Nisha Cyclone In India Media Essay

Nisha Cycl single In India Media EssayCommunication plays a critical role in catastrophe pr neverthe bittietion and management. A variety of media channels be utilize for incident conferences, before and during a casualty. For example, communication in the plant of panoptic or audible maneuvers, leaflets, announcements by speaker cars and habitual events necessitate been known. destiny media in the form of intelligence activityworthinesspapers, telecasting, radio, internet, etc go through certain char moveeristics that nonplus them advantageous for misadventure communications. They provide easy access to large population and some of them key out a robust communication system which remains working even in cases of a partial breakdown of the infrastructure. On the other hand, obtains dealing with the media know that media back be difficult at times. There is no direct control over the bailiwick and form of information that is macrocosm transmitted. Sources wh o want to get with the public have to deal with journalists who do not form a passive information channel but act as gate keepers, interpreters and commentators. Media hence can support or obtu order the hap management of government agencies and recess organizations. This research paper analyzes the study out media reportage of Nisha cycl unmatched that had progress to the coast of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry in November 2008. The researcher has through a mess to study public interests in content intention and disaster intelligence agency program show makeation through scrape media.Keywords inherent disasters, prevention, management, warning, communication, print media insurance reportingINTRODUCTIONIndia has been tradition in ally defense little to immanent disasters on poster of its unique geo-climatic conditions. Indias total coastline is 7,516 kilometers in length, which comp deck ups 5,422 kilometers for the mainland, 132 kilometers for the Lakshadweep Island s, and 1,962 kilometers for the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Floods, droughts, cyclones, publicquakes and landslides have been recurrent phenomena. About 60% of the landmass is prone to earthquakes of various intensities over 40 million hect argons is prone to floods about 8% of the total demesne is prone to cyclones and 68% of the argona is susceptible to drought. The Indian sub-continent is prone to several graphemes of infixed disasters. Major natural hazards include droughts, floods, earthquakes, and tropical cyclones and minor ones include landslides, hailstorms, avalanches, bushfires and forest fires. These disasters take a heavy doorbell on forgiving lives and resources causing economic, environment and hearty losses. Natural disasters touch the rural community the most, as they be vulnerable to economic changes, and have no alternate means of livings. Natural disasters nullify infrastructure, ca wont mass migration, reduction in food and fodder supplies and someti mes leads to drastic situations uniform starvation. At the global level, there has been considerable disturbance over natural disasters. Even as substantial scientific and tangible progress is made, the loss of lives and property delinquent to disasters has not decreased. In fact, the military man toll and economic losses have attach.NATURAL DISASTERS CYCLONESAn event or hazard is called a disaster when it threatens property and lives and is unforeseen and oftentimes sudden. The WHO defines a disaster as A heartrending disruption, ecological and psychological, which greatly happens the deal capacity of the affected community. It causes great ravish, destruction and human suffering. A disaster is a in truth(prenominal) complex multi dimensional phenomenon and along many dimensions like social, economic, material, psychological or social, but unlikely to be one along all of these in a specific direction. Often the sum of human lives lost is an important criterion for defi ning a disaster. Disaster is a sudden, calamitous event bringing great damage, loss, and destruction and devastation to career and property. The damage cause by disasters is immeasurable and varies with the geographical location, climate and the type of the earth surface/degree of vulnerability. This influences the mental, socio-economic, political and cultural call down of the affected area. It ashenthorn besides be termed as a serious disruption of the surgical procedure of society, causing widespread human, material or environmental losses which exceed the ability of the affected society to portion out using its own resources.A Cyclonic Storm or a Cyclone is an intense vortex or a whirl in the atmosphere with very strong lead storys go around around it in anti-clockwise direction in the Northern Hemisphere and in clockwise direction in the Southern Hemisphere. The word Cyclone is derived from the Greek, word Cyclos condense the coils of a snake. To Henri Peddington, the tropical storms in the Bay of Bengal and in the Arabian sea appeared like the coiled serpents of the sea and he named these storms as Cyclones. Cyclones are categorised as hydro meteorological disasters. Cyclones are intense low pressure areas from the centre of which pressure increases outwards- The amount of the pressure drop in the centre and the rate at which it increases outwards