Are you one of the 82.5% of Americans, who according to ComScore, watched a video online? This compilation of facts about the role of video on the internet is fascinating and worthy of much deeper comment.
But it reminded me of two videos I saw recently that demonstrated very clearly the human side of disaster. This first one is from Japan and it carries a simple message: Arigato. Thank you. But what is so striking and compelling to me is that there are real people saying that. Yes, that sounds stupid. And in major disasters like the Japanese earthquake, tsunami and radiation leak, the news media do try to bring the disaster down to the human level. Everyone reaches for that "visceral emotion" that I blogged about the other day which is the driver of almost everything that goes viral. That can be a good thing and a bad thing but for those in emergency management it is terribly important to remember that ultimately what we are doing is helping people. When the terrible impact of natural disasters and human caused disasters is made painfully clear in the eyes, tears and heartfelt "thank yous" as seen in the video, it motivates us to do all we can possibly do to first prevent, then build resilience to help us get back to normal as quickly as possible. It also serves as a powerful reminder of the blessings of every day life--every day where a disaster does not strike is a good day.
The second video or videos can be seen in the NY Daily News article about the Costa Concordia disaster. This is a reminder once again that few events of consequence will not be documented by the electronic news gathering equipment that we carry in our pockets and purses. Cell video and still cameras are documenting our lives as nothing else and the virtually instant sharing of those videos through YouTube, Vimeo, Flickr and other channels is dramatically changing our world. I believe it is changing who we are to some degree. Are citizens of the global village the same as citizens of the rural village?
It is one thing for victims to show up on TV shows trying to tell of their fright, uncertainty in facing death, and anger at the stupidity that caused an accident like this. It is quite another to be there with them. Do you have a sense of what it would be like to be trapped underground deep in the earth in Chile? Probably more of a sense than you did before thanks to the cameras dropped into the shaft while the men awaited rescue. What would our experience of this have been if the story did not end with such a happy conclusion? What impact has watching video for weeks on end of a well head spewing oil into the Gulf of Mexico had on the willingness of citizens to continue such drilling--despite the ugly alternatives to our craving for oil?
The Costa Concordia disaster will affect the cruise industry for years. Burned in the minds of all cruise passengers will be the image of a fabulous luxury liner laying on its side. Also burned in the minds of those watching the videos of passengers is the now easy to imagine panic when the cruise turns from luxury into horror. Already, the blame game in the media is being played out and the calls for more regulation. This article in Forbes is so completely predictable in identifying "greed" as the underlying cause and calling for more regulation. What's a little surprising is that this knee jerk reaction (excuse me, what does a captain wanting to stupidly greet a friend onshore and driving a cruise ship on the rocks have to do with greed?) is coming from a publication like Forbes. The very title of the article, "Read this before your next cruise," is clearly intended to heighten the fear and sends a shot across the bow of everyone in the cruise business.
I'm wandering from the topic of video and its impact on sharing the human toll of disasters. I'll be blogging more on video in the coming months because I am convinced that crisis communicators and emergency management professionals need to become very conversant in this now ubiquitous form of communication. You are the broadcaster, and that means, you are also the video producer. If you're coming up on budget time, I suggest some good camera gear, some editing software and a YouTube channel.
