Abstract
Australia is a country beset by natural disasters including fires, severe storms, cyclones, droughts and floods. While organisations charged with managing disasters in their various phases are increasingly using social media to distribute information about these events, communities involved in disasters continue to rely on local and community media for information as a disaster unfolds and in its aftermath. This chapter explores the important body of research into news media coverage of natural disasters in Australia and in doing so highlights the crucial role of local media and community media for communities affected by disaster. This body of research shows that these media facilitate disaster-affected communities’ active engagement with reliable information sources and that this contributes to their ability to deal with disasters effectively. The chapter concludes by highlighting the need for further research and providing suggestions about the shape and direction that research might take.
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Ewart, J. (2020). Drought Is a Disaster in the City: Local News Media’s Role in Communicating Disasters in Australia. In: Matthews, J., Thorsen, E. (eds) Media, Journalism and Disaster Communities. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-33712-4_5
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