 2006;Pfefferbaum et al, 2007;Pfefferbaum, 2003). Studies have also found that a prolonged return to normalcy also impacts the mental health of those with close proximity to a disaster either as victims, witnesses, and journalists (McMahon, 2001;Miller et al, 2014). Victims who suffer from acute anxiety as a result of close proximity to an event typically respond by "blocking out" memories, ineffectively recalling details of the event, "feeling emotional distress when encountering a reminder of the event," "avoiding reminders or recollections of the event," and "feeling detached" or "numb" or "emotionally unresponsive" in response to recollections of the event (American Psychological Association, 2015;MHANY, 2015).…”

“…Hurricane Katrina was an event in which local media provided what would then be considered journalism that pushed the boundaries of what routine reporting of a major disaster would look like (Miller et al, 2014). While national news organizations covered Katrina as a routine news event, with all the sensational breaking news frames that accompanied it, the experience for local journalism was quite different (Miller, Roberts & LaPoe, 2014;Miller & Goidel, 2009, Durham, 2008.…”

“…Hurricane Katrina was an event in which local media provided what would then be considered journalism that pushed the boundaries of what routine reporting of a major disaster would look like (Miller et al, 2014). While national news organizations covered Katrina as a routine news event, with all the sensational breaking news frames that accompanied it, the experience for local journalism was quite different (Miller, Roberts & LaPoe, 2014;Miller & Goidel, 2009, Durham, 2008. The eye-witness visuals and reports produced locally pushed the boundaries of accepted routine and breaking news reporting on sites like The Times-Picayune's Nola.com rolling weblog or on New Orleans' WWL-TV's website which was temporarily hosted on Yahoo!…”

“…Studies have found that breaking news coverage of a tragic event when it first occurs carries significant positive and negative impacts on immediate audiences and the journalists who cover these events (Durham, 2008;Kaplan, 2005;Meek, 2010;McGinnis, 2015;Miller & Goidel, 2009;Miller et al 2014;Olsson, 2009;Sumpter & Garner, 2007). Additionally, scholars have examined the intersection of media and psychology with regards to television news trauma (Pfefferbaum et al 2013), and specifically post-traumatic stress disorder (Houston, 2009).…”

Performing the disaster genre? TV journalism, disruptive factors and community challenges in the reporting of the UK Grenfell Tower block fire

“…As Moeller (1999) observes, the disaster reporting of international and local (i.e., national) events often reproduce mythic ideas about disasters and their aftermath. Some disasters are understood as either naturalised to particular geographical locations (Solman and Henderson, 2019) or explained as an outcome of simplistic causes (Miller et al, 2015) whereas many are expressed as likely to produce chaos and even criminality among those involved (Tierney et al, 2006). Representations of heroes and their heroic acts to save victims mark an aspect of this coverage (Lule, 2001).…”