代写Global Crisis Reporting

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  • Global Crisis Reporting
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    Global Crisis Reporting
    MECM90009
    Media Report
    What happens in Haiti stays in Haiti: The Australian Broadcasting
    Corporation’s reporting of Hurricane Sandy
    Global Crisis Reporting Word Count: 2,540
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    Introduction:
    In October of 2012 the traditional mainstream news media in Australia was inundated with
    reports of Hurricane Sandy and its devastating impact on American cities namely New York
    and New Jersey. Australians were reminded of Mother Nature’s extreme power, wrath and
    destruction with pictures, videos and stories of suburban streets turned into rivers,
    demolished family homes, piles of cars destroyed by the waves and boats on train tracks.
    While Australian news outlets succeeded in portraying the misfortunes of Americans, there
    was scant attention towards other nations affected by Hurricane Sandy and the plight of
    those populations. Mentions of Hurricane Sandy’s aftermath on many Caribbean nations
    were rare, almost non-existent, during the initial reports of the disaster. I ask the question,
    what makes one crisis more newsworthy than another? This report centres on the
    Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s (herein referred to as the ABC) online news reports,
    both print and video, of Hurricane Sandy. I refer to Hurricane Sandy’s reported effects on
    American cities as compared to the Caribbean nation of Haiti, and attempt to provide an
    answer for the disparity in exposure as well as to explore what a lack of media attention can
    mean for underdeveloped nations.
    Background:代写Global Crisis Reporting
    Scientific facts and figures are necessary to gaining a better understanding of both
    Hurricane Sandy as a natural disaster, its power, and the scale of ruin it left in both Haiti and
    America in its wake.
    Hurricane Sandy was the 18 th named storm of the 2012 Atlantic hurricane season. It formed
    over the south western Caribbean Sea on October 22 nd . At its initial stages, Hurricane Sandy
    was over 15 kilometers high and producing approximately 50 milimeters of rainfall per hour
    (Gutro, 2012). Even at its initial stages, it was considered to be an extremely large hurricane
    with gale force winds of up to 1,612 kilometers per hour (Blake, et al., 2013).
    On October 26 th , Hurricane Sandy passed over the Caribbean nations at its largest size
    drenching the island nations with approximately 50 centimeters of rain within a 24 hour
    Global Crisis Reporting Word Count: 2,540
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    period (Blake, et al., 2013) (WSJ, 2012). The extreme weather and flooding caused 71
    deaths; 54 of which were within the nation of Haiti alone (WSJ, 2012). The wide spread
    damage meant that millions of Haitians were homeless, displaced and without access to
    food or clean water. The aftermath of Hurricane Sandy also saw outbreaks in cholera among
    the locals; some cases resulting in further deaths (WSJ, 2012) (Ferreira, 2012). The Haitian
    Hurricane Sandy death toll and damage to property and infrastructure were further
    accentuated by the fact that the nation was still recovering from the 2010 earthquake which
    claimed more than 200,000 lives and Hurricane Isaac which hit the nation in August 2012.
    Spokesperson for the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies in
    Haiti, France Hurtubise described the plight of Haitians; “the same families who had their
    home destroyed two months ago [are] back under water.” (Ferreira, 2012).
    Hurricane Sandy then made its way to the North American mainland. On October 29 th
    Hurricane Sandy made landfall battering the East Coast cities of New York and New Jersey.
    Both cities experienced heavy rain, strong winds and record storm surges which were
    further enhanced by the full moon and the cold weather at the time (Service, 2012) (Otis,
    2013). Hurricane Sandy’s winds extended over 280 kilometers from the eye of the storm
    and sent surges of over four meters high flooding roads, subway systems, building basement
    levels and tunnels. Despite the accompanying rain, loose electrical wires caught fire
    destroying homes and property. The strong winds helped spread the hot embers and widen
    the scope of destruction (Otis, 2013). Hurricane Sandy claimed 125 lives in the American
    cities with the majority of the death toll in New York and New Jersey (AP, 2012). Many
    others were affected by areas of severe flooding, the destruction of property, loss of
    electricity and access to clean water; the city provided semi-permanent housing, emergency
    food and water, and clothes to at least 3,000 of its people. The United States Federal
    Government had allocated $60 billion USD in storm recovery aid (Otis, 2013). Within a year
    of Hurricane Sandy, the Federal Government had provided more than $1.4 billion USD in
    Individual Assistance for survivours, $2.4 billion USD in low-interest disaster loans, $7.9
    billion in National Flood Insurance Program payments and $3.2 billion USD towards funding
    emergency work, and the repair and replacement of infrastructure (FEMA, 2013).
