Scenario An earthquake in the Yunnan region of China has caused a mineshaft to collapse with an international exploratory group of miners. This rural province is most easily accessible through...

Scenario

An earthquake in the Yunnan region of China has caused a mineshaft to collapse with an international exploratory group of miners. This rural province is most easily accessible through Myanmar, which is where you and other international journalists are covering internal civil conflict. The group decides to travel immediately to China, and wants you to research the issue at hand, and also provide guidelines for streamlining the communications coming from the group of journalists; international tensions have the potential of heightening over this disaster. The journalists need a conciseset of guidelines in the form of a memothat you will print out for their viewing on the ride to rural China.

Directions

Because this is a time-sensitive, international issue, there isn’t much information available. However, you have compiled research and been asked to help the journalist group streamline its communications out of the rural Yunnan Province.

• After reviewing your research document (there is no need to do independent research), identify the specific political, cultural, and economic factors and/or trends in that information set.
  
  
  • Determine how political factors may affect these media messages. Note the international relations of the countries involved, as well as the potential global reaction.
  
  
  • Determine how cultural factors may affect media coverage of this event.
  
  
  • Determine potential economic factors that may affect media coverage of this event.
  
  
  
  

• Include specific help for journalists around cultural competency.
  
  
  • Review the definition of encoding: How does the way a journalist crafts a media message at this sensitive time reflect bias or create unintended messages?
  
  
  • Review the definition of decoding: How does an understanding of the way messages are received in different parts of the world at different times provide potential guidance for journalists who are first on the scene at this natural disaster?
  
  
  • In general, what are specific ways of being culturally competent in this particular situation?
  
  
  
  

• Identify and explain legal and/or ethical considerations based on the information you found.
  
  
  • Does China have any press-related regulations or precedent to consider?
  
  
  • What are the potential ethical issues related to hydrofracking and earthquakes?
  
  
  
  

What to Submit

Every project has a deliverable or deliverables, which are the files that must be submitted before your project can be assessed. For this project, you must submit the following:

Business Memo

Provide a memo for your journalist peers that gives them guidelines about how to report on this particular disaster, given the international relations in the region and around the globe.

Supporting Materials

The following resource(s) may help support your work on the project:

Citation Help

Need help citing your sources? Use the CfA Citation Guide and Citation Maker.

Document:Research Document

This document provides you with the latest information uncovered during your research about the situation in Yunnan Province.

Document:How to Write a Memo

This document gives guidelines in regards to length and content of a memo.