|IDNDR - Informs - Number 13, 1998 (IDNDR-DIRDN, 1998)| Disaster
prevention begins with timely and accurate information. When
there is clarity in the perception of risk, we tend to minimize
the possible consequences event. By means of sounds, images, and
the printed word, the mass media report on what is going on in
the world, but they can do much more. They can explain the
significance of events; they can serve as guides through an
uncertain terrain, an teachers in a world where a high penalty
must be paid for ignorance. If providing information means
conveying the most complete available knowledge of an event, in
this case natural phenomena, reporters and media outlets should
not give in to sensationalism, which essentially means
communicating only the most alarming information, not the most
illuminating. They should explain what is going on in the
clearest and simplest manner, and provide the data and
background the public needs to respond effectively to an
emergency. When disasters strike, information div