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The
Tsunami Disaster in Southern Asia: Children Will
Remain in Crisis Long After the Media Coverage Subsides
By
Joi Kohlhagen *
Unlike
many dynamics in society where the genesis ultimately evolves
and rises until it reaches its apex, media coverage-in all
of its forms: print, broadcast, or internet based—is
quite the opposite. News coverage for all events, particularly
those of great disaster and tragedy, begins at its apex, when
coverage is ubiquitous, and provides intense and detailed
media attention. The reporting always ultimately subsides,
over a matter of days, or weeks, or months, depending upon
the event. In the case of the tsunami disaster in Southern
Asia, where over 150,000 people perished, one third of them
estimated to be children and where a projected one million
or more children (numbers provided are as of January 1st,
2005, the date of this writing) are critically injured, orphaned,
and homeless, media coverage will continue for a long while,
but in different form and intensity.
The
tsunami was a cataclysmic and horrific event in of itself.
Yet the timing of the disaster provided the media with additional
angles, which in some cases misdirected the focus of some
of the more critical elements of the media coverage. The tsunami
ravaged through Southern Asia the day after Christmas and
days before the many scheduled world wide New Year's festivities.
There was a tragic irony that its victims, many of whom were
just a day before happily rejoicing in holiday celebrations,
would 24 hours later either succumb to the wrath of one of
the largest tsunamis in history or become seriously injured,
orphaned and/or homeless as a result. This singular point
of tragic irony was made over and over again, implying as
if the tsunami had arrived a month earlier or a month later,
it somehow would have been less devastating and tragic.
As
the days became further distanced from Christmas and New Year's
Eve approached, there were widely reported accounts that the
death tolls and enormity of destruction were much worse than
initially feared. Predictably—and arguably gratuitously—during
New Year's Eve day and night, broadcast and cable television
coverage were filled with images of the juxtaposition of lavish
celebrations for the New Year world wide-cutting back intermittently
to scenes of unfathomable devastation, body bags lined up
further than the eye (or the television camera) could see,
and shots of adults crying in pain and children hoarded in
shelters with the blank looks of trauma on their faces.
It
is improbable that this kind of coverage was planned. There
was no natural disaster of this magnitude in recent history
for reporters, producers, and editors to use as a frame of
reference. The geographically far reaching devastation of
the disaster, including remote and isolated areas that were
without communication systems and where local roads leading
to them were destroyed, made meaningful reporting during the
first days of coverage in those regions nearly impossible.
Even
the most seasoned journalists often find it difficult to distinguish
when the reporting of essential and relevant details that
provide newsworthy context crosses the line to superfluous
and maudlin reporting of gratuitous and sometimes exploitative
details of a horrific event or its victims. Indeed, after
the 9/11 tragedy, the media was widely criticized for the
relentless repetition of the airing of footage of the second
plane crashing into the former World Trader Center, in addition
to the airing of similar frequency video of victims jumping
out of windows, and the excruciating footage of the crumbing
of the buildings. The media was quick to respond and agreed
with the public outcry. Shortly after, almost all broadcast
and cable stations (at least in the United States) ceased
the relentless airing of that footage.
It
is reasonably anticipated that there eventually will be a
similar shift of coverage of the tsunami, shifting reporting
of the gruesome to reporting of the substantial. For example,
the media will likely report on the probable investigations
of significant relevance, including the lack of warning systems
in the regions of the affected areas; the reasons behind why
the first affected area was not able to be in communication
with surrounding areas to provide notice for evacuation attempts,
and the examination of how to rebuild around the fault lines
that caused or contributed to the disaster.
The
media has an even greater responsibility regarding its coverage
of the tsunami disaster. When media assume the task (as well
it should) of providing ubiquitous and extensive non-stop
coverage for catastrophes, it also has the obligation to recognize
the effect the coverage has on many millions of people worldwide.
People often equate the severity of a situation with the amount
and intensity of the media coverage it receives. It is inevitable
that eventually the depth of the tsunami's destruction will
be determined, the estimation of the number of dead will be
finalized, and the detailed ironies of the holiday period
coincidence may (mercifully) no longer seem relevant. The
result is that the media coverage will eventually diminish
significantly, even as reports on various investigations unfold.
Any diseases that may emerge will be covered. Updates of humanitarian
relief efforts also will continue to be reported, as will
coverage of the survivors, both those still suffering from
medical and psychological trauma and those who are heroically
organizing and participating in efforts to rebuild.
The public may not realize how suddenly the media coverage
will diminish. As indicated above, when ubiquitous and intense
media coverage of a catastrophic event eventually and inevitably
becomes sporadic, a common consequence is for people to forget,
or at least lose a sense that the most piercing tragic elements
of that horrific event will indefinitely continue to endure.
Consciously or not, people often equate the level of media
coverage to the level of the magnitude of the reported event.
It is extremely important for the media to frequently point
out that even though its coverage will decrease, perhaps in
the coming months to the point of scarce mention, the tragedy
still endures. Millions of children will likely still be homeless
or otherwise harmed and in great need for ongoing medical
treatment for their serious injuries and to battle the onslaught
of diseases that are widely predicted to emerge. They will
also continue to be in need of uncontaminated food and water,
and other basic necessities of life.
The
public needs to understand that after the television cameras
are turned off and newspapers and magazines shift their focus
to other matters, the many months and perhaps years of continual
suffering from the devastation of the tsunami will continue.
Children will long be in need of significant resources. They
will also need—an important point that to date that has
not been a subject of media focus—a sense of hope and
direction that the knowledge and observation of a rebuilding
process can provide. The continuation of packages of aid—a
display that the world still cares about them—is also
of critical importance. The diminishing headlines and newspaper
articles also will not diminish the need for the myriad children
orphaned from the tsunami to find a safe and permanent home.
Will most people be aware of this on some level? Of course.
But that does not negate the need for the media to address
the reality of the "out of sight-out of mind" phenomenon
that people often experience after significant media coverage
of a given situation disappears.
Regardless
of the amount or nature of media coverage, there are always
a large number of people—even those who are usually empathetic
and kind—that turn away from the morose newspaper headlines,
or graphic footage of incomprehensible human suffering. Life
is hard to begin with. It is most difficult, if not seemingly
impossible, for many people, including those who are fundamentally
good natured, to embrace the horrific suffering of people
who seem so far away; people who seem to be almost part of
a different world.
For
other people, it is not the location of a horrific event that
cause them to care little or not at all. It is a universal
truth, yet a relatively rarely acknowledged fact, that there
will always be some people that are never of concern for victims
of any circumstance, either tragic or common place-unless
they somehow perceive that it directly or indirectly affects
them or the people in their lives that they care about. There
is nothing the media can do to change the character or morality
of such people (a type that many sociologists and social psychologists
believe to be {thankfully} relativity small in number) that
exist all across the world.
As
this commentary was accessed by a link on the Poetry Perspective
Section of Perspectives On Youth, www.perspectivesnoyouth.org,
and because sometimes poetry captures a situation or a point
better than other forms of communication ever could, it seems
fitting to conclude with a famous passage by the great poet
John Donne. Nearly 400 years after placing pen to paper, his
words continue to evoke a universal message, both obvious
and underlying, providing perspective to the many generations
since that have continually found themselves caught between
decisions of isolation versus intervention with those-regardless
of the level of their suffering—thought of as completely
unconnected to themselves.
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