Preparing for Disaster: An Examination of Public Health Emergency Information on Local TV Web Sites

Abstract

This study provides a nationwide examination of public health emergency information on local television Web sites, analyzing 293 news stories that focused on all aspects of a potential emergency, including preparedness, response, and recovery. Data revealed that public health emergency information was present on nearly all (96%) of the sites examined. These stories most frequently contained general disaster information, or information about weather-related disasters and health pandemics. Few stories linked consumers to additional information on other Web pages (24%) or included a video component (27%). There were significant differences between large and small media markets regarding specific public health emergency content.