When a crisis strikes, journalists are often on the frontlines, trying to gather and disseminate important information quickly. They have no time for mistakes; lives can depend on it! Yet it can be difficult to maintain accuracy in the face of shaky, incomplete information. This is especially true when reporting on the kind of high-stakes crisis events that tend to dominate news headlines.
It is also challenging to keep the public interested, particularly when social media algorithms amplify sensationalism over more thoughtful analysis. This tendency toward hyperbole, even in the context of a legitimate crisis event, raises ethical concerns. It can distort the reality of a situation, fuel fears or panic, or contribute to further harm. Moreover, hyperbole can distract attention from other pressing issues that might have more impact on people’s lives.
This skewed and biased coverage can act to delimit the ways audiences understand and engage with crises, as Temple et al note for economic crisis reporting, which depicts complex and severe impacts alongside intransigent elite responses. In this case, a narrative of intense struggle and suffering for the majority who cannot afford to keep up with rising energy costs is communicated, along with a lack of advice and solutions.
In this era of media disruption, the impact of the global energy crisis is playing out across multiple channels and platforms. The fragmentation of news coverage makes it difficult to fully grasp the extent of the problem and its potential for impact on impacted communities, but the underlying patterns can be identified by observing the built-in reporting elements that are repeated and reframed over time.