GAR 2015 Main Report

136

Part II - Chapter 7

occur. And given their frequency, this awareness is unlikely to fade. However, as they affect mainly low-income households and communities, small businesses and local infrastructure rather than strategic political and economic interests, they are less likely to catalyse an increased imperative for disaster risk management at the national level (UNISDR, 2011a

UNISDR. 2011a,Global Assessment Report on Disaster Risk Reduction: Revealing Risk, Redefining Development, Geneva, Switzerland: UNISDR.. .

). At the same time, opportunities to manage risks are often severely constrained at the local level.

7.4 In search of the scoop

Media interest in disasters is transient, and reporting on disaster causes and impacts can reinforce the perception of disasters as exogenous to development.

The world is changing rapidly as connectivity increases and global television, the Internet and social media become all-pervasive. Images of disasters occurring anywhere in the world are now transmitted and disseminated globally in real time. Similarly, disaster impacts themselves ripple through global supply and value chains. A more global awareness of risk would seem to be emerging that is not necessarily grounded in the

experience of disasters in particular places. This global risk awareness has been strengthened by the threat of catastrophic climate change to the extent that disaster risk has been increasingly portrayed as synonymous with climate change.

However, the global media focuses on major disaster events rather than the underlying processes and drivers that generate and accumulate disaster risks. Like resources for the disaster risk management sector, media coverage of and interest in disasters is transient: it spikes when major events occur, for example following the Indian Ocean tsunamis in 2004 and the East Japanese earthquake in 2011, but it falls silent between events (Box 7.3).

Against this backdrop, while the global media can increase risk awareness, it may tend to reinforce the perception of disasters as exogenous events, thus dissimulating and veiling the drivers through which the development paradigm generates and accumulates risk. In addition, while these drivers do become visible through extensive disasters, the resulting risk awareness is largely limited to the local level.

Box 7.3 Disaster mortality and the media

The space dedicated to mortality in the media is not proportional to the number of deaths that actually occur (Bomlitz and Brezis, 2008

Bomlitz, Larisa J. and Mayer Brezis. 2008,Misrepresentation of health risks by mass media, Journal of Public Health, Vol. 30, No. 2: 202-204.. .

). Mortality associated with illicit drugs, motor accidents, toxic agents and homicide are overrepresented (Frost et al., 1997

Frost, A.R, C.P. Schofield, S.A. Beaulah, T.T. Mottram, J.A. Lines and C.M. Wathes. 1997,A review of livestock monitoring and the need for integrated systems, Computers and Electronics in Agriculture, Vol. 17, Issue 2: 139-159.. .

), as are hazards such as SARS and bioterrorism. In contrast, more prevalent mortality factors such as AIDS, physical inactivity and smoking are under-represented (Bomlitz and Brezis, 2008

Bomlitz, Larisa J. and Mayer Brezis. 2008,Misrepresentation of health risks by mass media, Journal of Public Health, Vol. 30, No. 2: 202-204.. .

).

In general, the media tends to overlook creeping changes (Glantz, 1999

Glantz, Michael. 1999,Creeping Environmental Problems and Sustainable Development in the Aral Sea Basin, Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.. .

) even though the threats posed by environmental change such as biodiversity loss, climate change, desertification, stratospheric ozone depletion, tropical deforestation, mangrove and coral destruction, soil erosion, soil and water pollution, overfishing, invasive species (Meadows et al., 1972

Meadows, Donella H., Dennis L. Meadows, Jorgen Randers and William W. Behrens III. 1972,The Limits to Growth, A report for The Club of Rome’s Project on the Predicament of Mankind. New York: Universe Books.. .

; Turner, 2008

Turner, Graham M. 2008,A comparison of The Limits to Growth with 30 years of reality, Global Environmental Change, Vol. 18, Issue 3 (August): 397-411.. .

; Randers, 2008

Randers, Jorgen. 2008,Global collapse—Fact or fiction? Futures, Vol, 40, Issue 10: 853-864.. .

and Rockstrm et al., 2009) and other global drivers may increase disaster risk to catastrophic levels. These incremental changes go unnoticed until they pass a threshold and quickly lead to changes in the environment or are revealed by a disaster (Maskrey, 1999

Maskrey, Andrew. 1999,Reducing Global Disasters, In Natural Disaster Management, J. Ingleton, ed. Leicester.. .

). Only then does the media pay attention.

