allowing media to report on lava

[kalakoa]

http://hawaiitribune-herald.com/news/loc...-disasters

Summary: lava is too dangerous for anyone to actually report on, so trust our Official Government Statements about the relative safety of your lives and property.

Sigh.

[HereOnThePrimalEdge]

It seems like a good idea to let media into the lava flow area. Reporters go into war zones after all.
CBS News broadcast footage from an area with moving lava and burning trees, but local reporters were kept out. Clearly the law didn't work in that instance, and unless I'm mistaken, CBS faced no charges.

So what does the county have to gain by restricting the media from the lava flow?
Let's take the transfer station as an example. With the information provided, we accepted that it would be a $4 million loss. But what if a reporter saw something HVO or CofH didn't notice? What if that reporter or a reader then suggests some minor, inexpensive abatement measures might save taxpayers $4 million, and allow them to use the facility as intended after a brief closure? Wouldn't that make the county appear wasteful? Unresponsive? Risk averse? Elected officials wouldn't want voters to think that.

Now granted, no one (including myself) knows were the lava flow will go from one day to the next. So if the example of saving the transfer station had been successful, there clearly would be a large measure of luck involved in the plan.

But at least if you try something, you might make your own luck.

Mr. Lee had an idea that never occurred to the county.
His neighbor successfully built a road over slightly cooled lava that the county didn't consider possible.

We need more ideas like that, and the media can disseminate information to people who are creative, who build things, and get the job done because they have to.

[PauHana]

In today's world half the people who post on Facebook think they are "journalists". How does Civil Defense distinguish who gets a pass?
If they (the media) are going to demand special treatment they also should be will to pay for the expense of having a Civil Defense tour guide, and for the disruption they cause in the process.
I remember a disaster in South America where the rescue teams couldn't get emergency equipment flown in. Why? The international news media had rented all the helicopters so they could film the devastation and those tragic scenes of a trapped woman slowly dying.

I don't remember exactly where or when that was, but they thought my seeing those reports was important enough at the time to sacrifice peoples lives for the footage.

[HereOnThePrimalEdge]

rescue teams couldn't get emergency equipment flown in. Why? The international news media had rented all the helicopters

In the case of the Big Island, we have a dedicated Coast Guard helicopter, and I believe a County copter as well. In addition there are Army Black Hawk helicopters stationed at Hilo airport. All of these are much more appropriate for rescue and emergency use than the smaller tourist helicopters and none can be rented by the news media.

A lava flow is a slow motion disaster as well. There's time for most people in it's path to leave in advance.

[opihikao]

They could give Brian Williams (NBC) the reporting duties. He doesn't even have to be on, or near the lava to report his experience. []

(Running away! Sorry, couldn't resist. Papa always said the media is full of propaganda...)

Have a good day, all!

JMO.

[HereOnThePrimalEdge]

Papa always said the media is full of propaganda...

My Papa always said the same thing... about the government! At least Brian Williams actually was in a helicopter and found a good yarn to exaggerate over the years. Better than the $3 trillion hunt for WMD's which started off as a fabrication, and went downhill from there.

Neither media or government may be entirely honest, but they're probably slightly more truthful with one watching the other.

[opihikao]

Spot on, HOTPE. Well said, especially the last line.

JMO.

[PunaMauka2]

news media most certainly DOES require some form of "special treatment" as far as access to important events concerning the community. anyone who doesn't see that is in desperate need of some civics 101. perhaps the shifting trend of the populace endorsing news more as entertainment has eroded our understanding the critical place of responsible media access in a free society.

the parties responsible here need to get their act together and work out an agreeable and workable definition of who and what is an authorized representative of the news media. with a workable definition in hand the liability excuse is a complete farce.

[Anxious Messiah]

Key word being "responsible" media.

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