Daily, the unfolding catastrophe in The Bahamas is providing
instruction for communicators on some of the most important features of
managing the persistent nightmare of our geography and state of relative
under-development in the Caribbean.
It is much too early to focus on a finite “toll” or anything
of the sort – whether it be lives or property or economic or humanitarian
opportunity. But it is always a good time to re-visit some of the things we have
learnt through experience and observation over the years. This is especially
pertinent as we in T&T remain firmly implanted in the middle of a hurricane
season and can all remember last year’s flooding and 6.9 earthquake.
One of the first things diligent professional communicators
learn about disaster management is the importance of verified information.
Though disaster officials are often aware of the likelihood of greater numbers
and more dramatic statistics, it is important for them to ensure a high level
of orderliness and precision based on what is known and not the latest round of
speculation.
On Monday, one Bahamian publication, relying on information
gleaned from “a (single) hurricane rescue worker” who cited unnamed
“officials”, claimed that more than 2,300 people had been killed by last week’s
hurricane. This may or may not have prompted the country’s police force to later
announce that, as at Sunday, 45 bodies had been discovered in the Hurricane
Dorian affected areas of Abaco and Grand Bahama.
The news story came from a publication that had earlier
reported that people described as “Haitian mobs” had been responsible for
widespread looting, home invasions and robberies in Great Abaco.
Don’t get me wrong. The figures can and will change, and there
is certain to be a “Haitian” issue, but for the moment it is highly
irresponsible to present the unverified as fact.
At a workshop organised by the Association of Caribbean
MediaWorkers (ACM) last year, following the 2017 hurricanes, we discussed some
of these phenomena. (By the way, we have factored in a climate crisis perspective
on all this.)
It was remarkable, I noted, how the purveyors of “disaster
porn” are attracted to the unverified; how they are also strong devotees of
conspiracy theories, capable of spotting the most remote flavour of partisan
favouritism, and are far more prone to entertaining irresponsible, inflammatory
language to describe people and things happening around them. We have them here
for sure.
The “mainstream” media are typically and haplessly
victimised by this, perennially being accused of conspiring with officialdom to
withhold important information – before, during and after bad things happen.
Yet, when push comes to shove, people expect radio and
television stations to be on the air, newspapers to be published and
journalists to be presenting unvarnished fact.
This leads to another thing we discussed in Barbados last
year: How quickly the online trolls and mischief-makers disappear and re-appear
at times of crisis. On the eve of Hurricane Maria in Dominica, for example, the
island was in the throes of sharp political conflict.
The online warriors were hard at work. Category 5
defamation, false accusations and damaging propaganda were in abundance. Then
Maria landed. While media workers reported for duty, the online combatants
remained under their beds. All that remained was journalism … until the water
settled, and the usual suspects were back at it again when it was safe.
In examining this, the focus for some of us has been and
continues to be on the plight of working journalists operating in the so-called
“mainstream media” at times of disaster. This is so because while social media
buffs can be helpful, there is a validating role played by established media
that has been determined to be indispensable.
Additionally, media workers in the Caribbean have displayed
a sense of professional duty that is almost completely absent on the part of
many others at times like these.
This is particularly so when it comes to the independent
verification of information (and, yes, mistakes are made), the maintenance of
plant and equipment to assure operational continuity, and a level of
selflessness many media professionals consider to be a part of their job
specifications.
All of this to say that at a time when journalism is under
constant attack, there is a necessity for precisely what it sets out to achieve
– the validation of potentially life-changing information, a strong
professional commitment to present accurate news and information, and a rare
level of courage.
