WHERE YOU SHOULD GO IN A TIME OF CRISIS

Amy Joseph, Peter Martin, Arielle Mellen, Terra Neukam, and Kori Valentine

“All the News That’s Fit For

Citizens’ Needs”

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

"The company’s core purpose is to enhance society by creating, collecting and distributing high-quality news, information and entertainment.”

• Founded in 1851• Includes The New York Times, The International Herald, The Boston

Globe, 15 other daily newspapers and more than 50 websites • Largest 7-day newspaper in the U.S.

• Has more than 300,000 weekday copies and over 375, 000 Sunday copies

• Leading media company: 2009 revenues of $2.4 billion• Ranked #1 in Percentage of Individually Paid Print Copies among

National Newspapers• The New York Times has been awarded 128 Pulitzer Prizes

“All the News That’s Fit For

Citizens’ Needs”

About the Company

THESIS

“All the News That’s Fit For

Citizens’ Needs”

The NYT is a great news outlet to turn to during times of crisis because it recognizes the audience’s needs and strives to provide them with the accurate information they need.

Three main trends:

1. Effective preparation prior to crises

2. Thorough, accurate and informative reporting during crises

3. Continuation of coverage in the aftermath

Additionally, The New York Times has adapted to the culture and its audience’s needs in an effort to better provide citizens with the information they need during crises.

TREND NUMBER ONE

Effective preparation prior to crises:

1. Forewarns readers that a crisis may occur

2. Prepares readers so that they have enough information to understand the crisis while it is happening

“All the News That’s Fit For

Citizens’ Needs”

TREND 1 COVERAGE PRIOR TO CRISES 9/11 TERRORIST ATTACKS

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“U.S. Steps Up Pressure on Taliban to Deliver Osama bin Laden” Oct. 19, 1999; Page A7; Barbara Crossette

“The Taliban leadership has been harboring the militant, Osama bin Laden, who is wanted in connection with bombings of United States Embassies...but the bottom line, he said, is that Mr. Bin Laden must be surrendered. ”

"One Man and a Global Web of Violence” January 14, 2001; Section 1, Page 1; Stephen Engelberg

“...Mr. bin Laden engaged in a global conspiracy aimed at the United States and other Western targets, and which acted as a kind of umbrella organization for other terrorist groups.”

"On the Verge; Risk and Reward in Yeme”May 13, 2001; Sunday Edition, Magazine; John F. Burns

“Believed to have been inspired or direct by Osama Bin Laden, the F.B.I’s most wanted terrorist”

TREND 1 COVERAGE PRIOR TO CRISES HURRICANE KATRINA

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“New Orleans Journal; As Storm Weakens, Revelry Takes Over” Sept. 26, 2002; Page A20; Jeffrey Gettleman

“New Orleans is uniquely vulnerable to flooding. The city sits below sea level, and it is surrounded by a high wall, the levee system. It is like a bowl, and if water gets over the wall, there is no place for it to go.”

“New Orleans’s Hurricane Problem” July 4, 2003; Page A20; Anonymous

“The Big Easy is uniquely vulnerable -- if a powerful enough storm hits, experts warn, the city could be badly damaged and tens of thousands of people could be killed. New Orleans, and the nation, need a better plan for protecting the city”

"Ferocious Hurricane Punishes the Gulf Coast”September 16, 2004; Page A1; Andrew C. Revkin

“Cupped below sea level in a bowl between Lake Pontchartrain and the Mississippi River, the city is prone to flooding in ordinary storms, and is perennially threatened with a catastrophic deluge if a storm like Hurricane Ivan were to hit head on and breech the levees”

TREND 1 COVERAGE PRIOR TO CRISES WAR IN AFGHANISTAN

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“A New Regime in Afghanistan” October 8, 1996; Page A24; Editorial Desk

“The U.S. and other countries that helped Afghanistan rid itself of Soviet troops must now try to persuade its inexperienced rulers to stop the export of drugs, weapons and terrorism.”

“U.S. Seeks Means To Bring Suspect from Afghanistan” August 20, 1998; Page A1; James Risen

“As U.S. officials focus on …Osama bin Laden, as a prime suspect in the embassy bombings in Africa, they are considering strategies for how they might negotiate his capture with the Taliban, the fundamentalist Muslims who control Afghanistan”

“A Nation Challenged: Bush’s Advisors Split on Scope of Retaliation”Sept. 20, 2001; Page A1; Patrick E. Tyler and Elaine Sciolino

“Some senior administration officials pressing for the earliest and broadest military campaign against not only the Osama bin Laden network in Afghanistan, but also against other suspected terrorist bases in Iraq…

TREND 1 COVERAGE PRIOR TO CRISES WAR IN IRAQ

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“Standoff with Iraq: Security; Saddam Hussein Sees Himself as the No. 1 Target, and Lives His Life Accordingly: In Secret”February 15, 1998; Section 1, Page 1; Youssef Ibrahim

The lead:

“These days the man who has led Iraq since 1968 through two wars, years of oil plenty and years of dire crises, does not sleep in the same place two nights in a row, his former associates say.”

