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Media and Disasters: Demarcating an Emerging and Interdisciplinary Area of Research
Author(s) -
Joye Stijn
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
sociology compass
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.782
H-Index - 31
ISSN - 1751-9020
DOI - 10.1111/soc4.12193
Subject(s) - relevance (law) , discipline , sociology , perspective (graphical) , section (typography) , special section , social media , disaster research , engineering ethics , social science , epistemology , political science , computer science , geography , engineering , philosophy , engineering physics , artificial intelligence , meteorology , law , operating system
This article provides an overview of the research and literature on media and disasters. Drawing on the central idea of a disaster as a social and media construction, I identify this young and rapidly emerging body of research as an inherent interdisciplinary area that has attracted the interest of many disciplines within social sciences. A first section of the article focuses on a characterization of (mediated) disasters and the question of academic relevance. Second, I adopt a historical perspective to reflect on issues of disciplinary concern, followed by an outline of the contemporary body of literature. In the final section, directions to advance future research on media and disasters are discussed.