Social Media brings attention to Typhoon Halong before traditional News

Two weeks ago, Typhoon Halong made landfall in Alaska, causing significant devastation in the rural areas of western Alaska. Many people lost their houses, especially those in the native villages. While traditional news coverage of the aftermath is out now, before this many found out about the Typhoon through social media, such as Threads.

In the last few years, if you asked the average person where they access news stories not only locally but globally, many will say that they find it on social media rather than traditional news outlets like The New York Times or The Guardian. According to research done by the Pew Research Center, since 2020, about 17% to 25% U.S adults say that they get their news from social media.

It is important to know that a lot of times on social media, many of the posts that are shared talking about events going on in the world may contain false information; however, this does not mean the event they are talking about is entirely false. For many people, social media is how they are able to interact with the world and learn what’s going on outside of their state and their country.

While people getting their news from social media is not inherently a bad thing, in the past few months, it seems like events similar to what happened in Alaska are being hidden behind coverage about movie releases, our current Administration and any other mundane stories. As much as the coverage of the current Administration is important, our news feeds have become oversaturated with it, and it makes it harder for other important news that is not about our current Administration to be seen by everyone.

While I understand that not everyone wants to always know what is going on in the news, as a student journalist, it is important for me at least to be aware of what is going on locally and globally within the world. Not only that, but when it is applicable, I want to be able to share stories about the indigenous communities that I often do not see unless it is during their heritage months or Indigenous Peoples’ Day.

When looking at Alaska, within the affected rural area, the Indigenous community that lived there had to evacuate from the land where they had generational connections. Many of the community lost their belongings, and some lost their homes. This story hit close to me as an indigenous person, and seeing how there was not really news coverage till six days after the typhoon made landfall, even though on Threads I saw multiple posts about and within those Threads posts, many were mentioning how little news coverage there was about it.

However, that is not to say that news outlets are not purposely covering these stories, as many of them need to have factual information and have to verify it all before they can report on it ethically and to journalistic standards. Especially given the fact that a typhoon hit Alaska, and to send a reporter or news crew there during it would not have been safe for them, not only to report but also for their personal safety as well.

The Typhoon making landfall in Alaska is probably not the first news story that has been brought to attention first through social media, then by traditional news outlets. I do not see this trend ending anytime soon; however, that’s not to say that we are not able to do anything about this. There are small ways that we can help make sure these stories get their proper attention.

Many of us use social media almost every day and often repost our friends’ Instagram stories, posts, and articles that pertain to the communities we are a part of. In many cases, this is also where we get our news about what’s going on within our communities and what’s going on globally. While there is a difference in news coverage and social media posts that contain news stories, sometimes the social media posts tend to have more of a reach than news articles. It is important to note that if you are going to re-share the posts that contain news stories or news articles, please do a little bit of cross-reference to make sure the story is true and not just sharing a rumor.

While most articles from credible news outlets have been fact-checked, it is better to check multiple articles to make sure you are not spreading false information or false facts about what happened. While the news reports on many events happening locally and within our government, it is important that stories like what happened in Alaska are covered. While we may not have direct connections to what happened, that does not mean that we can not empathize with those impacted and help get their stories shared, even if it’s through social media.