Crisis Events in Public Service Television Broadcasts: Comparative Analysis of Polish and Swedish News Programmes after the Earthquake and Tsunami in Japan

Maja Chacińska

Pełny tekst artykułu English version of the article

The purpose of the article is to compare reports concerning tsunami in Japan in March 2010 in two main Polish and Swedish public television news programmes: Wiadomości and Rapport. This comparative analysis is an attempt to answer the question how these public institutions that have similar goals concerning information policy fulfil their mission in emergency situations. The analysis presented in the article takes into account three research perspectives: media ethics – primarily reliability, objectivity and emotional involvement of journalists; presenting extraordinary events as a spectacle and infotainment; as well as media crisis communication.

KEYWORDS

news service, Sweden, emergencies, tsunami, public media