Survivors’ experiences of journalists and media exposure : A retrospective qualitative study 15 years after a ferry disaster

• Purpose - The media is an important part of disaster management, yet little is understood about their interplay with the disaster survivors. The purpose of this paper is to examine disaster survivors' long-term retrospective views of their experiences with journalists and the media coverage.Design/methodology/approachIn total, 22 Swedish adult survivors (of 49 eligible) from a ferry disaster in the Baltic Sea, in which only 137 of the 989 people onboard survived, were interviewed after 15 years about their experiences of meeting journalists in the immediate aftermath and the media coverage in a long-term perspective. The transcribed interviews were analyzed using qualitative content analysis.FindingsSurvivors from the Estonia ferry disaster described a wide array of experiences from their contacts with the disaster journalists and being exposed in the media. From their experiences, four categories were extracted. The categories were common for both their media contacts and their media exposure: strain, support, rationality and evasion. The survivors' experiences were both negative and positive.Research limitations/implicationsThese accounts of disaster survivors' experiences from an event 15 years ago provide an interesting comparison for future studies of contemporary disasters.Originality/valueThis study provides important perspectives on the role of disaster coverage in the media and documents how disaster survivors retrospect on the media as both a burden and a resource.

Ämnesord

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Medie- och kommunikationsvetenskap (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Media and Communications (hsv//eng)

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Psykologi (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Psychology (hsv//eng)

MEDICIN OCH HÄLSOVETENSKAP  -- Annan medicin och hälsovetenskap (hsv//swe)

MEDICAL AND HEALTH SCIENCES  -- Other Medical and Health Sciences (hsv//eng)

MEDICIN OCH HÄLSOVETENSKAP  -- Klinisk medicin -- Psykiatri (hsv//swe)

MEDICAL AND HEALTH SCIENCES  -- Clinical Medicine -- Psychiatry (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

Media effects

Qualitative content analysis

Media coverage

Media ethics

Disaster survivors

Media management

Reporters

Trauma journalism

Media and Communication Studies

Medie- och kommunikationsvetenskap

Psychology

Publikations- och innehållstyp

ref (ämneskategori)

art (ämneskategori)