TREND 1 COVERAGE PRIOR TO CRISES WAR IN IRAQ

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“A Nation Challenged: The Military; U.S. Envisions Blueprint on Iraq Including Big Invasion Next Year”April 28, 2002; Section A, Page 1; Thom Shanker and David Sanger

“The Bush administration, in developing a potential approach for toppling President Saddam Hussein of Iraq, is concentrating its attention on a major air campaign and ground invasion, with initial estimates contemplating the use of 70,000 to 250,000 troops. The administration is turning to that approach after concluding that a coup in Iraq would be unlikely to succeed and that a proxy battle using local forces there would be insufficient to bring a change in power.”

“But senior officials now acknowledge that any offensive would probably be delayed until early next year, allowing time to create the right military, economic and diplomatic conditions. These include avoiding summer combat in bulky chemical suits, preparing for a global oil price shock, and waiting until there is progress toward ending the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.”

“The Iraqi leader is unwilling to allow the kind of highly intrusive inspections needed to prove that he has no weapons of mass destruction.”

TREND 1 COVERAGE PRIOR TO CRISES POTENTIAL STATE CRISIS

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“Mounting Debts by States Stoke Fears of Crisis” December 4, 2010; Page A1; Michael Cooper and Mary Williams Walsh

“Some of the same people who warned of the looming subprime crisis two years ago are ringing alarm bells again. Their message: Not just small towns or dying Rust Belt cities, but also large states like Illinois and California are increasingly at risk.”

“Most financial crises happen in unpredictable ways, and they hit you when you’re not looking....This one isn’t like that. You can see it coming. It would be sinful not to do something about this while there’s a chance.” - Jerome H. Powell

“There are eerie similarities between the subprime debt crisis and the looming municipal debt woes.”

TREND NUMBER TWO

Thorough, accurate and informative reporting during crises:

1. Very in-depth in

explaining why and how the crisis happened

2. Gets to the truth/ensures accuracy

“All the News That’s Fit For

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TREND 2 COVERAGE DURING CRISES HAITI

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"Poor Sanitation in Haiti’s Camps Adds Disease Risk”February 20, 2010; Section A, Page 4; Simon Romero

“‘We’re witnessing the setup for the spread of severe diarrheal illnesses in a place where the health system has collapsed and without a functioning sewage system to begin with,’ said Ian Greenwald, chief medical officer from Duke University.”

"For Disaster-Struck Haitians, Arrival in U.S. Does Not Mean an End to Problems”January 28, 2010; Section A, Page 12; Shaila Dewan

“Evacuees continue to pour into the United States, many in need of basics like clothes and diapers. As of Monday morning, 15,666 people had been evacuated from Haiti to the United States. Of those, 12,497 were American citizens, according to State Department figures.”

TREND 2 COVERAGE DURING CRISES GULF COAST OIL SPILL

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"Oil Rig Sinks, Raising Fears Of a Major Spill in the Gulf” April 23, 2010; Page A14; Campbell Robertson and Clifford Krauss

“The accident may also serve as a disturbing reminder to states like Florida that offshore drilling holds environmental risks, even though the industry has long claimed that big spills are a thing of the past and that improved technologies have lowered the chances of spillage.”

''I think it certainly has the potential to be a major spill,'' David Rainey, a vice president for Gulf of Mexico exploration for BP, which was leasing the rig, said at a news conference.”

-An Environmental Disaster Unfolds - Photo Gallery

TREND 2 COVERAGE DURING CRISES WIKI LEAKS

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Content Analysis: 3 newspapers (print) • “State’s Secrets”, Day 1, Monday, Nov 29th

– “A Note to Readers: The Decision to Publish Diplomatic Documents”

• “State’s Secrets”, Days 5-7 – Excerpts appeared at top of multiple and consecutive pages – Pictures of individuals involved/mentioned in cables – Online: The text from a selection of the cables can be

found at: nytimes.com/statessecrets

• Example of Cable Online

“After its own redactions, The Times sent Obama administration officials the cables it planned to post and invited them to challenge the publication of any information that, in the official view, would harm the national interest...Times agreed to some [of the redactions], but not all.”

