Comments on: The Media is a Serious Influential Variable

By: John Means

John Means — Tue, 18 May 2010 17:20:26 +0000

I think you have to look at the origin of the human suffering to determine what if any reaction can be sustained. With Haiti you have a defined problem, and a population willing to accept help. In this environment civilian help can be dispatched with minimal security concerns. I think we had military mainly at the airport doing air traffic control.

If you compare this incident with the problems in central and northern Africa you find some stark differences. We sould not be welcomed by a significant portion of the population. We would have to intervine with significant combat forces, either US or NATO (either way we pay), who would be committed for a significant period of time.

We have the ability to intervene and limit human suffering in some instances, but we cannot and should not be the world’s Public Safety Agency.

If the media was as powerful at setting poicy as many believe they are then the world would be mobilized to intervene in Darfor and in the other problem areas adopted by pop culture icons.

By: Mike Brown

Mike Brown — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 17:53:31 +0000

Nick, influence as noted in my text can be perceived as negative or positive. You make an excellent point about the term reactive being used by the media. However, the disaster preparedness and emergency management professionals typically seek and desire cooperation, coordination, communication and mutual trust not ever being desiring the pacification of potential allies or partners. I think we can fail very quickly in accomplishing our mission if we succumb to the perceived organizational or operational frailties of others. The reality is that the media knows how “many lives” the dedicated men and women who responded to the call saved even a month out from the earthquake (Survivor rescued 4 weeks later…CNN, 2010).

By: Nick Intintolo

Nick Intintolo — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 04:15:49 +0000

Has the media’s voice become a hindrance to the effectiveness of a command and control operations plan? Case in point: CNN’s coverage of the “lack of medical supplies and physicians” during the first 48 hours of the Haiti response was sensationalized quite successfully (and abundantly during the CNN rebroadcasts) by Dr. Gupta. 72 hours later, this same team (Cooper and Gupta) were now reporting that “too many doctors have come to the aid and we now have too many hands and not enough room to accommodate them”.

Obviously, the “influential variable” you coin in your subject header doesn’t have a place in the emergency response plan – or maybe it’s time to pacify the media and account for the damage they can do. Each time the media uses the term “reactive” in its description of our nation’s first responder leadership, they might consider using a new term called “mediactive” (Nick’s definition: the act of responding to negative unforeseen circumstances created by overzealous journalism) to better conceptualize what’s truly happening and why certain otherwise sound plans appear to be inadequate.

Tell me, does anyone know how many Haitian lives were saved?

By: Mike Brown

Mike Brown — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 17:57:59 +0000

Art, you are right on point. The information you share is so valuable to the eventual recovery of Haiti and any country in the future who experience such such events as Haiti. However, your heightened my point about the media when you noted its shift from what is really important to “missionaries.” If we could keep the media focused perhaps we could gain an ally in assisting in long-term recovery and restoration of devastated areas.

By: Art Deyo

Art Deyo — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 06:30:57 +0000

Mike,

All the latest media reports out of Haiti are focusing on the imprisoned Baptist Missionaries. There has not been many reporting on the infrastructure problems and recovery efforts. Media coverage will be important if a sustained recovery effort is to be successful.

There were serious issues with the deployment of federal FEMA Urban Search and Rescue teams. The team from Orange County (CA) Fire Dept sat at March Air Force Reserve Base after being activated for four days. The same thing happened to the Houston TX Fire USAR team. The USAR teams from Fairfax County and LA County made some great rescues and saved lives. There are two things that need to be addressed; First, USAR teams need to be activated much earlier that they were. LA County was dispatched two days after the quake, yet they can be in the air within 6 hours of activation. We could have had teams on the ground within 12 hours of the quake. Secondly, only 3 of the 28 FEMA USAR teams are considered to be international operable; Fairfax Co, LA County, and Miami-Dade County. The other 25 teams need to be upgrade to international status as soon as possible. This will require a contract with the said teams and USAID.

We could have put had many more rescue teams in the country within 24 hours of the quake. It is difficult to determine how many more lives would have been saved. However, the number would have been significant. In addition, our FEMA USAR teams would benefit from the experience of an international deployment which will make them more effective and efficient when we use them on US Soil.