Crisis situations are high-risk events that pose significant challenges for journalists covering them. They must balance the public’s right to know with the ethical responsibility to report accurately and responsibly. They must also ensure the safety of their staff members, which requires specialized training and strict safety protocols. However, despite these risks, many reporters continue to report on crisis situations. This demonstrates the vital role they play in society’s response to natural disasters, conflicts and other traumatic events.
In this article, we explore TV journalism’s response to the unexpected ‘fateful event’ of the UK energy crisis. We find that the analysis of TV news coverage challenges our current understanding of structured crisis reporting as it communicates a severe energy crisis through intensifying developments, a geography of impacts and accounts of related suffering. It also provides a number of features that break with existing ideas about how to report these types of events, including the use of a range of disruptive elements.
In addition, the analysis reveals the presence of a range of mediated solution themes in the context of this energy crisis. This includes the voices of ordinary people and business owners as a primary source of information on what is being done, alongside characterised responses from politicians and economists. This reporting challenges elite thinking and explanations and promotes potential solidarity with those impacted by the crisis. It also raises questions about how the underlying causes of such crises are addressed.