In keeping with the 2006 pattern to post fewer comments here but (hopefully) make the same point more economically, this is the first post on the TsunamiLessons blog since the July 17th killer tsunami that took hundreds of lives in Indonesia.
Once again, to no real surprise, the media were filled with reports on the failure of the warning system to alert the population in peril before it was too late. Here’s a sample from New Delhi Television Limited:
July 19, 2006 (Pangandaran): “Hundreds of bodies have been recovered from beaches, homes and hotels ravaged by the second tsunami to hit Indonesia in two years, pushing the death toll to more than 340. Nearly 230 others were missing. Meanwhile, the government acknowledged Tuesday it received regional warnings about the impending disaster but did not relay them to threatened communities along Java island's southern coast. Even if it had tried to tell local authorities, it is unclear how the alerts would have reached residents or tourists. There are no warning sirens or alarms.”
This is the same story, with different datelines and word combinations, that we’ve seen repeatedly since the December 2004 Sumatra earthquake and tsunami. As the story above notes, disaster officials blame the lack of life-saving warnings on the absence of sirens and alarms.
But a second reading of that paragraph reveals something significant: It wasn’t an official who made the assertion; it was the journalist who wrote the copy for this story. In other words, the journalist – without attribution – concluded that the absence of warning sirens or alarms made it “unclear how the alerts would have reached residents or tourists.” The media have bought the spin – hook, line and sinker.
It’s pretty clear by now that government officials won’t change their behavior and reveal in public that they could have done more to save lives after this or that tsunami. Read all the posts on TsunamiLessons and you’ll come across their “we did everything we could” excuses time and again. They are what they are, so let’s not waste any more time on them.
We have to turn elsewhere and try a new tack. It’s time to work on the media. Hell, let’s BLAME the media for their collective incompetence in simply accepting the official explanation over and over that nothing could have been done to save those lives. Reporters everywhere have accepted these weak explanations without seemingly giving them a second thought.
On the off chance that journalists in tsunami-prone countries might just read these words, here’s a transcript of an apocryphal future post-tsunami press conference that might help journalists dig into the story:
Government Disaster Minister: “…and so, in conclusion, let me express the government’s sincere regret for the terrible loss of life we’ve suffered on our nation’s beaches and ocean-side villages. We did everything we could, but without warning sirens and alarms, we just could not alert the victims in time to do any good.”
Newspaper Journalist: “Excuse me, Minister, but the excuse you’ve just used rings hollow. It has been nearly two years since the December 2004 tsunami, and your government has failed to install a warning system in all of that time. Why?”
Minister: “Well, these systems are extremely expensive and difficult to come by. We’ve commissioned a thorough study of our warning requirements and expect to receive a recommendation from the study commission any month now.”
Journalist: “Following up on my first question, why is it taking so long? What is delaying the government’s official response? Hundreds died this weekend because you have not installed a warning system!”
Minister: “Your question is impertinent! Your tone accuses the government – accuses me! – of needless delay. I’ve told you that we are working as quickly as we can, but without a siren network, whose funds have not been appropriated by Parliament, by the way, we are powerless to alert the population.”
Radio Journalist: “Minister, are you unaware that my radio network broadcasts news and information programming 24 hours a day? Are you unaware that many of our affiliates are equipped and professionally conditioned to broadcast breaking news instantaneously? Are you unaware that according to our country’s most recent census, fully 92 percent of the population owns or has access to a radio? Do these facts mean anything to you?”
Minister: “No, and why should they? What are you suggesting – that people should receive tsunami warnings over the radio?”
Radio Journalist: “That is precisely what I am suggesting!”
Minister: “But that is impossible! There would be no way to control the message, no way to verify that a tsunami actually had been generated, no way to avoid needless panic among the population.”
Wire Service Journalist: “Minister, you already said more than 700 of our fellow citizens died on Sunday because they received no tsunami warning. Wouldn’t it be better to issue a radio warning readily accessible to the public and accept the risk that it might be premature or even inaccurate? Wouldn’t THAT be better than refusing to engage the broadcast media and let people die!?”
Government press assistant: “Thank you. This press conference is concluded.”
With apologies to fiction writers, this little drama is meant to suggest that journalists have a role they’ve heretofore shunned. Inquiring and inquisitive reporters in real life presumably could be as demanding of answers as the fictional trio above.
But have you seen any evidence of journalistic probing in your readings? No, because it’s not happening. From Washington to Honolulu to Jakarta, reporters do nothing more than hold their microphones and take their notes as government officials absurdly assert that there's no way to alert populations without building elaborate early-warning siren systems.
So, here’s a toast – to the first reporter who raises his or her hand at some future press conference anywhere around the Pacific Rim and asks impertinent questions.
