The world’s geography is prone to various interactions based on the five theories of geography. We are currently experiencing dynamic changes in the world climate all which can be explained from a geographical aspect. Among the geographical themes is the regions theme that looks into who places are formed and how they change (Harvey & Holly, 2011). This theme has a close correlation with the human environmental interaction theme that seeks to elaborate on how human activities influence the environment. The correlation between the two themes is that in many occasions, human activities influence on the environment varies depending on the place where the activities take place.
The Americas stand out as a unique region in the world that is characterized by extreme weather events such as hurricanes (Harvey & Holly, 2011). Most of the countries in the Americas including the Caribbean have been hit by extreme weather events the most recent one being Hurricane Matthew in Haiti. Hurricanes can be related to geographical themes of place and that of human-environmental interaction. This is because the of the increased global warming in the world which consequently attributes to the adverse weather conditions as oceans water levels rise and are pushed by the winds to the nearby beach lands. This result leads to Hurricanes that are a constant threat to the America’s beach lands. [“Write my essay for me?” Get help here.]
Information outlets such as media houses have the mandate to pass disaster information around the world and so as to raise the alarm as well as the trigger for relief services. The media outlets, however, have different formats of reporting, and this is often depicted during the reporting of such emergency disasters such as the recent Hurricane Matthew in Haiti. Below I shall analyze different ways in which two major outlets, the BBC and Aljazeera undertook their mandate with online postings regarding the same hurricane.
The BBC on 7th Oct 2016 posted on their website various items regarding the hurricane’s impact. They were first to observe that Caribbean storms often have adverse impacts on the poorest countries as compared to North America. Their report also borrowed from the Red Cross whereby they quoted the Red Cross on the millions of people affected as well as a figure of 350,000 people needing rapid aid as a result of the hurricane. BBC also pointed out further threats to the people following the flooding aftermath such as a looming chlorella outbreak. BBC also pointed out the leading concerns in the area with the major one being hunger following the destruction of crops in the fields. [Need an essay writing service? Find help here.]
On their reporting, the BBC uniquely pointed out on the local’s perception of the kind of services and emergency efforts being taken by the Haitian government as well as humanitarian organizations. BBC pointed out that locals were felt their government was not in a capacity to provide them the basic needs of water food and shelter and thus were more looking for foreign aid. On the other hand, the BBC also highlighted the foreign aid organizations impact on the emergency efforts whereby the locals also felt that aid agencies overlooked the local traditions and expertise. The people felt wronged when aid agencies brought their staff rather than engaging locals. The people also blamed the foreign aid agencies for not supporting the local businesses by not incorporating the coping strategies adopted by locals.
Another news outlet, Aljazeera also posted a report to the same hurricane on 8th Oct 2016 on their website Aljazeera as compared to BBC did not go to the geographical details but went straight to reporting on the overstretched health sector in rural Haiti. They also pointed out as BBC on the issue of food shortage and cholera outbreak which in contrast to BBC, they reported had already killed seven people. Aljazeera also pointed out on the actual death count from the hurricane as 877 people and also gave the cause of seven cholera deaths a result of sewage mixing with floodwater. Aljazeera also pointed out the most affected parts of Haiti as the Southwestern region home to fishing villages and towns in the Tiburon peninsula. Aljazeera like BBC also reported on a correlated aid effort between the Haitian government and foreign aid agencies.
The two reports above give an insight on how two different agencies give contrasting information and also similar information regarding a geographical occurrence. Details are given on different approaches but the core messages as still passed to the world. [Click Essay Writer to order your essay]
References
Harvey, M., & Holly, B. P. (2011). Themes in geographic thought. New York: St. Martin’s Press.
