Public Relations - Media coverage of a crisis - Research Paper Example

This gave the crisis a wide reach due to the variety of media used. The internet was one of the most widely used mediums in reporting the crisis. Most media outlets have websites that display news and the use of instant messaging may have also played a great role in covering the oil spill. Most websites have subscription plans which they use to send news to members in their databases. The internet, judging from its accessibility and cost of access, was the preferred medium of coverage of the crisis.

The numbers of avenues that are available for the information to be passed on the internet are vast. Ranging from blogs to email subscriptions, the coverage of the oil spill was widespread. The company, BP, also employed internet services in dispensing information with regard to the oil spill (BP). Coverage of the crisis on the televisions was also widespread. The exact duration of coverage of the crisis cannot be ascertained given that new information became available to media houses by the day.

However, some television stations had live coverage of the events for several days since the start of the crisis. The number of stakeholders involved in the oil spill increased the time of coverage of the crisis. Environmentalists still get media coverage today with regard to the oil spill. This is because the impact of the crisis could not be ascertained immediately. Since it took a long time for the crisis to be brought under control, media coverage of the event continued with an analysis of the cause of the spill following the arrest of the crisis (Jennings 365).

The event has been revisited several times by the media houses due to emerging details. After the crisis erupted, there was widespread coverage of the events in the Gulf of Mexico. After the situation was brought under control, its coverage also subsided. However, a report about the cause of the oil spill was later released, generating media