gives the intensity of the cyclones and the strength of winds.CYCLONES IN THE INDIAN SEASCyclones form in certain favorable atmospheric and Oceanic conditions. There are marked seasonal variations in their hind ends of origin, come homes and attainment of intensities. These behaviors help in predicting their movements. systema skeletale 1.1.1 Cyclone prone areas in IndiaSource Compare Infobase Limited (2007)Tropical cyclones, which are severe storms spun off from the Inter tropical Convergence Zone, whitethorn affect thousands of Indians living in coastal regions. Tropical cyclogenesis(the technic al term describing the maturation and modifying of a tropical cyclone in the atmosphere) is particularly common in the northern regions of the Indian Ocean in and around the Bay of Bengal. Cyclones bring with them heavy rains, storm surges, and winds that often cut affected areas off from sleep and supplies. In the North Indian Ocean Basin, the cyclone season runs from April to December, with peak bodily function between May and November. individually year, an average of eight storms with sustained wind speeds great than 63 km/h (39 mph) form of these, ii strengthen into true tropical cyclones, which have sustained gusts greater than 117 km/h (73 mph). On average, a major cyclone develops every(prenominal) other year.Wind and Cyclones during the item 1877-2005283 cyclones (106 severe) in a 50 km wide strip on the East CoastLess severe cyclonic activity on West Coast (35 cyclones in the same period)In 19 severe cyclonic storms, cobblers last toll 10,000 livesDuring summer, the Bay of Bengal is subject to intense heating, giving rise to humid and unstable air masses that morph into cyclones. 1.25 million lives have been lost in Bay of Bengal till now because of 21 cyclones that had hit the region. The 1737 Calcutta cyclone, the 1970 Bhola cyclone, and the 1991 Bangladesh cyclone rank among the most powerful cyclones to train India, devastating the coasts of eastern India and bordering Bangladesh. Widespread death and property destruction are reported every year in the exposed coastal states of West Bengal, Orissa, Andhra Pradesh, and Tamil Nadu. Indias westbound coast, bordering the to a greater extent placid Arabian Sea, experiences cyclones still rarely these mainly strike Gujarat and, less frequently, Kerala.Cyclone 05B, a super cyclone that struck Orissa on 29 October 1999, was the deadliest in to a greater extent than than a quarter-century. With peak winds of 160 miles per hour (257 km/h), it was the eq of a Category 5 hurricane. Almost tw o million community were left homeless another 20 million passel look was disrupted by the cyclone. Officially, 9,803 lot died from the storm unofficial estimates focalise the death toll at over 10,000.Pre and Post-monsoon storms are more than violent than the storms of the monsoon season. disembodied spirit span of a severe cyclonic storm in the Indian seas averages about 4 days from the time it forms until the time it enters the land.DESTRUCTION CAUSED BY CYCLONESThere are trine elements associated with a cyclone, which cause destruction. They are1. Cyclones are associated with high-pressure gradients and consequent strong winds. These, in turn, generate storm surges. A storm surge is an abnormal rise of sea level go on the coast caused by a severe tropical cyclone as a result, sea water inundates low lying areas of coastal regions drowning human beings and live- stock, eat at beaches and embankments, destroying vegetation and reducing soil fertility.2. Very strong winds may damage installations, dwellings, communication systems, trees, etc. resulting in loss of deportment and property.3. Heavy and lengthy rains repayable to cyclones may cause river floods and submergence of low lying areas by rain causing loss of life and property. Floods and coastal inundation due to storm surges pollute drinking water sources causing outbreak of epidemics.It may be mentioned that all the three factors mentioned above occur simultaneously and, therefore, relief operations for distress mitigation become difficult. So it is imperative that draw close action is interpreted for relief measures before the commencement of adverse hold conditions due to cyclones.The most destructive element associated with an intense cyclone is storm surge. past history indicates that loss of life is significant when surge magnitude is 3 meters or more and catastrophic when 5 meters and above.WARNING SYSTEM IN INDIAIn the last five decades, government is making attempts to highlig ht the use of information technology in providing early warning systems for effective disaster management, especially in Andhra Pradesh, Orissa and West Bengal coasts, which are susceptible to such storms.The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) provides cyclone warnings from the Area Cyclone Warning Centers (ACWCs) at Calcutta, Chennai and Mumbai, and Cyclone Warning Centers (CWCs) at Bhubaneswar, Visakhapatnam and Ahmadabad. The IMD has developed the necessary infrastructure to generate and disseminate the cyclone warnings to the cyclone prone coastal areas. It uses a subjugate of communication channels like telegram, fax, e-mails, etc. to communicate warning meats at appropriate levels.Cyclone warning is done in two stages. At premier(prenominal) a warning on cyclone mirthful is issued 48 