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145 Conclusion When everyday people talk about Katrina or the Deepwater Horizon disaster , both crises are often discussed as “Louisiana disasters.” But the scopes of the tragedies are far-reaching on land and at sea. Stories of manmade and natural disasters and recovery are narratives that are told over and over again not only in our society but around the world. The media tell these stories first. The power of news producers to shape the framing and interpretation of major events determines the immediate response and future outcomes of crises. Katrina and the oil spill were crises that were different from most, because they occurred back-to-back in the local journalists’ backyard. The journalists didn’t have to parachute in to cover the story. They lived it. This book is not just about the unprecedented events of Katrina or the Deepwater Horizon explosion but the lessons that journalists and consumers can learn about communication during crises. Sense of Community History shows that there is a special connection between tragic events and local media. A mutual relationship emerges when local media assume hegemony over other competing sources of information, and users who may have strayed in loyalty come running home for information.1 The relationship during disaster seems driven more by the users’ needs at the time than the local news sources’ advantage on news content in their home turf. Communities immediately turn to local news organizations, first for information , and second for context as they seek to rebuild and recover from a crisis. In the past, researchers have labeled media users in a crisis as passive, but a behavior change occurred during Katrina. Hurricane Katrina evacuees in all phases of the disaster actively sought out local media news coverage. New Orleans Times-Picayune journalists who roamed the city found sources begging them for updates or to tell their stories. At one point during the aftermath when evacuated Times-Picayune reporters visited the River Center in Baton Rouge, displaced residents scrambled to get the few copies of Conclusion 146 the paper the reporters walked in with, despite the numerous television screens around the center showing national news. Compared to unpredictable disasters such as the oil spill, hurricanes can be prepared for, people having been forewarned. The media operated in a “management role” before the storm and became a conduit for local officials to issue warnings, alert the public to emergency services, and transmit updates.2 It was in the “impact” and “recovery” phases when media transformed users from passive to active consumers of information.3 This is the “linkage” or “social utility” role of the media.4 Local media were actively sought out as a lifeline, a source of connection when the power went out, or all that was left was a battery-operated or car radio. What sustained this community connection five years later during the oil disaster was that locality. Local media users had continued the relationship not necessarily because they felt that local news sources were any more accurate than national ones, but because they witnessed their local news sources in the same position as they were. They performed admirably under severe conditions, allowing the users to get what they needed. With the oil spill, users looked to the journalists to once again lead them through a tough time. The challenges were different. There was physical distance and the enormity of the disaster, as well as ignorance. In fact, business interests relied on these barriers to give them time to craft their own narrative. There weren’t any flooded neighborhoods at the epicenter of the crisis; there weren’t people who needed to be rescued . The unfolding drama was hidden beneath the surface of the ocean, and the complex physical location coupled with the complex scientific story lessened the dependency on mass media. Cleanup crews were told not to talk to reporters and journalists, and fishers were banned from the coastal waters and marshes. It was much more controlled and because of this the truth often remained on the bottom. Even then, local users tuned in not because they needed officials to give them updates; they were looking for something else. They needed a sense of community, a reassurance that they were in this together and would get through this together—again. While the nature of the oil spill called for less dependency on news coverage, local media still became an outlet for authorities and those affected to tell their stories of survival and recovery. Marty Haag...

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