Outlets I turn to during times of crisis

During times of crisis, people want information. They turn to news sources to find out what is happening on the minute. During these stressful hectic times, people often place a lot of trust in the media to get information across quickly and accurately. The problem that arises under this kind of pressure is that media outlets become so desperate for quick information that they often do not check their sources which results in false reporting to the public. False reporting can have a very drastic affect on the public by causing mass panic and even chaos in some instances. For this reason it is important to get your news during times of crisis from trustworthy and credible sources.


During times of crisis, especially in this day and age, it is easy to turn directly to the internet since that is the medium that gives us the best sense of control of information; we can search for what we want, when we want. Personally, I find that there is so much contradicting subjective information floating around on the internet, that I prefer to turn to a local news station first to understand what details and facts I should be searching for on the internet. Although I am aware that a local station may frame the news story a certain way as to mirror the values of the community, I will at least be able to answer the how, who, when, and where questions. Next, I may search for similar stories from different news sources on the internet. After I have familiarized myself with the situation and the nature of the situation I will turn on a more global, national newscast such as CNN. Because CNN is national and not local, I feel that I will get a less opinionated and more fact based depiction of the crisis at hand. 

The following is an interesting video about bias in the media...in this case during the crisis of the Iraq War.

The Looming Tower

Lawrence Wright's book provides both a good explanation for the events leading up to 9/11 as well as the involvement of specified individuals such as Osama Bin Laden (who is quoted as saying “Wherever you are, death will find you even in the looming tower") in these same events. It also provides interesting insight on how targeted terrorist groups came into being. 

I find it very interesting that Wright provided many intimate details in his writing that could have been useful for US intelligence in uncovering the truth behind the plot of 9/11. It was a combination of the lack of information as well as the lack of cooperation between the agencies that resulted in the delay of information to our nation's officials and to the public.

This lack/withholding of information is a common practice for agencies such as the CIA and the FBI for reasons of national security, but I find that it is important to keep the people of the nation well informed with what is happening while, at the same time, avoid giving too much information that may cause mass panic and chaos.

Journalism plays an important role in uncovering the truth in crisis situations like these and I believe that it is the journalists job to tell the public the truth if information is uncovered by these agencies.

If these agencies work together and openly disclose what information they have to each other, it will be possible to coordinate better anti terrorist cooperatives and prevent future attacks from happening on American soil. 

The NY Times gives a very insightful opinion on The Looming Tower which you can check out here. 

You can also feel free to watch Lawrence Wright speak on the topic of Al Qaeda at Princeton on YouTube.

About Me

I am a senior and will graduate in May. I decided to take this class because after graduation I hope to work in the media industry...hopefully in the realm of news, advertising/marketing, or public relations. I got interested in the news industry through a recent internship with FOX 2 News where I worked in the marketing and research department working with various graphics and data. I got to watch news casts live from the studio and found it so interesting!