hours in advance of the necessitateed commencement of adverse hold out over coastal areas. The foster stage cyclone warning is issued 24 hours in advance.The IMD constantly examines the coastline for the likely genesis of tropical storms with the help of satellite run acrossry, particularly those from the multipurpose geo-stationary satellite, INSAT. use upive information from ships and ocean buoys is also taken into consideration. There is a filament of Cyclone Detection Radars (CDRs) that are installed along the coastal belt of India have be to be an effective tool to the cyclone warning work. These radars can locate and track approaching Tropical Cyclones within a range of 400 km.The national Disaster Management Bill, 2005 also emphasizings the setting up, maintaining, reviewing and upgrading of early warning mechanisms and the public exposure of proper information to the public.The aim of any warning system is to alert nation to take appropriate and timely steps for the safety of life and property. A natural disaster cannot be evaded but we need to make effective use of available resources to minimize the loss and aftermath.CYCLONE NISHANature unleashe d slaughter in Nagapattinam and Karaikal districts on 26 November 2008. Heavy rainwater and gusty winds claimed three lives in Nagapattinam besides flooding the dwellings and driving over 78,000 people to 308 cyclone-relief centers. As the cyclonic storm Nisha got nearer, the coastal areas started receiving heavy rains and strong winds. The total rain recorded at 8.30 am stood at 2,145 mm, with Vedaranyam registering the highest of 333 mm. In Cuddalore, over half-dozen lakhs people were affected by the torrential rainfall in the coastal district as more than 50,000 houses were inundated, paddy and sugarcane crops raised on 200,000 acres submerged and power transmission crippled for more than 15 hours in the district. The rainfall accompanied by strong wind uprooted more than 1,000 roadside trees. In Pamban, while torrential rain continued to take to task different parts of the Ramanathapuram district on Wednesday, the fifth cyclone warning signal was hoisted at Pamban port offi ce.Relief Details (as on 27 November 2008)No of people evacuated 106,145No of relief centers opened 650No of people in relief centers 89,395Total no of food packets distributed 548,205Total cash pogy distributed 450,000Cyclone Nisha caused a death toll of 89 in Tamil Nadu. The toll in rain related incidents in Tamil Nadu during the six days, mounted to 89, with 25 more deaths reported from rain-affected districts till Friday 28 November.It is understood that natural disasters can neither be predicted nor prevented. The problem before us is how to cope with them, minimizing their impact. Tamil Nadu has witnessed havoc caused by cyclones and storm surge in the coastal regions, earthquakes, monsoon floods, landslides, and recently the Tsunami. Increase in urban population coupled with the aspect of man-made structures often poorly built and maintained subject cities to greater levels of risk to life and property in the event of earthquakes and other natural hazards. The media and disa ster management agencies have important roles to play in crises. Each needs the other in order to perform its function better. knowledge needs to be presented responsibly, with contextual understanding. Hence, this research aims to study the print media coverage of Nisha Cyclone in Chennai edition publishers. The objective of the study is to find out the passwordpapers that have greater readership among the coastal communities and to analyze the print media coverage of Nisha Cyclone.RESEARCH methodological analysisThe researcher has adopted Survey and Content Analysis method for playing the research.The tool used for data collection for survey method is questionnaire and the samples were elect by using simple random sampling technique. The sample size is 300 and the survey was taken among the people in Chennai who read news program showpapers.The Parameters elect for content analysis were the total number of news conditions appearing relating to Nisha cyclone the rogue number in which the news clauses appears pagination of the news member (left or right) placement of news articles (top or bottom) total number of black and white colored photos news content (Image or Text or twain) for numerical analysis.For the qualitative analysis, the parameters taken were Context The type of disaster news article (advice, disaster agent, safety message, damages, countermeasures, restoration) Target audience The target audience think based on the geographical areas and that are focused genre of news Feature, interview, announcement Graphic Appeal The type of the graphic elements used to consider news Photo Featured Additional resources such as visual aid (Graphic images or illustrated pictures) supporting the news item Comprehension The type of technical and descriptive words used in the content start news presentation in direct or 3rd someone format Authentication of the news by analyzing the mentioned source of information influence The political bias in t he news.The researcher has taken the survey earlier to determine the papers on which the content analysis is to be applied. Secondly the survey also intended to find what type and format of the news does people favor when it comes to disaster and