Las Vegas Shooting 2017

EM511: Disasters & the Media/ Summer 2022 Media Review Assignment

Media Review Assignment EM511: Disasters & the Media (100 points)

Due: July 22, 2022

The purpose of this assignment is to review the media’s handling of a crisis or disaster event. Students should consider the time period as well as the cultural, social, political, and economic situations at the time to critique the media’s message. The type of media that is reviewed may largely depend on the time period in which the event occurred. For example, the review of the role social media may be appropriate for the 2011 tsunami in Japan but would not be appropriated for the 1954 mega-tsunami in Lituya Bay. That noted, students are not limited in the number or types of media that are reviewed. Example: If the terrorist attacks on September 11 is the subject of a review, television broadcasts as well as online articles from major news outlets would be suitable as both were important sources of information that day and the days following. Assignment Instructions:

• Event Selection/ The approved events for this assignment are listed. The events are first come, first serve. Students should submit their preferences to me via email. When requesting an event, please submit your top three (3) choices. Please see the syllabus and schedule for applicable deadlines and due date.

• Synopsis of the Event/ Full explanation of the event itself IS NOT necessary. The review of the vent itself should be no more than 150 words.

• Comprehensive Emergency Management/ While reviewing the media reports, consider which of the four phases of comprehensive emergency management would apply to the specific report. Is the piece covering the response to the event, or is the focus on how an organization, city, or region is recovering?

• Time periods/ If the event is one that occurs over a period of time, such as the heat wave of 1988, a specific time period can be identified to make the analysis manageable. However, the time period as well as the reasoning for covering only a portion of the entire event should be included.

• Questions to consider/ o How do these sources approach the event as a ‘story’? o What features of the crisis were covered in your sources? o How does the coverage correspond with, or conflict with, accepted scientific

understanding of disaster? o How would the audience view this news coverage and what understanding of the

vent would they have? o Is the coverage appropriate? o Is the coverage true and factual? o Is the coverage misleading?

EM511: Disasters & the Media/ Summer 2022 Media Review Assignment

Deliverable Instructions:

 No less than 8 full pages (10 points will be deducted for submissions that are ¼ to a half- page short and 10 points for every half-page to full page short).

 No creative spacing- the default for Microsoft Word is 10pt between each paragraph; this should be set to 0. All lines should be double-spaced only.

 Fonts- use Times or Times New Roman, 12-point.

 Margins- pages should be set to 1-inch margin.;

 Title Page- Page 1 should include your name, date, title of paper. The paper itself should begin on the first line of page 2. Titles, names, dates, etc. should be included ONLY on page 1.

 References and Citations- APA citation style must be used. Be sure to include both in- text citations as well as a Works Cited page. The Works Cited page does not count toward the 8 pages of content. If numerous citations are included in the Works Cited, but are not included in the text, the paper will be graded accordingly. Basic APA citations should be correct, such as in-text citations including author, date, and page number, as well as the Works Cited page. If multiple errors are found, the paper will be graded accordingly

 Limit use of direct quotes- Because the paper in as analysis, limit the use of direct quotes. Block quotes are unnecessary for this paper; the student should give a paraphrased summary rather than including extensive portions of the literature itself.

 Plagiarism- Using others’ works and not citing the source will not be tolerated. Using APA Style for this assignment is an absolute requirement. If you are not familiar with APA style, be sure to review the stylebook for each type of entry i.e., television programs, documentaries, films, social media and other electronic sources, periodicals, among other types of media. Follow the guidebook if you are unsure. It will be important that you take the time prior to completing this assignment to familiarize yourself with APA style.

 Spelling, grammatical, punctuation, and other general writing errors- If the paper is submitted with numerous errors listed above, it will be graded accordingly. At this level students should be conscientious of their writing and take the time to edit their work before submission. Submitting work with numerous errors is unacceptable.

 Writing style- The review itself should use a formal writing style as opposed to a conversational writing style. Proper form and structure should be a priority.

EM511: Disasters & the Media/ Summer 2022 Media Review Assignment

Media Events to select from:

Event Date and Location Choice #1, #2, and #3 Eruption of Mount St. Helen’s May 18, 1980 Washington Space Shuttle Challenger disaster January 28, 1986 Atlantic Ocean, off the

coast of Florida

Hurricane Andrew August 24, 1992 Florida, Louisiana The Storm of the Century March 12-13, 1993 Southern/Eastern U.S. Northridge Earthquake January 17, 1994 Los Angeles, California Columbine Massacre April 20, 1999 Littleton, Colorado Bridge Creek F5 Tornado May 3, 1999 Northeastern Oklahoma SARS outbreak 2003 Worldwide 2004 Florida Hurricanes Summer 2004 Florida Indian Ocean Tsunami (Boxing Day Tsunami)

December 26, 2004 Indian Ocean

Virginia Tech Massacre April 16, 2007 Blacksburg, Virginia I35W Bridge Collapse August 1, 2007 Minneapolis, Minnesota Super Tuesday Tornado Outbreak

February 5-6, 2008 Lower Ohio Valley/Southern United States

San Diego wildfires October/November 2007 San Diego, California Hurricane Ike September 13, 2008 Galveston, Texas Earthquake in Haiti January 12, 2010 Port-Au-Prince (vicinity), Haiti Earthquake in Chile February 27, 2010 Chile Earthquakes/Tsunami in Japan

March 11, 2010 Japan

Upper Big Branch Mine Disaster

April 5, 2010 Raleigh County, West Virginia

Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill April 20, 2010 Gulf of Mexico Mississippi River Floods Spring, Summer 2011 Midwestern, Southern U.S. Tornado outbreak (excludes Tuscaloosa)

April 25-28, 2011 Southern, Midwestern, Northeastern U.S.

Tuscaloosa Tornado April 27, 2011 Alabama Joplin Tornado May 22, 2011 Missouri Hurricane Irene August 2011 Eastern U.S. Superstorm Sandy October 29, 2012 Eastern Seaboard Boston Bombings April 15, 2013 Boston, Mass. Earthquake in China August 3, 2014 Western Yunnan province California Wildfires September 2014 Northern California Earthquake in Nepal April 25,2015 Nepal Pulse Nightclub Shooting June 12, 2016 Orlando, FL Hurricane Matthew October 4, 2016 Haiti Hurricane Harvey August 29, 2017 Harris County, TX Hurricane Maria September 27, 2017 Puerto Rico Las Vegas Shooting October 1, 2017 Paradise, NV Sutherland Springs Church Shooting

November 5, 2017 Sutherland Springs, TX

2018 Tham Luang cave rescue June-July 2018 Chiang Rai Province, Thailand