Natural Hazards: Changing Media Environments and the Efficient Use of ICT for Disaster Communication

Abstract

The growing importance of mass media in the ‘information society’, combined with society’s increased
dependence on electronic modes of information is important to the perception, regulation and management
of risk at a local, national and international level. However, media organisations have their own
logic and goals that are not necessarily compatible with the logic and goals of disaster planning and
assistance agencies. Using a detailed study of the media coverage of floods in Switzerland from 1910
to 2005, we will illustrate the salient features of disaster reporting and how these relate to issues of risk
perception and risk prevention behaviour in the public sphere. The findings are used to discuss the traditional
media’s shortcomings for the goal of risk reduction, the public’s information seeking behaviour,
and the opportunities and limitations arising from the emergence of digital, internet-based information
and communication technologies (ICT) for disaster communication.