An Analysis Of Media's Role In Handling Public Crises

In today's world, public crises in various forms have become commonplace. And the fast-developing China is facing the same serious test posed by such crises. Whether caused by nature or human, unexpected public crises bring about both opportunities as well as challenges to public administrators. Media, which are called"Skin of Society", should act as the tie and bridge, passing information between the government and the public. The public opinion created by the public media has become an important part of public space. Media have become the fastest and most effective tunnel through which governments publicize information and the public know the truth.This year's Wenchuan Earthquake, as a typical example of public crisis, has given as enough experience as well as lessons. The experience lies in that media reacted promptly and effectively; the reports did put people first; conventional and new media both participated; home and foreign news agencies joined hands. The lessons were: the overdone and excessive publicity caused the mental secondary crises of the mass; some reporters lacked humanity and some reports did not focus enough on the disaster itself. And the new media did not have enough say.In situations of crisis, governments, the public and media form an interactive triangle, in which each party has its own responsibility. A responsible government is one that acts as the commander in the front and the logistic provider in the rear. A mature mass is basis and support for overcoming difficulties. The media should be under the government's supervision and at the same time influences the government's decisions, guiding and satisfying the public. Public media's roles are manifold. They have form a complex of roles. They no longer act as the mere mouthpiece of the government, passing instructions, but rather, they have become the main channel for the public to realize their rights to know the truth. Moreover, they have become the news agencies that pass information to serve the public, with public interests as their starting point. Their roles are not limited to being the recorders and witnesses, but participants and coordinators. The information management system should longer be for the post-crisis summary, but rather, for the real-time information control.