I've begun my research, and have done some interviewing among citizens in and around Valley City. I thought talking to people outside of the town, who likely had some connections to Valley City, was interesting and will prove to be an essential part of my report. Some say they didn't have radio signal and internet access, so they felt out of the loop. Also, the local TV station, the Replay Channel, was not available to those outside the area. Despite all of this, I think it was most important to focus on the communication among the citizens in Valley City.
Another trend I've noticed is that internet sources go beyond news sites. Twitter and Facebook, two social networking sites, were also very popular, especially among the younger population. Valley News Live had Twitter updates constantly about the Fargo flood, and when the Sheyenne in Valley City started to reach its crest, Valley News Live wrote small updates about the situation followed by a Tiny Url.
I haven't begun analyzing the one medium I chose, which is the radio, but I will bet that it was accurate and featured constant updates. From the interviewing I have done, I have realized that the radio was probably the most popular medium regardless of age. I used the radio often because it was all localized. But when I didn't have access to the radio, I usually checked online later at NewsDakota. I also appreciated the interviews the radio had with the mayor and other city officials. That was also important when the sewer broke.
I will continue researching the radio and also compare my observations with that of the article about the flood in Grand Forks in 1997. I'm assuming that the crisis communicaiton will have advanced much since then, especially with the growth of the internet and social media.
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I too would have to say that the radio was my favorite medium of information. They provided constant and up-to-date information about everything. It will be great to see another viewpoint of the Valley City Flood of 09 and see how they think it was handled.
ReplyDeleteI like the approach you used in conducting your research for this paper, I think it was a good thing that you interviewed people that lived in neighboring towns around Valley City to see how the flood affected them and also what form of communication was the most up-to-date source of information regarding the flood to them.
ReplyDeleteI also agree with you that there is probably a really big difference in the communication in the flood of 1997 and the communication of 2009 due to advancement in technological advances.
I think that for most of the people the radio was the most effective form of communication. If the siren blew you knew to immediately turn on your radio and see what it was blowing for. Also, the radio was the most up to date place to see about closings of schools and businesses throughout Valley City. Being a member on Facebook, I did see a lot of students and community memebers with updates on their profiles as well. This let maybe the people outside of VC keep up to date with what was going on in the town.
ReplyDeleteBetween the Valley News Live broadcast I would listen to the radio, when I was sick of the radio I would jump on facebook. The communication between these three was great. I also think it was nice to see you have interviewed people outside of town. There were some close calls on many farmsteads that were not mentioned in the media.
ReplyDeletePeople outside the city were affected more than most people think. Many along the river were also evacuated and some around Fargo had to be air lifted by helicopter because they were stranded. The radio around Jamestown seemed to be the best source of information for most people also. I heard most of the information about the floods on the radio also. I drive at least 80 miles a day in my car.
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