Effectiveness of Print Media Factors on the Crisis Communication for Natural Disasters in Uganda

Abstract

The study sought to address the gap in empirical research related to print media and crisis communication for natural disasters in Uganda. Against this backdrop, the objective of this study was to assess the effectiveness of print media factors on the crisis communication for natural disasters in Uganda. Specifically, the study: (i) examined the effectiveness of print media consumption patterns by the affected people on crisis communication for natural disaster in Uganda, (ii) assessed the effectiveness of print media management strategies with key publics on crisis communication for natural disaster in Uganda, (iii) evaluated the effectiveness of print media on communicating the key crisis events of natural disasters in Uganda, (iv) analyzed the effectiveness of print media coverage for past natural disasters on the current crisis communication in Uganda. To achieve these objectives, the study employed both quantitative and qualitative research designs. The first and last objectives were addressed based on a survey of 398 people among the affected population which was conducted. The sample for quantitative data was obtained using stratified random sampling method while the secondary data was obtained purposively from three newspapers’ achieves. The survey was conducted using a structured and pilot-tested questionnaire to interview the head of households. The second and third specific objectives were qualitatively investigated using 3 newspaper archives. Furthermore, to address the first objective, the study employed a chi- square test to determine the influence of education level, age and occupation factors on the peoples’ preference and consumption for various media outlets. Based on the information from the newspaper archives, the second and third objectives were addressed by applying a content analysis technique. The last specific objective was also addressed using a chi-square test. Moreover, the findings of the study indicate that effectiveness of print media consumption patterns by the affected people on crisis communication are not statistically significant because the P value (0.129) is much higher than the level of significance which was used (0.05). While effectiveness of print media coverage for past natural disasters on the communication of current crises is highly significant since the P value is 0.000 which is far less than 0.05, the level of significance. Therefore, there is need for the crisis managers to consider the type of newspaper to use while packaging the crisis information. Furthermore, the print media management strategies with key publics promotes crisis communication .Similarly, the print media’s factual coverage for disasters helps to build trust for the newspaper in the public sphere and therefore promotes crisis communication. Hence, the need for crisis managers to investigate the history of a disaster before communication; ask questions like why, how, what happened before so as to analyze the situation at a hand for crisis mitigation, because the past affects the current communication. Notably, there is need for the government of Uganda and other stake holders to provide newspapers to the public spheres like schools, hospitals, markets and local councils so that access to crisis information is availed to the citizens in the public sphere and all social institutions so as to increase accessibility to crisis information in the country. Government should furthermore ensure that the media regulatory bodies monitor the coverage of issues of national concern or public interest. They should be given priority in the media because disasters have a great negative impact on the health of the citizens. Moreover the government policy makers should adopt the Nabuzale crisis Communication regulatory Model for Disasters. It’s suitable for Uganda because there is free flow and access to information from the grass roots to the national level.