Journal Articles

One earthquake, two tales: narrative analysis of the tenth anniversary coverage of the 921 Earthquake in Taiwan

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This article studies media coverage of the ‘921’ Earthquake in Taiwan during two periods in 2009, ten years after the disaster, which occurred on 21 September 1999 (the date which provided the event with its compressed identifier). First it looks at coverage in the wake of another major disaster (Typhoon Morakot) that occurred just before the tenth anniversary of the earthquake, and then during the regular tenth anniversary commemorations of the earthquake. Using narrative analysis, this article notes that during the first period, journalists responded to a disaster event with an historical precedent by adopting the 921 Earthquake as a benchmark, ‘villain’, and moral allegory to explain the current disaster and forecast future closure. During the second period, this study shows how journalists used regular commemorative features on the 921 Earthquake to describe that event based on survivor testimony and present commemorative events. By portraying two interpretations of a single past event back to back, this study demonstrates how news media selectively employ the ‘usable past,’ and the implications of this for the formation of collective memories of past events.

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Detail Information

Series Title

Media Culture & Society

Call Number

p. 280-295

Publisher

Thousand Oaks, CA : Sage Publications., 2012

Collation

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Language

English

ISBN/ISSN

0163-4437

Classification

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Content Type

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Media Type

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Carrier Type

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Edition

Volume 34 Number 3 April 2012, p. 280-295

Subject(s)

Journalism
natural disaster
historical analogy

Specific Detail Info

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Statement of Responsibility

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