“The Times is forwarding the administration’s concerns to other news organizations.”

TREND NUMBER THREE

Continuation of coverage in the aftermath:

1. Continuing to place

importance on the events regarding the crisis

2. Keeping readers updated and informed

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TREND 3 COVERAGE OF CRISES AFTERWARDS ENSURING ACCURACY

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Judith Miller

"The Miller Mess: Lingering Issues Among the Answers”October 23, 2005; Section 4, Page 12; The Public Editor

“The good news is that the bad news didn't stop The New York Times from publishing a lengthy front-page article last Sunday about the issues facing Judith Miller and the paper.”

The Miller Case: A Notebook, a Cause, a Jail Cell and a DealOctober 16, 2005; Section 1, Page 1; Van Natta, D., Liptak, A., & Levy, C.

“When no evidence of them was found, her reporting, along with that of some other journalists, came under fire. She was accused of writing articles that helped the Bush administration make its case for war.”

Jayson Blair

Correcting the Record; Times Reporter who Leaves Long Trail of Deception May 11, 2003; Section 1, Page 1; Barry, D., Barstow, D., Glater, J., Liptak, A., & Steinberg, J.

“A staff reporter for The New York Times committed frequent acts of journalistic fraud while covering significant news events in recent months, an investigation by Times journalists has found. The widespread fabrication and plagiarism represent a profound betrayal of trust and a low point in the 152-year history of the newspaper.”

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“I would say that all people on this staff read The New York Times…”

-Jim Margolis, supervising producer of The Daily Show

Even though The New York Times has made mistakes in the past, they have redeemed themselves and restored their credibility.

TREND 3 COVERAGE OF CRISES AFTERWARDS ENSURING ACCURACY

TREND 3 COVERAGE OF CRISES AFTERWARDS FINANCIAL CRISIS

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Credit Crisis – The Essentials: OverviewJuly 12, 2010; The New York Times

-Continuously updated-Complete overview-Origins, government’s bail out plan, Obama’s response, new fears and new hopes, signs of recovery-Links to other related articles/explanations

Credit Crisis – Bailout Plane (TARP)December 7, 2010; The New York Times

TREND 3 COVERAGE OF CRISES AFTERWARDS WAR IN AFGHANISTAN

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“A Year at War: Between Firefights, Jokes, Sweat and Tedium”November 22, 2010; Page A1; James Dao

-Year long feature-Interactive onlne component-Follows First Battalion, 87th Infantry of the 10th Mountain Division-Makes war a reality for Americans back home

“For G.I.’s, life on the front lines has two sides. There are, of course, the adrenaline-fueled moments of fighting, when soldiers try to forget their fear, remember their training and watch one another’s backs. And then there is everything else, the dirty, sweaty, unglamorous and frequently tedious work of being infantrymen.”

TREND 3 COVERAGE OF CRISES AFTERWARDS

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“Faces of the Dead”

-Iraq & Afghanistan-Informs family, friends, etc. back home-Reality of war-Continuous updates

WARS IN IRAQ AND AFGHANISTAN

ADAPTATION TO CULTURE & AUDIENCE

“All the News That’s Fit For

Citizens’ Needs”

The New York Times has adapted to the culture and its audience’s needs in an effort to better provide citizens with the

information they need during crises.

STRENGTH OF WEBSITE

“All the News That’s Fit For

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• #1 print or digital national newspaper among U.S. college students

• Transition from print paper to use of website = Adapting to culture

• Easy to navigate• Online database of articles ranging back

to 1981• Different sections clearly identified• Advertisements do not interfere• Easy-to-find images

• Times Topics• User friendly• Everything in one place• Has links to all related articles on the topic• Provides external links

ADAPTATION TO CULTURE & AUDIENCE

“All the News That’s Fit For

Citizens’ Needs”

The New York Times’ use of social media shows they are open to change and are continually catering to their audiences through repackaging their content.

TwitterPre-packaged lists that instantly link you to a personal Twitter page

FacebookFeatures an album of front pages of recent issues

Blogs58 blogs, related to all sections of the paper (news and politics, technology)

Mobile appsDon’t have a smart phone? Try SMS text messages

FoursquareSee where the NYT has been, then link to articles about that location

Times SkimmerPodcastsYouTube

Flickr

CONCLUSION

“All the News That’s Fit For

Citizens’ Needs”

So, for the next crisis….turn to The New York Times!

(Or, read it daily and you’ll always be prepared!)