	136 Part II - Chapter 7 occur. And given their frequency, this awareness is unlikely to fade. However, as they affect mainly low-income households and communities, small businesses and local infrastructure rather than strategic political and economic interests, they are less likely to catalyse an increased imperative for disaster risk management at the national level (UNISDR, 2011a x UNISDR. 2011a,Global Assessment Report on Disaster Risk Reduction: Revealing Risk, Redefining Development, Geneva, Switzerland: UNISDR.. . ). At the same time, opportunities to manage risks are often severely constrained at the local level. 7.4 In search of the scoop Media interest in disasters is transient, and reporting on disaster causes and impacts can reinforce the perception of disasters as exogenous to development. The world is changing rapidly as connectivity increases and global television, the Internet and social media become all-pervasive. Images of disasters occurring anywhere in the world are now transmitted and disseminated globally in real time. Similarly, disaster impacts themselves ripple through global supply and value chains. A more global awareness of risk would seem to be emerging that is not necessarily grounded in the experience of disasters in particular places. This global risk awareness has been strengthened by the threat of catastrophic climate change to the extent that disaster risk has been increasingly portrayed as synonymous with climate change. However, the global media focuses on major disaster events rather than the underlying processes and drivers that generate and accumulate disaster risks. Like resources for the disaster risk management sector, media coverage of and interest in disasters is transient: it spikes when major events occur, for example following the Indian Ocean tsunamis in 2004 and the East Japanese earthquake in 2011, but it falls silent between events (Box 7.3). Against this backdrop, while the global media can increase risk awareness, it may tend to reinforce the perception of disasters as exogenous events, thus dissimulating and veiling the drivers through which the development paradigm generates and accumulates risk. In addition, while these drivers do become visible through extensive disasters, the resulting risk awareness is largely limited to the local level. Box 7.3 Disaster mortality and the media The space dedicated to mortality in the media is not proportional to the number of deaths that actually occur (Bomlitz and Brezis, 2008 x Bomlitz, Larisa J. and Mayer Brezis. 2008,Misrepresentation of health risks by mass media, Journal of Public Health, Vol. 30, No. 2: 202-204.. . ). Mortality associated with illicit drugs, motor accidents, toxic agents and homicide are overrepresented (Frost et al., 1997 x Frost, A.R, C.P. Schofield, S.A. Beaulah, T.T. Mottram, J.A. Lines and C.M. Wathes. 1997,A review of livestock monitoring and the need for integrated systems, Computers and Electronics in Agriculture, Vol. 17, Issue 2: 139-159.. . ), as are hazards such as SARS and bioterrorism. In contrast, more prevalent mortality factors such as AIDS, physical inactivity and smoking are under-represented (Bomlitz and Brezis, 2008 x Bomlitz, Larisa J. and Mayer Brezis. 2008,Misrepresentation of health risks by mass media, Journal of Public Health, Vol. 30, No. 2: 202-204.. . ). In general, the media tends to overlook creeping changes (Glantz, 1999 x Glantz, Michael. 1999,Creeping Environmental Problems and Sustainable Development in the Aral Sea Basin, Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.. . ) even though the threats posed by environmental change such as biodiversity loss, climate change, desertification, stratospheric ozone depletion, tropical deforestation, mangrove and coral destruction, soil erosion, soil and water pollution, overfishing, invasive species (Meadows et al., 1972 x Meadows, Donella H., Dennis L. Meadows, Jorgen Randers and William W. Behrens III. 1972,The Limits to Growth, A report for The Club of Rome’s Project on the Predicament of Mankind. New York: Universe Books.. . ; Turner, 2008 x Turner, Graham M. 2008,A comparison of The Limits to Growth with 30 years of reality, Global Environmental Change, Vol. 18, Issue 3 (August): 397-411.. . ; Randers, 2008 x Randers, Jorgen. 2008,Global collapse—Fact or fiction? Futures, Vol, 40, Issue 10: 853-864.. . and Rockstrm et al., 2009) and other global drivers may increase disaster risk to catastrophic levels. These incremental changes go unnoticed until they pass a threshold and quickly lead to changes in the environment or are revealed by a disaster (Maskrey, 1999 x Maskrey, Andrew. 1999,Reducing Global Disasters, In Natural Disaster Management, J. Ingleton, ed. Leicester.. . ). Only then does the media pay attention.	Page 1 Page 10 Page 20 Page 30 Page 40 Page 50 Page 60 Page 70 Page 80 Page 90 Page 100 Page 110 Page 120 Page 126 Page 127 Page 128 Page 129 Page 130 Page 131 Page 132 Page 133 Page 134 Page 135 Page 136 Page 137 ->Page 138 Page 139 Page 140 Page 141 Page 142 Page 143 Page 144 Page 145 Page 146 Page 147 Page 148 Page 149 Page 150 Page 160 Page 170 Page 180 Page 190 Page 200 Page 210 Page 220 Page 230 Page 240 Page 250 Page 260 Page 270 Page 280 Page 290 Page 300 Page 310