the peoples trust upon the tolerate forecasts. The researcher has analyzed the news content relating to the Nisha cyclone in the newspaper that has got greater readership among survey respondents.From the survey, it was anchor that, the number of people who prefer television to receive the disaster related news is found maximal constituting 69%. Newspaper is found to be the close highly preferred medium with 47% and Radio was preferred single by 13% of the respondents. Since the question is a multiple choice, respondents may select more than one checkbox, so percentages may add up to more than 100%. As seen clearly the most preferred media is television this is due to the fact that television has penetrated deeply in the society and the access to television is high as the government has condition free television sets to around all rural families. However newspapers have occupied the second place in the pick.The number of people who prefer Tamil as the lecture to receive the disaster related news is found maximal constituting 63%. English is found to be the next highly preferred language. The preference given over to regional language to get the disaster news is very high. And the people who prefer both the languages are found in beauteous numbers. Dinakaran takes the bulk of the news paper readership with 40%. The second most prefered newspaper is Dinathandi. From this survey results, the Tamil daily newspaper, Dinakaran is taken for content analysis. 62% of the respondents prefer reading The Hindi. Hence the English daily newspaper, The Hindoo is also taken for content analysis. 66% of the respondents read the live on report rarely and 21% dont read the hold out report at all. With respect to the beli evability of the weather forecast and reports, the trustworthiness is found to be moderate.The most preferred content for disaster related news is the cabal of both text and image News on Disaster readiness and precautionary measures are a lot read by the respondents. But such content is found to be minimal. Government interventions and post-disaster news are found to be more. News in the form of Interviews and have articles are highly preferred in toll of presentation. 85% of the people share information regarding the disaster with their family, friends and relatives.The total number of news articles that appeared in the two chosen newspapers related to Nisha cyclone in the xx days duration between 22nd November 2008 and 11th December 2008 are 275 articles in Dinakaran and 67 articles in The Hindu. In Dinakaran, nearly 64% of the articles appeared in the Main knave and 36% in supplements. But in The Hindu, all the articles appeared in main page. Dinakaran has presented the ne ws items in random fashion both in main and supplement pages. But in The Hindu the articles were presented only in the main paper. A highest percentage of 36% of articles appeared in the third page of The Hindu which covers regional news.Right side of a news paper is considered to be the side of high readability but impact numbers of news articles appear both the sides. Regarding the position of news articles, it is seen that majority of the news articles related to Nisha cyclone have appeared in upper half of the news papers. More number of pictures appears in color in both the newspapers. The conspiracy of both image and text is found high in The Hindu whereas its low in Dinakaran.Regarding the information covered, In Dinakaran it is found that 49% of the news items were related to effects of Nisha cyclone on people and properties however warning was first given only in the Dinakaran as a news article in the front page on 22nd November 2008. Only one article was on preparedness. Relief and Rehabilitation news appeared more in number followed by the effects. News involving political parties providing relief funds and people requisiteing their needs were given more importance.The Hindu carried the first warning message only in the tug dedicated for weather report including rainfall indications which were given right from the 20th November 2008 in the same column. Since The Hindu adopts featured articles, the above said context parameters were found in combined state in all the articles relating to the Nisha cyclone. Even in The Hindu, minimal coverage was given to preparedness and more importance was given to relief and rehabilitiation during the post-disaster phase. Regional Information was given more importance in The Hindu. Dinakaran has given a reliable coverage of information in Chennai and also in the areas around Chennai which was drastically affected by Nisha Cyclone. Dinakaran has presented the news in simple direct style. News items were of spec ific topic only. But in The Hindu the news articles were completely of the featured news format.In Dinakaran, an underlined common topic was used to notice the cyclone related news and the follow up news articles too appeared in the same common topic. By lines appeared in the background of dual colors. Dinakaran has also used borders and color backgrounds in presenting the news items.The Hindu has not used some(prenominal) of these graphic elements in presenting the news but in slim number of news items it has added the borders to separate the related news from the main news. The combination of both image and text is highly preferred among the people The Hindu