The media's extensive reporting of the 921 earthquake has brought to light problems within the media, specifically with certain reporters' professionalism and ethics.
Besides containing frequently inaccurate reporting, coverage of the quake and its aftermath has reflected a general disrespect for those who suffered in the tragedy.
It can at best be described as repetitious, chaotic, and unbalanced. In fact, general news coverage has been conducted in a manner that can only be described as bizarre.
In interviewing quake victims, many reporters cruelly asked the victims to describe the painful process through which they lost their loved ones.
In a quake-devastated site on Min'an Road (民安路) in Hsinchuang City (新莊市), when a rescue team dug out the head of a child, a well-known TV news broadcaster immediately asked a quake victim -- who was identified as possibly the child's father -- to describe what had happened at the time of the earthquake, in front of the camera.
When the grieving father painfully began talking about what may well have been the darkest moment of his life, he was interrupted by the broadcaster because he was facing the him instead of the camera.
The broadcaster told him to look at the camera, and repeat from the beginning.
Six-year-old Chang Ching-hung (
In the Sept. 25 coverage, we saw a microphone lying on the child's chest and reporters asking a series of questions: "What kind of household chores did you usually do for your mommy?" "You are the bravest little kid, do you know?"
Reportedly, the boy -- facing the threat of kidney failure at the time -- was not exactly very "responsive" to questioning by both Taiwanese and foreign media. He quickly waved his hand, and said "goodbye" to the flock of reporters. His request should not have been difficult to understand.
The day after the quake struck, many reporters were sent to the heart of the disaster area. Some companies emphasized that their reporters were the first to reach certain areas and had exclusive coverage.
But all live TV broadcasts uniformly and mechanically reported the current death toll and the number of hours that each rescue team had been excavating a particular site.
This kind of "exclusive" live coverage lacks any substantive content and accomplishes nothing except providing scenes that further break viewers' hearts.
Furthermore, some reporters repeatedly described with much emphasis that a quake-devastated area was "like a ghost town" or "appears haunted," or, when passing by collapsed buildings on the both sides of the road, said "I feel as if the dead are standing in the windows."
News coverage of this nature may have a very damaging impact on the state of mind of those suffering, hindering their psychological rehabilitation.
Another problem noted with media stationed in quake-devastated areas for a prolonged period of time was that some news reported was mere hearsay, unverified or unbalanced.
Rumors of foreign laborers looting and funeral homes reaping a fortune from the disaster all presented such problems. Incidents of funeral home operators blackmailing and extorting money have been reported and may possibly be true, but verifying the accuracy of the news should nevertheless not be neglected.
Some reports described government agencies as saying that some quake victims were complaining relief supplies did not contain their favorite brands of dried milk powder.
First, the reporters should have verified complaints with the people concerned.
Second, the quake victims had lost everything. They had no choice but to accept the help of others. Just like any other parents, they hoped that they could provide their children with the brand of formula that their children were used to.
This is saddening. Verifying the facts would have helped those survivors concerned reduce the pain of being seen as "ungrateful."
All of Taiwan's news channels carried extensive special coverage of the earthquake.
TV stations should have considered viewers' feelings and acted more responsibly when it came to the timing and content of commercial breaks in between news segments covering suffering and grief in the quake's aftermath.
For example, a commercial for a golf tournament appeared immediately after news coverage surveying the damage caused by the quake.
In the commercial, a man in a sharp-looking suit stands on a perfectly green golf course framed by a background of clear blue skies. The narrator proudly said that the tournament's golf course would not tolerate any weeds or distracting bird and insect noises.
An advertisement touting absolute perfection in a game seen as a pastime for the idle rich could be construed as nothing other than banal by those who have been soaking up scenes of misery and destruction in newscasts for the preceding 10 minutes.
In a deadly disaster such as the 921 earthquake, photographers and reporters on the front lines share a role as psychological counselors through the images and reports they present.
Professional and ethical challenges test the reporters. They also influence the general public's healing process.
Hopefully, we won't see any more big-shot reporters who "get the stories" but totally disregard humanity. Please, no more pouring salt on our wounds.
Lin Ho-lin is associate professor at the Graduate Institute of Journalism, National Taiwan University, and Fang Nian-hsuan is associate professor at the Graduate Institute of Telecommunications at National Chungcheng University.
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