Empirical examination of the theory of disaster marathon: A case study of the local television coverage following the 2014 Ludian, China earthquake

Wang, Yi; Louis-Charles, Hans M.

doi:10.1080/10714421.2017.1377950

Cited by 6 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 68 publications

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“…Similarly, media outlets play a pivotal role in reinforcing post-disaster myths of looting and social disorder (see Goltz 1984;Scanlon 1998), which validates public fears against possible deviant behaviors and stokes existing demands for greater military intervention in emergency management (Tierney, Bvec, and Kuligowski 2006). In countries with government-controlled news media, post-disaster news framing has served to legitimize authoritarian government behavior and the veneration of the ruling party (Wang and Louis-Charles 2017). In their study of the media coverage of Hurricane Katrina, Tierney et al (2006:62) state, "media treatments of disasters both reflect and reinforce broader societal and cultural trends, socially constructed metanarratives, and hegemonic discourse practices that support the status quo."…”

Section: Media Frames and Post-hurricane Looting Mythologymentioning

confidence: 99%

The Aftermath of IrMaria in the U.S. Virgin Islands: Temporal Patterns of Looting, Burglaries, and Community Solidarity

Louis-Charles

Aguirre

Kitnurse

2021

International Journal of Mass Emergencies & Disasters

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This study investigates the aftermath of Hurricanes Irma and Maria (IrMaria) in the U.S. Virgin Islands and the dichotomy between media reports depicting mass looting and chaos with statements by public officials disputing these claims. Perceptions on post-hurricane criminality can influence sheltering and evacuation behavior as well as frame public policy. The authors review the post-disaster collective behavior literature and implement a mixed-methods approach to examine the veracity of these looting claims. Post-disaster interviews with impacted households, business owners, and public servants reveal a pro-social environment with strong community solidarity in the immediate aftermath of IrMaria. Sheltering behavior was not influenced by fears of looting, but was influenced by previous hurricane false alarms. Regression of available FBI-UCR data shows the rate of burglary has declined across the islands since 2010. An aggregate-level report by the U.S. Virgin Islands Police Department shows a decline in all crimes throughout the US territory compared to the fiscal year before IrMaria, but a four percent increase in burglary incidents. The comparable increase in incidents occurred within four months of IrMaria's landfall, followed by a precipitous decrease in incidents. This finding aligns with theoretical calls to consider temporal phases and patterns of post-disaster crime. Considering the delayed federal response and the decrease in all other crimes for the fiscal year, the authors attribute the momentary increase in burglary incidents as a misnomer and are likely survival appropriating acts that decreased with burgeoning humanitarian assistance. This study recommends disaster public policy and recovery efforts prioritize the unmet needs of hurricane survivors and greater scrutiny of the constraints of US colonialism that impede disaster resilience. Additionally, the paper highlights other concerns raised by participants during fieldwork interviews and emphasizes the necessity and value of ethical post-disaster qualitative research.

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Section: Media Frames and Post-hurricane Looting Mythologymentioning

confidence: 99%

The Aftermath of IrMaria in the U.S. Virgin Islands: Temporal Patterns of Looting, Burglaries, and Community Solidarity

Louis-Charles

Aguirre

Kitnurse

2021

International Journal of Mass Emergencies & Disasters

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“…Theoretically, it is problematic because it puts forward (however, unintentionally) a rather artificial dichotomy between a static, ordered and parochial past, where media events played a central role in cultural reproduction, and a fluid, progressive and hybrid present, where such events are challenged by shifting identities and the deterritorialisation of cultural and social boundaries. One can highlight the limitations of this perspective by pointing towards two of the primary examples used in the original study of Media Events, the British royal wedding of Charles andDiana in 1981 andSadat's visit to Israel in 1977. To study, or have studied, these events only in terms of stasis, order and fixed identities would be a travesty given the emphasis that organizers placed on trans-national links (across the Middle-East and the wider Commonwealth, respectively) not to mention the range of audiences that watched both events across the globe.…”

Section: Visions Of Social Changementioning

confidence: 99%

W(h)ither Media Events? Building a Typology for Theorizing Exceptional Events that Break with the Norm in a Complex Media Landscape

Skey

2020

Communication Theory

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This article proposes a new typology for understanding events or programs that represent exceptions to the norm in that they interrupt media schedules and/or monopolize coverage across numerous platforms and capture public attention for short periods of time. First the master category of exceptional mediated event is introduced and four main categories identified, media events, media disasters, news events and pseudo-events. Then, a primary distinction is drawn between those that interrupt mainstream programming and those that interrupt specialist news channels or are staged for publicity purposes by media producers. This typology builds on recent responses to Dayan and Katz’s (1992) classic study of Media Events but argues that rather than expanding conceptual categories, specific analytical tools—that focus on temporality, organization, scale, liveness and genre—are required to make sense of an increasingly complex, and competitive, media landscape

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“…Put simply, it makes little sense to lump together, under an extended category of media events, the mediation of, say, a major natural disaster and the subsequent event designed to commemorate it, given the myriad differences that can be identified when they are studied in detail. Leaving aside the obvious issue of design and planning, even the representation of such events is notably different, involving access to differing types of sources, specific styles of reporting, particular levels of audience engagement as well as the varying ability of powerful institutions to shape a coherent narrative (Pantti and Wieten, 2005;Wang and Louis-Charles, 2017;Zelizer, 1992).…”

Section: Expanding the Category: From Disasters To 'Popular Media Events'mentioning

confidence: 99%

“It is their job to make sure that the long-term vision for the show … stays intact”: Using insights from the television format industry to rethink the concept of media events

Skey

2020

Communications

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The concept of media events continues to generate widespread debate among scholars around the globe. Studies that have challenged the concept’s functionalist foundations have undoubtedly sharpened our thinking. Conversely, approaches that have sought to expand the concept tend to confuse rather than clarify. In this paper, we argue that events that are planned, anticipated, and involve external organizations in their design demand a specific set of analytical tools. Furthermore, we draw a further distinction between one-off events and those that are cyclical in nature, with the latter being theorized using insights from studies of the television format industry. This approach not only focuses much needed attention on the production side of media events but also on the struggles between different interest groups (rights-holders, event hosts, media producers). We illustrate our arguments by drawing upon ethnographic material from the 2014 Eurovision Song Contest.

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Empirical examination of the theory of disaster marathon: A case study of the local television coverage following the 2014 Ludian, China earthquake

Cited by 6 publications

References 68 publications

The Aftermath of IrMaria in the U.S. Virgin Islands: Temporal Patterns of Looting, Burglaries, and Community Solidarity

The Aftermath of IrMaria in the U.S. Virgin Islands: Temporal Patterns of Looting, Burglaries, and Community Solidarity

W(h)ither Media Events? Building a Typology for Theorizing Exceptional Events that Break with the Norm in a Complex Media Landscape

“It is their job to make sure that the long-term vision for the show … stays intact”: Using insights from the television format industry to rethink the concept of media events

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