Hurricanes: Does the Media Coverage Really Reflects the Gravity

Published: 29 Oct, 2012

●

Updated: 17 Oct, 2022

●

1 min read

Hurricane Sandy, renamed Frankenstorm, is covered minute by minute by all the media channels. And once more, it seems like this hurricane is the worst in the history. Broken records in term of flooding, wind speed are announced every hours.

Is the media coverage a real indicator of how destructive a hurricane is? The following infographic analyzed the 20 hurricanes that received the most media coverage since 1980 and compared it their gravity in terms of damage and casualties. The result is that their is no direct link between media coverage and gravity. The most striking example is that Hurricane Katrina, while being the worst hurricane in the recent history by far, is only 14th in terms of media coverage.

What do you think can explain the disparity between the two?

Latest articles

Why is CA Senator Mike McGuire Trying to Kill the Legal Cannabis Industry?

California’s legal cannabis industry is under mounting pressure, and in early June, state lawmakers and the governor appeared poised to help. A bill to freeze the state’s cannabis excise tax at 15% sailed through the State Assembly with a unanimous 74-0 vote. The governor’s office backed the plan. And legal cannabis businesses, still struggling to compete with unregulated sellers and mounting operating costs, saw a glimmer of hope....

03 Jul, 2025

7 min read

After First RCV Election, Charlottesville Voters Back the Reform: 'They Get It, They Like It, They Want to Do It Again'

A new survey out of Charlottesville, Virginia, shows overwhelming support for ranked choice voting (RCV) following the city’s first use of the system in its June Democratic primary for City Council. Conducted one week after the election, the results found that nearly 90% of respondents support continued use of RCV....

03 Jul, 2025

3 min read

NYC Exit Survey: 96% of Voters Understood Their Ranked Choice Ballots

An exit poll conducted by SurveyUSA on behalf of the nonprofit better elections group FairVote finds that ranked choice voting (RCV) continues to be supported by a vast majority of voters who find it simple, fair, and easy to use. The findings come in the wake of the city’s third use of RCV in its June 2025 primary elections....

01 Jul, 2025

6 min read