ABSTRACT
Mass-media researchers have used assassinations, industrial accidents, hostage situations, and other man-made disasters as settings to examine media coverage and information diffusion. The mass media are seen as a tool for surveillance of the environment, as information channels, and as purveyors of official positions. The emphasis is on an active audience, one that uses media. In effect, uses and gratifications is concerned with media sources of satisfaction, the kind of media attended to, media content, and the social environment of the media. The consensus is that media and interpersonal channels serve complementary roles, with each act, at different times, as a prelude or as support for the other while also fulfilling unique roles. In the first instance, a telephone survey gathered information regarding media use and other behavior preceding the landfall of Hurricane Alicia at Galveston. Information on hurricane experience and the impact of that experience was sought from the respondents.
