Comparing Type of Sources in Coverage of Katrina, Rita

Abstract

This content analysis found that official sources were more prominent in government-oriented stories, while non-ofßcial sources were more common when the story focused on citizen-oriented topics. X N! ews media coverage plays a crucial role in the immediate reaction to disasters, the shaping of disaster policy and even the efforts to prepare for and prevent future disasters. Therefore, newsgathering and dissemination are playing a significant role in providing disaster information to individuals, who then use this information to form their opinions and develop their policy preferences.T his paper examines sources quoted in newspapers published in some of the affected areas-New Orleans, Lake Charles, Biloxi, Houston and Beaumont. Specifically, this paper explored source diversity by examining sources quoted in these local newspapers. Though there have been some studies on media coverage and Hurricane Katrina,^ this study focuses on Hurricanes Katrina and Rita and newspaper story sources, particularly the number of official sources versus unofficial sources. There is little research on media coverage of Hurricane Rita. This study provides research on media coverage, particularly sources quoted in newspaper coverage, on both hurricanes. This study also investigates source diversity by examining the coverage of the disasters.

Media errors and the ‘nutty professor’: Riding the journalistic boundaries of the Sandy Hook shootings

“…Wigley and Fontenot (2009) examined news of the Virginia Tech shootings and found that reporters used more new technology sources during the first 2 days of coverage, with an increased reliance on non-official news sources as well. This has been found true in other kinds of crisis reporting, such as Hurricanes Katrina and Rita (Fontenot et al, 2009). Muschert (2009) found that common frames appear over the lifespan of a school shooting, starting with people's reactions to the situation and shifting to possible causes and what is being done to return a community to its everyday norm.…”