Thinking about existing Literature…
Every year throughout the bushfire season in Victoria, difficulties arise surrounding the dissemination of information to the public. 2007 marked the tenth anniversary of the ABC working as official emergency broadcaster in Victoria. It is essential to investigate the effectiveness of the agreement and the way in which the relationship between the ABC and emergency services in Victoria can move forward. A successful policy will not only benefit the ABC, but emergency services staff and residents affected by bushfires in Victoria.
The field of research into media during emergencies is one which is discussed extensively in journals such as the Journal of Emergency Management. Once refined to bushfires, and again to Australia the writing becomes more and more scarce. Three academics who have completed comprehensive research into this field are Erez Cohen, Peter Hughes and Peter White from La Trobe University in Melbourne. The research of these three academics aligns closely with my own research and is excellent in providing detailed analysis of issues included within my scope.
The three academics cover issues including:
· A case study of the perceptions of the media during the Grampians bushfires
· The contentious issue of talkback radio
· Communications methods during bushfires
· Relationships between media and emergency services.
In their article entitled “The Media and Fire Services – Dealing with Conflicting Agendas” the three authors explore the common discourse that the media create myths around bushfires, using language that is exaggerated or hysterical. Through a case study of the media during the 2005 Wilsons Promontory Bushfires in South Eastern Victoria, Cohen, hughes and White come to the conclusion that the relationship between the media and emergency services is quite “complex and productive than earlier literature on this subject suggested.” (Cohen, Hughes and White, p107, 2007) They also conclude that the Australian concept of bushfires must change to aid in emergency situations. Australian’s must stop looking upon bushfires as “terrifying aberrations, an ineluctable, unpredictable act of god” and begin to see them as “an inherently Australian phenomenon that goes with the territory.” (Cohen, Hughes and White, p108, 2007) This notion is founded upon the idea that the media have created this discourse and they must assist in changing it.
Of great assistance to my own research, Cohen, Hughes and White interview many emergency services staff as well as journalists who reported on that particular bushfire. They found that many journalists believed the Country Fire Authority (CFA) to be more professional and of more assistance than the Department of Sustainability and Environment) DSE: “According to this journalist, DSE was manipulating the media on one front, facilitating media access to the fire so that journalists and photographers cojuld generate ‘great pictures’ but had to guess the ‘real story.’” (Cohen, Hughes and White, p112, 2007) This seems to be a recurring theme through my research.
Throughout many of their research articles, Cohen, Hughes and White discuss the role of the radio during bushfires. This information is critical to associate with my on research as my interviews will also be focussing on talkback radio and communications during bushfires. These authors argue that “radio, more than any other medium is considered as the best means for delivering timely safety information.” (Cohen, Hughes and White, p114, 2007) they raise this claim once again in another article entitled “Media and Bushfires: A community Perspective of the media during the Grampians fires 2006” when they argue that although newspaper information was extremely important, it became old news very fast and “in the immediate crisis of a fire emergency, radio is seen as the first place to go for information.” (Cohen, Hughes and White, p89, 2007) In particular, ABC radio is seen as the most credibly media during bushfires; “Local ABC radio is the only one that was doing anything for anybody because it was keeping us up to date…because everybody was busy doing their own things” (Male, small business owner, 45) (Cohen, Hughes and White, p92, 2007)
This particular article explores the use of the media from the community perspective during the bushfires that swept through the Grampians in Northern Victoria two years ago. Through the use of very similar methodologies to my own research such as focus groups and interviews, the authors investigate the importance of local knowledge in delivering effective information, the importance of a clear geographic focus of media coverage and the various effects of media coverage before, during and after the fire. This information will be invaluable to beginning my interviews and creating a position.
