Calm before the storm
As Cyclone Alfred approaches, who do we trust to give us the facts?
8pm Friday update: This is not a rehearsal, the cyclone will hit overnight
or early morning. Stay safe everyone.
9.25am Thursday update: Radio Today has a good guide to
SEQ stations’ cyclone coverage here;
while TV Tonight has a television guide here.
12.35pm: Online, the best resource is here.
I thought I’d be hunkered down by now, possibly without electricity, eating from a can of baked beans and suffering severe internet withdrawal.
That has not yet proven to be the case because Cyclone Alfred has slowed down and is not predicted to make landfall until late Friday, possibly Saturday.
But don’t take my word for that, the situation is changing all the time.
So, where does one go for accurate, up-to-date information?
Well, I’d like to give our local media a big plug here — and I’m sure they will step up to the plate. However, a few things I have seen or heard about to this point have suggested that several outlets could do better.
The Courier-Mail was hiding cyclone stories behind its paywall on Tuesday and Wednesday. As I said on social media on Tuesday morning, making these stories available to all would not just be a public service but a way of promoting the masthead and enlisting future subscribers. Early on Thursday morning, it seems some cyclone stories (but not all) are available to readers without a subscription. Brisbane Times also seems to be making its cyclone stories available for free.
On 4BC, an expert was asked whether we were in the “eye of the storm”. This was Wednesday morning, when Alfred was still far out to sea. Presumably the interviewer meant “calm before the storm”.
9News.com.au posted on social media that the cyclone had done a “U-turn” and was heading for the coast, when in fact it had done a 90-degree turn. A U-turn would’ve sent it back up north.
Nine’s television news crossed live to the government media conference on Wednesday morning but cut off the feed just as the Lord Mayor, Adrian Schrinner, was stepping up to speak. Somebody in Sydney or Melbourne obviously didn’t think Brisbane people* in the path of the storm might want to hear from their civic leader. Seven stayed with Schrinner.
Some TV news bulletins were making it look like jolly good fun to be surfing in a cyclonic swell. I think Luke Bradnam struck a good balance on Nine News on Tuesday night, stressing that those who were out there were professionals, including a former world champion, and the rest of us should stay away.
One radio station (possibly the ABC; I’m getting this second had) advised listeners it would be “front-loading” its hourly bulletins with vital information. This is not a time for jargon.
These may be minor points, but this is the time for news organisations to do their very best. That’s hard these days with job cuts meaning most outlets don’t have full newsrooms or staff trained in emergency broadcasting. (The ABC is the exception here.)
I don’t mean to be negative about people who are doing their hardest under very difficult circumstances to keep us informed. But they and their organisations will be judged on how well they do their job over the next few days.
In a complicated media landscape, each one of us has to decide who we trust.
Meanwhile, Radio Today has a story about six Brisbane radio content directors getting together for a chinwag this week. It’s good to know that a collegiate atmosphere exists among them. Perhaps they were discussing how well they could work together during these troubling times.
Giving the uncertainty ahead, I may not be able to post here over the next few days, but I will try to post on Threads, Facebook, X and BlueSky.
Usual disclaimer about Brett Debritz’s media past applies.
*Update: This originally said “millions of people”, referring to those potentially affected by the cyclone not those watching the media conference, but I changed it because it was confusing. (See comments.)
Another update: The ABC, whose South Bank Parklands HQ flooded a few years ago, is placing some of its staff at the Hotel Grand Chancellor — which is high and dry above Roma Steet Parklands — to ensure continuous flood coverage. Both the ABC and 4BC will be live and local for the duration.
Nine news haven't been ' plugging' 4BC as they used to. When one of the ( ex) shock jocks openly tells Labor supporters to go somewhere else, it's not surprising that the TV Nine has given up on their Radio rump.
I'm excited for the TV networks broadcasting to millions of Brisbane viewers during daytime TV hours. 😁