Cross-cultural perspectives and influences in reporting airline disasters: the MH370 episode

Abstract

International news media are often accused of employing a parachute approach combined with a vulture mentality when reporting on major crises taking place in the developing countries. Critics have observed that international media tend to focus more on events closer to their base of operation, based on the news values of proximity and immediacy. The above notwithstanding, international media are generally perceived as being less biased and more objective in their reporting about disasters, while local (national) media are seen as being less critical and more supportive of government organizations, often eschewing aggressive journalism in favor of more restrained reporting. While Malaysia has generally been portrayed in recent decades as a prosperous and peace-loving multi-racial nation, this perception has altered dramatically after three airline disasters in 2014, i.e. MH370, MH17, and QZ8501. Due to their magnitude, scope, and implications, the disasters have received saturated coverage from both domestic and international media. This article is based on a selective content analysis of coverage of the first (MH370) disaster in three English-language Malaysian newspapers (The Star, New Straits Times, and the Sun) and three international TV news channels (Cable News Network, British Broadcasting Corporation, and China Cable Television). This case study of disaster reporting provides evidence of a dichotomy arising from the way in which news is presented as an organizational and cultural product. It has revealed that there are widespread and deep-rooted differences between Western media and Malaysian English-language newspapers in their perceptions and understanding of what constitutes news, differences that can be attributed to the divergent cultures within which they operate.