The Media Can Influence Emergency Preparedness

It always stops me dead in my tracks when I see what a massive effect the media can have upon public influences. As an example, during our last presidential election the media embraced Obama with open arms and as a result it gained him unknown amounts of public support. The same idea is firmly implanted with preparedness. The media can make or break communities preparedness plans.

Last year I approached our local newspaper with a proposition to write a series of articles concerning being prepared for any sort of emergency. I asked for no monetary compensation what so ever, I merely wanted to make my community aware of these points and properly prepare them.

I was informed by the newspaper that my suggestion was not anything that they would be interested in. Well, I was certainly surprised at that answer since survival and preparedness should be on every citizen’s mind these days.

If a proposed bill is up before our lawmakers the newspapers can quickly rush in to aid or oppose such measures usually with results that they support. Our country is living in turbulent times right now with strange weather condition prevailing like flooding, wildfires, buildings collapsing and unthinkable transportation related accident and preparedness is more important now then ever before. We not only have terrorist threats from foreign nations but also within our own borders which must be accurately planned for in the event of a major problem.

The World Health Organization has recently suggested that it may not be long before the world is placed on a very serious pandemic alert of the highest status. I feel that the Medias job is not only to report the news as it occurs but also to support public concerns for methods of protecting the community’s citizens and lessen the demand on our resources. These organizations such as the radio and newspapers owe it to the community that supports them to make every effort towards getting the citizens prepared for emergencies.

Making the people aware of the very real situations that they face and not merely creating a sense of panic represents the Medias major purpose. They should be honored to provide the people with both psychological support and knowledge needed to face any crisis with a firm understanding towards surviving.