Digital information source belonging to the organizations involved in response to the crisis (government, police, firefighters, etc.) This source will usually transmit the data through social networking platforms and their official accounts (Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, etc.)
Published in Chapter:
Social Media and Digital Information Sources in News Coverage of Crisis, Disaster, and Emergency Situations: A case study from Spain
Marcos Mayo-Cubero (Nebrija University, Spain)
Copyright: © 2021
|Pages: 14
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-7998-6705-0.ch012
Abstract
Journalists play a key role in digital emergency situations. In the midst of the chaos generated by a pandemic like the COVID-19 crisis, the information transmitted by the journalist is crucial to save lives and minimize damage. This chapter explores journalists' reliance on and trust in official and unofficial digital information sources. Specifically, the authors explore the authorities' official information sources involved in crisis management and the unofficial information sources (i.e., victims and those affected). The research suggests a model for journalists' relationship with their digital information sources in covering crises by exploring dependence, type of contact, trust, and purpose. It also synthesizes the main communication errors of the public authorities that manage the response to the crisis.