Disasters Research Blog

Question 1: Weather Story #1 – Hurricane History

-The costliest hurricane in the United States since 1990 is Hurricane Katrina.
-The hurricane occurred primarily in Louisiana but extended to the states of Mississippi, Alabama and South East Florida.
-The damages of this natural disaster were estimated at $81,000,000,000
-This information was derived from the National Hurricane Center’s publication: The Deadliest Atlantic Tropical Cyclones, 1492-Present. The information is posted at the url: http://www.wunderground.com/hurricane/damage.asp

Question 2: Weather Story #2 – Earthquake Preparedness

Before an earthquake: It is important to check for all potential hazards in the home and fix these problems. From there find safe places indoors and outdoors to position yourself away from hazardous conditions. Finally have disaster supplies on hand such as a first aid kit and emergency food. It never hurts to educate yourself and your family members by calling the American Red Cross to get safety tips.

During an earthquake: If you are indoors it is important to drop to the ground and take cover under something sturdy. Cover your head and stay inside until the quake is over. If you are outdoors stay outdoors. Get away from buildings and stay in the open. Most earthquake casualties come from falling building debris. If you are trapped under debris do not move as this might trap you worse or kick up more hazardous dust. Tap on walls or pipes so rescuers can locate you. Seldom should you yell as not to inhale dust.

After an earthquake: At first you should expect aftershocks which can cause even more structural damage. Stay away from damaged areas and inspect your utilities for damage. Finally, if possible help anyone who is trapped in the rubble.

All of this information is posted on the United States Geological Survey’s website: http://earthquake.usgs.gov/prepare/

Question 3: Plane Crashes

-Over the past year in Colorado there have been four fatal plane crashes. The cities these accidents occurred were in Wray, Hayden, Elbert and Simila.
-In 2009 there were 43 nonfatal plane crashes in the state of Colorado.
http://www.ntsb.gov/ntsb/query.asp
-In 2000 the NTSB conducted an investigation of Alaska Airlines. http://www.ntsb.gov/Publictn/2002/AAR0201.pdf
-The plane crash that occurred in Lexington, Kentucky killed forty nine people.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/08/27/national/main1936906.shtml

A Giant Falls: Dan Rather Blog

Dan Rather’s career came into jeopardy in September 2004 during the presidential campaign in a story that is now referred to as Rathergate. The CBS series 60 minutes aired a story about then President George W. Bush receiving special treatment in his service with the Air National Guard. These documents were alleged to come from the archives of Lt. Jerry B. Killian. Very quickly bloggers claimed that these documents must be forgeries because the papers were typed in a modern script that wasn’t available on military typewriters when President Bush served.

CBS initially defended the story but could not come up with the sufficient evidence needed to prove these articles were legitimate. The network would later retract their story but the damage had already been done. The credibility of the network and its reporters came into question and this led to the termination of many including one of television’s most revered reporters Dan Rather.

I recently have become aware of this story and this situation leaves me in awe on how powerful the blogs have over traditional journalism. . Not only do these blogs provide journalists news ideas for journalists but they also have created a much higher standard for journalists to stick to the fair and balanced. It does not even matter whether these documents were fabricated or not. It only matters that the credibility of these journalists were tainted and this was by a media source that even five years ago did not seem to have much power. This is comforting in the sense that journalists are being held to a higher standard. In my opinion blogs are becoming increasingly important. They do not distract from the stories that are truly important but rather just give a different source for these stories to emerge from. Blogs create new stories while making current stories ever more valid and therefore better journalism.

As a news consumer this story has alerted me to wake up and realize that I have become very ignorant and fixed in my ways when it comes to looking news stories. I read the paper or flip on the television normally but I need to be looking elsewhere for news stories than the traditional sources I am used to.

As a new journalism student I think this story is an important one to gain perspective from so I can better pursue a career in this field. I think this story is a good lesson in teaching all the importance of sticking to the fair and balanced. If one of the giants in this industry can be taken down then anyone can. On the other hand, it is encouraging to know that there are other fields of journalism developing and the options I have in getting involved in journalism seem vast.

When looking at this issue from the prospective of a voter I think my opinion is vastly different. I do not think this story has a dramatic effect on the way I will vote in the future. I already didn’t want to listen to the media for political advice. The reporters seem to only be arguing with each other about these issues rather than relaying any important information to me their audience. This is not productive and I rather listen to the politicians and the issues they are concerned with.

This story does not affect the way I view journalists but it has brought me to the realization that web logs need to be paid a little more respect than being called the “Pajama Brigade”. The roles of blogs in the upcoming world of journalism seem endless.

Blogging about Blogging: Poorer Than You

The blog poorerthanyou.com was created by a recent college graduate named Stephanie who studied personal finances. The intended audience for this blog is financially struggling college students and people in their early twenties who are trying to make some better choices with their money. This is clearly stated at the top of her web page making it very easy to understand what goals she is trying to accomplish with her blog. The most important part of this blog in my opinion is that Stephanie is writing from her past experiences and her own perspectives. She gives her audience sources to financial sites and then comments on these pieces to help guide the reader’s decisions. Even though this blog is mostly opinionated, I think it has much to offer because it provides information on how to conduct your finances based on past successes and failures. . The fact that Stephanie studies financial information for a living gives her that much more credibility. I do not believe I would be able to write this blog because I simply do not have the knowledge of how to become financially successful. I would simply tell people to do the exact opposite of how I spend my money and hope that people will not lose all of their income in the process.

I choose to write about this blog because I feel like I could learn and gain the most from Stephanie’s information. Being a college student automatically makes me financially challenged and it was nice to get some advice with someone I can more easily relate because of our age group. One major article on this website is entitled Listen: Graduating and Job Hunting in the Recession. I quickly found this to be of extreme importance because I will have to do this very thing in the near future. This blog was easily relatable and simple to understand because of the site’s organized structure. The tone of her writing also helps us the reader because I feel she is relating her experiences in the way she would talk normally. This made her advice much easier to understand. The poorerthanyou.com blog is a very helpful and informational tool that could help ease the financial woes of today’s college students.

Walter Lippmann Quote Response

Walter Lippmann’s quote is an accurate description of the journalism field of his generation but this quote would not apply to the field of newspapers and the journalism field in general today. The first part of the statement is extremely accurate in describing the news in the manner that this information is trying to persuade the papers audience in a certain way through these various methods. The latter half of Lippmann’s quote which describes the job of tasking and ordering is where his idea starts to wane. In the 1920’s, the main source of information was coming from newspapers, thus giving these journalists a heightened responsibility and gives them a monopolistic power. If the newspaper industry was disposed of today, our society would still be able to access important information. This observation does not mean that the journalists of today have any less responsibility for informing their peers but it does give them a decreased sense of power in the democratic process then when Mr. Lippmann first stated his quote.

As far as the allegory made by Lippmann, I do not agree with the comparison of the journalists and priests. I think the journalism field should be held at the highest standard and should be deemed as very valuable. Saying this though, in my opinion, priests have news that is much more valuable to the human experience. I do not think the two fields correspond properly. Rather I think the role of journalists should be compared to the leaders of people in a democracy such as the President, Governors, Mayors, etc. Journalists have the ability to spread information and news just as much as these prestigious members of the American society. Our society needs journalists reporting news just as much as we need people to govern us.