Rating the quake coverage

MEDIA

OPINION: By now it's become obvious that everyone's got an earthquake story, and not just Cantabrians either.

The whole nation has become embroiled in the daily struggle of life in and around Christchurch, due mostly to the hours of television footage, the screeds of newspaper copy, and the frightened Tweets and Facebook messages flowing from the affected region.

My own story involves hearing news of the quake on Mt Ruapehu's SkiFM, with early reports coming from very shaken reporters and a bloke cuddled up in bed describing the quake as "a bloody big shake". A little shaken myself, I immediately switched on the television, and had a computer been at hand I would've switched that on too.

THE EARTHQUAKE WILL NOT BE TELEVISED... AT LEAST NOT ON TV3

What I found on the screen was a TVNZ 7 programme explaining carefully how a large earthquake might affect New Zealand. Slightly confused by the timely nature of this in-depth, scientific earthquake coverage I quickly realised it was a piece of scheduling coincidence - rather than prophetic genius.

As it happens TVNZ did manage the best coverage that day - even Mike McRoberts thought so when he remarked during a Twitter conversation: "What it reflects is a poor decision by 3 not to go with continuous coverage throughout the day. No lead-in.". The two million people who tuned into TVNZ's rolling coverage at some stage between 8am and 7.30pm on Saturday were given little choice by the competing network.

One News had three times the viewers of 3 News that evening and has maintained 150-200,000 more viewers this week on the previous one, while 3 News has settled back to near pre-earthquake numbers.

REPORTERS ON THE (SHAKY) GROUND

After receiving a phone call from The Press editor Andrew Holden, Fairfax Digital editor Sinead Boucher had a breaking news strap up on stuff.co.nz and Fairfax's masthead websites within five minutes of the earthquake.

Fairfax staff also gathered in Christchurch. Holden says staff videographer Daniel Tobin reached the paper's offices only 20 minutes after the quake and another dozen staff - reporters, web editors and photographers - had switched to news gathering mode within 15 minutes.

"The main Press building was undamaged and has generator power ... so we were able to activate that newsroom within the hour.

"At that point everybody was on the move and filing for the web. At a certain point on Saturday afternoon a number of reporters switched to print mode and filed stories for the Sunday Star Times.

"Fairfax has a `content first' project - you get the information and whatever medium is best suited is what you deliver that to. Everybody was really quite seamless in terms of saying 'if I get something, I write it' and then it becomes a question for the editing team of if goes in print or online."

Holden says the quake was "absolutely" a good test of Fairfax's strategy to pool resources.

NEW CITY, NEW MEDIA

Overall, the disaster reflects the multitude of ways in which a frightened and curious public will seek out information themselves in the modern age. The locally generated coverage and personal stories of Cantabrians was being digested across New Zealand and abroad within minutes of the quake.

Plenty by-passed the passive viewership of television and delved straight into internet activity. Stuff.co.nz reports that the Christchurch earthquake initiated the largest flow of traffic through the site in its 10-year history.

Tobin's initial video footage drew huge YouTube attention, and updated reports of aftershocks, damage and public service announcements were effectively dispersed to the nation via social networks. Search the term "earthquake" on the nzherald.co.nz site and you'll get more than 300 stories filed in the week since the rumble.

As yet I have no evidence to back up this statement, but I believe that the quake may have helped to nudge media consumption increasingly online. The previously techno-phobic section of the public may now be more inclined to seek comfort from strangers on Twitter or from friends on Facebook, or to seek out personal or professional help via their computers in a time of need.

Rebuilding the city may take years and many historical monuments may be lost forever, but the earthquake could also see the start of a truly connected community.

- © Fairfax NZ News