After the Tsunami

The tsunami disaster in Southeast Asia during Christmas 2004 caused many deaths among vacationers from Finland and Sweden. It could be described as one of the worst catastrophes experienced during the post-war period in these countries. This book examines how this dramatic and unexpected event affected public communication patterns and practices in countries like Finland and Sweden. The communicative relations between government actors, the media and citizens always significantly affect the development of crucial democratic values such as trust, accountability and legitimacy.

The book covers different topics related to this issue, such as strategic political communication, media coverage, newsroom practices, public opinion and the use of new media in Finland and Sweden after the tsunami disaster.

Content

Foreword

Introduction
Ullamaija Kivikuru, Lars Nord

When a Natural Disaster Becomes a Political Crisis. A Study of the 2004 Tsunami and Swedish Political Communication
Lars Nord, Jesper Strömbäck

Rhetorical Defence Strategies after The Tsunami Flood Disaster
Jesper Falkheimer

Restoring Consensus after the Blame Game. The Reception of Finnish Tsunami Crisis Management Coverage
Johanna Jääsaari

Wave of Compassion. Nationalist Sentiments and Cosmopolitan. Sensibilities in the Finnish Press Coverage of the Tsunami Disaster
Mervi Pantti

Solidarity Trumps Catastrophe? An Empirical and Theoretical Analysis of Post-Tsunami Media in Two Western Nations
Lynn Letukas, Anna Olofsson, John Barnshaw

Transnational News and Crisis Reporting. The Indian Ocean Tsunami on CNN and Swedish TV4
Maria Hellman, Kristina Riegert

Popular Magazine and Responsive News Journalism. Is There Space for Both?
Ullamaija Kivikuru

Crisis and Web-enabled Agency in Practice. The Cases of Sukellus.fi and Thairy.net
Salli Hakala, Hannele Seeck

Independence – Then Adaption. How Swedish Journalists Covered the Tsunami Catastrophe
Ulf Wallin, Marina Ghersetti, Tomas A. Odén

The Authors