The Media and Typhoon Haiyan

Our class discussion regarding othering came into mind as I’ve been watching the coverage of the Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines.  I first read about the storm developing a few days ago.  On bbc.com it was the headline, on cnn.com it was a small link. I read the article on cnn.com and wished that I would have saved it because it appears they might have updated or changed the article.  The story that is on the website now is not the one that I read.  The article was interesting for a few reasons.  First, it discussed the intensity of the storm and compared it to Hurricane Camille that hit the United States in 1969 with similar strength as Haiyan.  It then went on to describe the type of damage that would be expected of a typhoon of this magnitude.  What was said next is what I found most interesting.  Instead of talking about the majority of the population of the Philippines that was in great danger from this typhoon, the article focused on a small resort town named Boracay, popular among vacationing Europeans and westerners that would be hit by the storm.  The article discussed flight delays that would be affecting these travellers and how some people actually had to cut their vacation a few days short (god forbid).  

Though no longer a developing country, it is newly industrialized.  Some areas, particularly surrounding Manila, are highly developed but being an island nation comprised of over 7,000 islands, there are many areas that are underdeveloped.  These areas do not have the infrastructure to sustain a storm of this nature.  Not to mention, the country is continuously rebuilding from natural disasters.  An earthquake killed 200 people three weeks ago.   A typhoon hit in 2012 that killed 1,000 people.  The article that I read failed to mention how the storm would affect the millions of people that live outside of major cities or beach resorts popular to western tourists. 

It will be interesting to see how the rest of the story will develop and how the media covers the casualties.  In reading some articles this morning, it does seem that more emphasis has been put on the population as a whole.  The reporter on CNN keeps repeating that it’s the perhaps the strongest storm EVER (extra emphasis on the word ever, I actually had to turn it off because she was so annoying).  Though the article that is now on cnn.com does offer more information pertaining to the disaster and how it will affect those that live in more underdeveloped areas, it still keeps a little blurb at the bottom about the resort village of Boracay.