Stages of Crisis Journalism (Boston Bombings)

In the case of the Marathon Boston Bombings this year the media followed along with the stages of crisis outlined in the textbook. The first stage of a crisis media is the coverage of what is happening, consisting of spreading information and speculating on causes. In the initial attack on Marathon Monday the media coverage focused on showing people running from the scene and trying to put together whether it was even a purposeful explosion or an accident (such as a pipe burst). The second stage is of updating of information, at this point there is a focus on governmental responses and actions. The immediate information coming out from the government was that the bombs were not of extreme sophistication and there was no use of terrorism yet. The use of terrorism needed to used with care so in President Obama's first speech to the nation he refrained from using it. The third stage of media coverage of crisis' is the aftermath which is the final government actions, impact on events and ceremonies. This is the stage we are presently in for the Boston bombings, the media is covering the investigation into the lives of the suspects, along with further information the FBI had on the suspects and finally the prosecution of the suspect who survived the shootouts. Although this incident has been drawn out with mini crisis' within it (such as the shootout between the police and suspects) the timeline still follows the stages of crisis' as the textbook laid out.