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    The Australian Broadcasting Corporation and Hurricane Sandy:
    The ABC is Australia’s public broadcasting network providing both traditional (i.e. television
    and radio) and contemporary (i.e. online) media services. The network was one of many
    reporting on Hurricane Sandy during October 2012 with several follow up stories during
    November. The archived publications and news footage served as an entry point to the
    ABC’s approach towards Hurricane Sandy. The news stories examined included both print
    and video reports centered on Hurricane Sandy. They also fell within the ten day period of
    October 26 th to November 4 th ; this period was selected based on Hurricane Sandy’s first
    mention until one week following landfall in America. The findings are as follows:
    Date Number of reports regarding
    America
    Number of reports regarding
    H代写Global Crisis Reporting
    04/11/2012  2  0
    Total 57 1 1
    Figure 1
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    The graph below serves to further illustrate the disproportionate numbers of ABC news
    reports between the two nations.
    As the graph above shows, the ABC’s reporting of Hurricane Sandy was overtly preferential
    towards its effects on Americans than on Haitians. Throughout the sample period of 10
    days, Haiti garnered a single mention on October 26 th with an article titled “Hurricane Sandy
    leaves 21 dead in Caribbean 1 ”; there were no follow up reports on the condition of the
    Caribbean nations or its population despite the death toll increasing during the next few
    days. Yet, as indicated by the sudden spike, not only was the American plight mentioned in
    nine separate reports on the day of landfall but October 30 th saw the publications of 20
    follow up reports with numbers gradually decreasing during the subsequent five day period.
    Of the 57 articles published focusing on America, one mentioned Hurricane Sandy in passing
    in reference to its impact on the (then) upcoming US elections, seven were reports related
    1 Article can be found at
    <http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-10-26/hurricane-sandy-leaves-21-dead-in-caribbean/4336296>
    0
    代写Global Crisis Reporting
    26-Oct 27-Oct 28-Oct 29-Oct 30-Oct 31-Oct 1-Nov 2-Nov 3-Nov 4-Nov
    Hurricane Sandy reports on America vs Haiti
    America Haiti
    Figure 2
    Global Crisis Reporting Word Count: 2,540
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    to the US economy, and one was titled “Sandy’s Aftermath: What happened to NYC’s rats? 2 ”
    published on November 1 st . It is disconcerting that New York City’s rats appear to hold more
    prominence to the ABC news media than the humanitarian crisis of an underdeveloped
    nation suffering its third natural disaster in two years.
    Theories:
    Two theories will be employed to explain the above statistics; Galtung and Ruge’s model of
    news values and the CARMA report Western Media Coverage of Humanitarian Disasters.
    Galtung and Ruge’s 1973 model of news values evaluate the potential – or newsworthiness
    – of news stories; in essence it serves as a guideline to determine how “events become
    news” (Harcup & O'Neill, 2001). According to this model the disproportionate attention
    towards the American cities compared to Haiti can be justified from a journalistic angle.
    Firstly, Hurricane Sandy’s effects on New York and New Jersey hold relevance and is
    ‘meaningful’ (Harcup & O'Neill, 2001) to Australian audiences. At the crux, this means that
    stories that are considered culturally similar to the target audience are more likely to be
    considered newsworthy. These stories fit into the target audience’s frame of reference; at a
    glance Australia and America are both English speaking Western nations with strong political
    and cultural ties; while the media does constitute the world’s publicness, it would seem that
    it is fractured by cultural differences (Silverstone, 2007). At the risk of appearing macabre,
    from a purely news media perspective, the Haitian devastation may have held more
    prominence in the ABC’s Hurricane Sandy coverage had it been considered relevant by other
    means – such as Australian citizens among the dead or injured in Haiti.
    Hurricane Sandy was also an unexpected phenomenon – not in the sense of its appearance
    – rather its devastating effects on a nation widely regarded as a superpower. This leads to
    another criterion of the model of news values; the lack of attention towards Haiti can be
    explained by America being an ‘elite’ nation. Gatlung and Ruge explain that “famine,
    drought, and national disasters are more likely to draw attention if they are happening in
    2 Article can be found at
    <http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-11-01/sandy-raises-fears-of-ratpocalypse/4345586>
    Global Crisis Reporting Word Count: 2,540
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    First World countries than if they are happening in developing countries.” (Harcup & O'Neill,
    2001) Also, it is assumed that the actions and positions of elite nations are more
    consequential than those of non-elite nations (Harcup & O'Neill, 2001).