follows this combination in presenting the news and additionally it has also used more than one image in this combination. But in Dinakaran, full page photo feature are commonly seen.Dinakaran uses descriptive words for news related Nisha cyclone which is found to be harsh aggressive, whereas The Hindu has used a gag sort of descriptive words. The approach was found to be very direct in Dinakaran but in The Hindu it appears indirect, always.Dinakaran news articles are found to be less authentic as mere voices are presented without any reference but in The Hindu the name and place of the sources are given then and there. The bias is defined in one study as a perceived attribute of a news source whereby the individual news source, or the group the news source represents, has a clear vested interest in a cause or action relative to maintaining or changing the status quo (and) a unilateral journalistic perspective, then, would mean only one side, not two or more sides, of an issue is presented.. Post-disaster News is found to be biased. In Dinakaran, level best number of articles covered are relief, rehabilitations and politicians visits but its found very less in The Hindu.CONCLUSIONBoth the newspapers show very poor coverage of news on Disaster Preparedness which is mandatory. Only one article appear ed in each newspaper, contradicting the highest of 38% of respondents demand for news on disaster preparedness.Scope for information on the science concepts involving natural disasters are found more. The survey shows that 23% of the people prefer to know the technical and scientific aspects of the disasters, which nearly equals to the number of people who wish to know the statistical information.The credibility of the weather report is very moderate. In The Hindu cyclone warning was given as a segment in the weather forecast from November 20, 2008, whereas Dinakaran gave much importance to cyclone warning by presenting it as an article in the inaugural page. The importance for Nisha cyclone coverage is less as the newspaper has carried only a total of four articles in first page.The ratio of the cyclone news coverage in The Hindu and Dinakaran is in the ratio of 14 show the immenseness of Dinakaran in covering the Nisha Cyclone. This indicates that less preference is given in The Hindu for the coverage of Nisha cyclone.Full page photo features were observed more in Dinakaran than in The Hindu. This is mainly due to the fact that picture fills the newspaper easily unlike news articles that demand efforts of news gathering, reporting and editing. The second fact is that use of color and pictures are eye-catchy and contribute to newspaper exchange also. The Hindu is found to fulfill the respondents need by presenting news features than selection the pages with mere images.Less than 0.3% of the cyclone related articles were on preparedness, even though people expect such news. From the survey it is found that 34 % of the people demand preparedness, warning and precautionary measures related news. Dinakaran doesnt carry a separate column for weather forecast whereas The Hindu carries weather report every day. suffer forecast in The Hindu appears in much smaller boldnesss indicating the less importance given to it. The Hindu caries separate column for the wea ther forecasts that contain both the statistical and technical information daily, but the font size appears too small lessening the readability factor of the weather forecast.The results of the study prove the Agenda Setting Theory. Media agenda setting refers to the mensurable coverage of topics or events with the goal of influencing public opinion and public policy. The media enclose most of the cyclone stories by emphasizing government response and less often addressing individuals and communities level of preparedness, warning dissemination, information on precautionary measures or responsibility. Hence, more articles covered response and recovery than mitigation and preparation. The newspapers studied focused significantly more on government response than on key public health roles in disaster management. In future, coordination need to be deepen among the public health professionals, policy makers and mass media before, during, and after disasters occur. We would also expec t members of the general population, including DRM practitioners and policy makers, to view well-publicized issues as more important than those receiving little media attention.SUGGESTIONSNewspaper is still a better preferred medium in this digital age in receiving disaster related news articles it can be used effectively in educating people regarding disaster preparedness in Indian context. Reporting only at the time of disaster happening has been the trend so far adopted by present media yet this rule has to be changed at this age of increasing disasters. step have to be taken upon improving peoples opinion on the weather forecast. This can be achieved only educating people about disaster. Finally, even though the means to the end are evolving, the goals, the values, and the underlying principles of effective disaster communication the need for transparency, increased accessibility, trustworthiness and reliability, and to create partnerships with the mediahave not changed and nee d to be embraced along with the practical ability to convey information effectively.