标题：Analysis of Media Agenda Setting During and After Hurricane Katrina: Implications for Emergency Preparedness, Disaster Response, and Disaster Policy
摘要：Media agenda setting refers to the deliberate coverage of topics or events with the goal of influencing public opinion and public policy. We conducted a quantitative content analysis of 4 prominent newspapers to examine how the media gathered and distributed news to shape public policy priorities during Hurricane Katrina. The media framed most Hurricane Katrina stories by emphasizing government response and less often addressing individuals’ and communities’ level of preparedness or responsibility. Hence, more articles covered response and recovery than mitigation and preparation. The newspapers studied focused significantly more on government response than on key public health roles in disaster management. We discuss specific implications for public health professionals, policymakers, and mass media so that, in the future, coordination can be enhanced among these entities before, during, and after disasters occur. AS NATURAL AND HUMAN- produced disasters increase around the world, public health messages promoting local preparedness and coordinating expert planning efforts are increasingly important. 1 The goal of public health disaster preparedness and response is for individuals and communities to “take simple steps to ensure that they have a supply of food, water and medicine, a reliable first aid kit, and a plan to find loved ones if communication and transportation networks are disrupted.” 2 Ironically, the importance of this message is convincingly conveyed by the media and others during and after the disaster but is avoided before the event. In addition, the media tends to emphasize different priorities according to the type of disaster or the individuals affected. 3 For example, in comparison with the response to an earthquake, the response to a hurricane generally “lacks a well-organized community policy and thus basically consists of ad hoc disaster relief episodes.” 3 (p51) This situation often results in a media-driven disaster policy that highlights deficiencies in the delivery of relief rather than local preparedness and national coordination efforts. The ability of the mass media to set the agenda for public discussion is known as agenda setting. Agenda setting influences public agendas and policies through deliberate coverage of events and issues, with the media prompting policymakers to take action and satisfy the public’s interest or demand for answers. 3 The media engenders public awareness and concern on the basis of the assumptions that (1) the press and the media do not reflect reality but, rather, filter and shape it, and (2) media concentration on a few issues and subjects leads the public to perceive those issues and subjects as more important than others. 4 – 6 During Hurricane Katrina, the media’s agenda-setting role was often advanced through investigations on the part of prestigious newspapers, including the New York Times and the Washington Post , 7 – 9 which created public interest and a convergence of common priorities. 10 Despite criticisms of the media’s handling of Hurricane Katrina (exaggerating lawlessness, tolerating racial profiling, and underreporting disaster management), the media played a historic role by pushing the government to take action, thus prompting a country of diverse citizens to reflect on natural disasters in their own communities. 11 , 12 However, the media’s coverage of disasters should equally emphasize disaster mitigation and preparation. Ideally, the media should focus on these public health perspectives throughout all phases of a disaster to aid lawmakers and the public in developing and supporting policies founded on evidence-based public health disaster management practices. In addition, reporting on analyses of current and proposed disaster policies can help increase understanding of their potential impact. Thus, knowledge regarding how the media gathers and distributes the news is important in understanding and shaping agenda-setting and public policy priorities in natural disasters. 6 , 13 We examined media agenda setting by reviewing local, state, and national newspaper articles on Hurricane Katrina. We explored how media agenda setting supports public health disaster management practices (mitigation, preparation, response, recovery) and assessed whether the media advanced policies shaping how state governments and the federal government respond to hurricanes.