    Cottle (2008) proposes another explanation for the lack of coverage on Haiti. He refers to a
    media analysis by CARMA titled Western Media Coverage of Humanitarian Disasters. The
    report compares the press coverage of six (then) recent major natural disasters. The findings
    state that although the 2005 Hurricane Katrina disaster in New Orleans, America, had the
    lowest death toll (as compared to the other five disasters studied) and had one of the
    lowest population displacement figures, it still received the highest rate of media coverage
    accounting for 50% of the study sample (Cottle, 2008) (Franks, 2006). By comparison,
    Hurricane Stanley which made landfall on Guatemala within a few weeks of Hurricane
    Katrina had received little media attention despite causing an equal death toll as Hurricane
    Katrina. Franks (2006) states that by the end of January 2006 Hurricane Katrina had gotten
    3,105 references in the British news media while Hurricane Stanley received 34 (Franks,
    2006). Cottle (2008) asserts that the extent of Hurricane Stanley’s media exposure was
    limited to only initial news reports then “quickly disappear[ed] from news attention.”
    (Cottle, 2008). The CARMA study suggests that “there appears to be no link between the
    scale of a disaster and media interest in the story.” (Cottle, 2008) (Franks, 2006). The report
    also argues that “economics is a better guide to press interest than human suffering”
    (Cottle, 2008) (Franks, 2006). This is demonstrated by the fact that the CARMA report found
    17 per cent of articles relating to Hurricane Katrina focussed on the economic impact of the
    disaster. The CARMA findings as quoted above, although in reference to Hurricane Katrina
    and Hurricane Stanley parallels our case study of Hurricane Sandy’s effects on America and
    Haiti and explains the disparity in coverage between the two nations.
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    Findings:
    The ABC news data shows the disproportionate media attention between two nations facing
    very similar disasters at nearly the same time. With the main point of difference being the
    development of each nation, it is significant to ask what the lack of media attention means
    to Haiti as an underdeveloped nation. As mentioned earlier, only a few months prior to
    Hurricane Sandy, Haiti had been struck by Hurricane Isaac. And prior to that the Caribbean
    island nation had experienced a devastating earthquake. Haiti has a GDP of $1,300 USD
    ranking 210 (out of a total of 229 nations) internationally while America ranks considerably
    higher at 13 with a GDP of $52,800 USD (CIA, 2013). The large disparity between the two
    nations’ economies shows how much more financial and aid assistance Haiti requires as
    compared to the much richer America. This is evidenced by the enormous budget afforded
    by the American Government to help its people and rebuild and repair the city’s
    infrastructure. This is not to in any way downgrade the crisis Americans faced in October
    2012; Hurricane Sandy – as I have mentioned – was an enormous crisis to both nations
    affected. I do however wish to emphasise the responsibility of the ABC to have covered
    more of the Haitian disaster. I acknowledge that public awareness alone will not necessarily
    help a cause but visibility is the first step; “mediated appearance constitutes our
    worldliness, our capacity to see the world” (Silverstone, 2007). Theoretically higher public
    exposure for Haiti would result in greater public awareness which in turn should – ideally –
    translate to international aid assistance; something the underdeveloped nation desperately
    needs. Ulrich Beck states that the media plays a pivotal role in maintaining public knowledge
    and the pressure for public action (Lester & Cottle, 2009). As such, from both a moral and an
    ethical standpoint, Haiti undoubtedly deserves the opportunity to present itself and its
    unfortunate circumstances on the global public stage. The lack of media attention is
    inadvertently excluding Haiti from the public sphere. Based on the ABC news reports
    sampled, it would appear that while Hurricane Sandy may have passed through the
    Caribbean nations that is not of importance and that the magnitude of the destruction was
    laid solely on the American cities and that our eyes should not stray from that.
    Of course another central reason; which reflects again on the criterion of relevance
    mentioned very briefly above; is America’s international status as a superpower and both
    the political and cultural ties between it and Australia. Harcup and O’Neill (2001) suggest
    Global Crisis Reporting Word Count: 2,540
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    that news regarding ‘elite’ nations are of particular importance in the public sphere as their
    position and conditions are consequential to other nations. This theory is evident again in
    the CARMA report which found a significant proportion of Hurricane Katrina news centred
    on economic matters rather than humanitarian issues (Franks, 2006). Similarly, the ABC
    news findings show that seven out of the total 57 reports focussed on Hurricane Sandy in
    America were regarding the US economy; this represents 12 per cent of the sample data.
