Although the results of a public opinion poll released yesterday showed 88 percent of respondents were satisfied with news coverage of the 921 quake, media experts warned that problems were also highlighted.
According to the results, released by the Graduate Institute of Mass Communication at National Taiwan Normal University, over 88 percent of the survey's 777 respondents, both in disaster and non-disaster areas, said they were satisfied with the media's coverage of the 921 quake and its aftermath.
Of those interviewed, 85 percent said the speed and quality of news coverage on the massive earthquake met their expectations.
Respondents said reports on the demands of quake victims were adequate (64.6 percent); news coverage of the government-led rescue and reconstruction efforts were adequate (60.0 percent); and reports on rescue operations led by civil groups were also sufficient (84.5 percent.)
But those surveyed also said there was not enough news coverage of earthquake prevention measures (56.8 percent), or analysis on the cause of the earthquake (47.8 percent).
Media analysts pinpointed what they saw as alarming opinions regarding local media operations. Over 46 percent of respondents said they agreed some reporters' interviewing techniques were inappropriate.
Nearly 60 percent of respondents said the coverage put too much emphasis on the tragic aspect of the quake; and 60 percent said reporters sent to the disaster areas competed with one another to the point where they could have impeded rescue operation.
Analysts said the majority of the reporters sent to the front lines were inexperienced, and coupled with insufficient backup from the newsroom, led to news coverage from the main disaster areas that was below the standards expected.
Hu Yu-wei (胡幼偉), a professor of mass communication from National Taiwan Normal University, said the situation was in itself full of tension and the lack of experience and professional training on the part of junior reporters on the spot made things worse.
"This is why some live TV coverage lacked substantive content. Some reporters just hid behind a fog of nonsense, saying things like, `it's our pleasure to visit the disaster area,'" said Hu.
Hu urged senior media professionals to produce guidelines for news gathering after analyzing the problems revealed by 921 quake coverage.
"If the media fails to set up sensible rules of the game for news gathering this time, what we will see in the future on the news stage is one story after the other -- all lacking in news professionalism," Hu said.
Media experts also recommended that the local media should continue reporting on the reconstruction process.
Yang Chih-hung (楊志弘), director of the Graduate School of Communications Management at Ming Chuan University, said while the media's enthusiasm for news coverage of the catastrophe would subside, they should not neglect coverage of the quake's aftermath.
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