What a difference a year makes: How immediate and anniversary media reports influence judgements about earthquakes

Abstract

Research suggests that the content of newspaper and television reports about natural disasters, such as earthquakes, affects people’s fatalistic judgements about these disasters. The present paper contains two studies, Study 1 and Study 2. Study 1 examined features in newspaper reports written at two time points following two major earthquakes: immediately after the earthquakes and a year following the earthquakes. These reports showed several features about the earthquakes: in reports immediately after the earthquakes, the reports were concerned about earthquake agency and general damage; and in reports written a year following the earthquakes, the reports portrayed specific damage and lessons. Study 2 examined the influence of these features on students’ (n = 160) estimates of the extent of damage, attributions for damage and judgements of the preventability of the damage. With excerpts presenting specific damage and lessons, participants gave lower estimates of damage, judged damage to be more preventable and attributed the damage more to building design than with earthquake agency and general damage descriptions of the same earthquakes. These findings have clear implications for the way the media and civic education programs present information on earthquakes and other disasters.