Nowadays, there are many things that Americans have to worry about: terrorists, West Nile virus, Norwalk virus, floods, mad cow disease, tsunamis, meteors, earthquakes, cholesterol. It seems as though we are all doomed; one thing or another is determined to wipe us off the planet.
The media is always covering some new sensational threat that, up until now, we have all managed to be completely ignorant about. Every time the media covers some new report, some new threat, people panic.
That panic is, to a certain extent, understandable. When virtually every newspaper and news report is full of grave statistics and expert testimony, it is reasonable that a viewer would begin to worry; after all, most of these disasters are possible. But these reports need to be taken with a grain of salt.
Take, for example, the possibility of a tsunami off of the Oregon Coast. Soon after the tsunami in Asia, people began to wonder whether such a catastrophe is possible elsewhere, especially in the United States. At this point, some sources were already warning about such a disaster occurring in Oregon. A reprinted article from the Register-Guard that appeared on oregongeology.com read: “At 9 p.m. Jan. 26, 1700, a magnitude 9.0 earthquake and accompanying tsunami hit the coast of Oregon. The size of the event and the kind of damage it caused, both near and far, were similar to that caused by Sunday’s earthquake off Indonesia’s Sumatra coast.” The article goes on to explain that this type of disaster happens every 300 to 500 years. So, obviously, Oregonians should begin to prepare for a wall of rushing water.
Reports continued about how Oregon is not prepared for such an event and that towns and cities would be utterly devastated. Then, on Oct. 19, 2005, the NOAA National Weather Service accidentally issued a tsunami warning for parts of the Oregon Coast. This warning activated the state’s emergency alert system as well as the panic button of many citizens. Police and fire agencies were flooded with phone calls. People had no idea what was happening or what to do.
I think that some of this panic can be attributed to the scare tactics that media were using prior to this incident. It is important that the government, cities, families and individuals are prepared for disasters, but the media often goes about things in the wrong way when it comes to encouraging preparation. Newspapers and news broadcasts sensationalize the problem. They talk about how devastating a disaster could be. They count the possible dead. They total the cost for the city and country. They then tell you that there is a 10 percent chance of this happening in the next 100 years.
I am not saying that this information shouldn’t be reported on. It is very important that citizens, and the government, think about such possibilities and prepare for them. But newspapers shouldn’t work to solve problems by scaring their readers. To a certain extent, that is what happened on the Oregon Coast, and all people did was panic. They thought that they were facing a tsunami equal to that in Asia. This scare tactic is certainly not exclusive to tsunamis. The same thing has been happening in regard to diseases and other disasters.
Recently there has been talk of massive earthquakes hitting Oregon. This theory of an earthquake is along the same lines of the tsunami; it has been 300 years and it is time for it to happen again. This report is very positive in that it focuses on what needs to be done and what preparations need to be made. It appears that several buildings on campus – Facilities Services, Riverfront Innovation Center, Prince Lucien Campbell, Straub, and McArthur Court – are very likely to suffer severe damage if a major earthquake occurs. It is good to know this information, to know that something needs to be done to improve these buildings.
It is rather alarming to see what a major earthquake can do to this school. And it is also worrisome to think about how people would react to an earthquake. Having grown up in Southern California, I have been doing earthquake drills – crawling under desks and standing in doorways – since I was in pre-school. I have also been in some memorable earthquakes: Ones that woke me up in the middle of the night to the sound of the water splashing out of the above-ground pool. So, I do know how frightening earthquakes can be and how important it is to be prepared.
The media should examine these disaster possibilities and the readiness of the city, state, and nation. But newspapers and news shows need to show some journalistic integrity and refrain from using scare tactics. They shouldn’t start out a segment by describing the ground shaking for minutes on end, 30 feet tsunamis, soil liquefying, dams failing, bridges collapsing and thousands stranded in shelters.
That is not good journalism; that is a scare tactic. I cannot say what drives journalists to present the news in this light. Maybe they are trying to entertain, or entice readers. I do not understand. I just know that it isn’t good journalism.

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