    This is a reflection on the economic relations between America and Australia and therefore
    is of great significance to Australian audiences; it also fits the criterion of proximity as
    changes to the American economy may impact our own.
    Conclusion:
    It appears the simple answer to the initial question of ‘what makes one crisis more
    newsworthy than another?’ is its relevance to the target audience and their expectations of
    the news. However, this does make issues of journalistic and public morality and ethics
    problematic. For most of us the world and its population appear only in the media; the
    media serves as a bridge between the private and public worlds (Silverstone, 2007)
    therefore is burdened with a moral obligation to report on global crisis fairly regardless of
    political or cultural bias. In an increasingly globalised and shared world, a public sphere
    divided by cultural differences not only further splits people already separated by
    geographic locations but also hinders public awareness on crisis and the opportunity to help
    those in need. “The media brings immediacy” (Silverstone, 2007) and should be rightfully
    harnessed to disseminate knowledge and pressure public action.
    The CARMA report concludes that “Western self-interest is the pre-condition for significant
    coverage of a humanitarian crisis.” (Franks, 2006). Australian economic and cultural
    interests with America ensured a greater news coverage yet it was at the cost of moral and
    ethical journalistic values. In this instance, Australia’s economic self-interest rests with
    reports of a crisis in America not Haiti but is that enough reason to overlook a nation
    desperate for assistance?
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    References:
    ABC, 2012. Sandy's aftermath: What happened to NYC's rats?. [Online]
    Available at: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-11-01/sandy-raises-fears-of-ratpocalypse/4345586
    [Accessed 03 04 2014].
    AP, 2012. Superstorm Sandy Deaths, Damage and Magnitude: What we know one month later.
    [Online]
    Available at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/29/superstorm-hurricane-sandy-deaths-
    2012_n_2209217.html
    [Accessed 01 04 2014].
    Bell, M., 1998. The Journalism of Attachment. In: Media Ethics. New York: Routledge, pp. 15-22.
    Blake, E. et al., 2013. National Hurricane Centre. [Online]
    Available at: www.nhc.noaa.gov/data/tcr/AL182012_Sandy.pdf
    [Accessed 04 04 2014].
    CIA, 2013. The World Factbook. [Online]
    Available at: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-
    factbook/rankorder/2004rank.html
    [Accessed 04 04 2014].
    Cottle, S., 2008. (Un)natural Disasters: The Calculus of Death and the Ritualization of Catastrophe. In:
    Global Crisis Reportiing: Journalism in the Global Age. Maidenhead: Open University Press, pp. 43-
    70.
    FEMA, 2013. Hurricane Sandy: Timeline. [Online]
    Available at: http://www.fema.gov/hurricane-sandy-timeline
    [Accessed 04 04 2014].
    Ferreira, S., 2012. In Haiti, Hurricane Sandy Leaves Behind Death and Devastationo. [Online]
    Available at: http://world.time.com/2012/10/29/in-haiti-hurricane-sandy-leaves-behind-death-and-
    devastation/
    [Accessed 04 04 2014].
    Franks, S., 2006. The CARMA Report: Western Media Coverage of Humanitarian Disasters. Political
    Quarterly, 77(2), pp. 281-284.
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    Gutro, R., 2012. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration. [Online]
    Available at: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/hurricanes/archives/2012/h2012_Sandy.html#1
    [Accessed 01 04 2014].
    Lester, L. & Cottle, S., 2009. Visualising Climate Change: Television news and ecological citizenship.
    International Journal of Communication, Volume 3, pp. 920-936.
    Otis, A., 2013. Hurricane Sandy, one year later: Tracing the superstorm's path from inception to
    destruction. [Online]
    Available at: http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/hurricane-sandy/sandy-1-year-storm-winds-
    article-1.1495677
    [Accessed 01 04 2014].
    Service, N. W., 2012. National Weather Service. [Online]
    Available at: http://www.weather.gov/okx/HurricaneSandy
    [Accessed 01 04 2014].
    Silverstone, R., 2007. Mediapolis or the Space of Appearance. In: The Media and Morality.
    Cambridge: Polity Press, pp. 25-55.
    Tony Harcup, Deirdre O'Neill , 2001. What Is News? Galtung and Ruge revisited. Journalism Studies,
    2(2), pp. 261-280.
    WSJ, 2012. Haiti Death Toll Rises After Hurricane Sandy. [Online]
    Available at:
    http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052970204846304578094822177602826
    [Accessed 04 04 2014].
    代写Global Crisis Reporting