Prepare for Disaster (To): Small is Beautiful in Media!

This article offers the expertise of Pat Longstaff, Associate Professor of the Public Communication School at Syracuse, New York, who believes that current media policy, and commercial media’s drive for profit, are making all of us more vulnerable to natural disasters. This article outlines some of her concerns and what she believes can help make communications more resilient in the face of an emergency.

One of the main reasons Longstaff believes that communications fail is because reporters and those working on behalf of the media are often caught by surprise and are not supported by technical
equipment (based on financial constraints) that could help make them efficient and resilient in times of need. Another reason for communication failures in emergency situations is people's lack of trust in sources of information. Another reason for failures is the fact that when there are crises people focus attention on blaming others rather than focusing on fixing the problems.

Longstaff suggests that one way this situation can be rectified is to find ways for information to flow from the bottom up as well as from the top down. According to Longstaff, people tend to believe each other in an emergency more than they believe official sources. Further, she describes that people panic
when they feel like they don't have options in situations where they find themselves in physical danger.

In Longstaff's view, there is not an adequate network of stringers to collect reliable local information except community-based media, based on smaller systems, are likely to be more resilient to surprises. She also points out that small-scale, community-based and self-sufficient communication systems, such as community radios, are a good way to prepare for disasters.

Longstaff concludes her points by asking if the Sphere project, the Humanitarian Charter and Minimum Standards in Disaster Response, could become a new platform for promoting community media?

Editor's note: This document is no longer available online.