Date of Award

4-2010

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

Specialization

Communication and Leadership

School or Department

School of Leadership Studies

First Advisor

Dr. John Caputo

Second Advisor

Dr. Alexa Dare

Third Advisor

Dr. Heather Crandall

Abstract

News media have considerable ability to influence the public agenda. This thesis explores media agenda setting and framing in Hurricane Ike in order to infer whether the way disasters are covered in the news is a contributing factor in the lack of public attention on hurricane loss mitigation. The frequency and intensity of Atlantic hurricanes is increasing, placing residents along the U.S. Gulf Coast at greater risk, yet little has been done to try to reduce the impact from hurricanes. This study is grounded in agenda setting theory and utilized content analysis to examine newspaper coverage of Hurricane Ike in the Houston Chronicle and the Dallas Morning News from September 14, 2008 through October 14, 2008. Results indicate that media focus on disaster response/relief, devastation, recovery, and economic impact, with personal accounts informing all of these themes. Attention is on the immediate and short-term effects of the disaster, with little attention devoted to the issue of reducing future hurricane risk.

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