Nastaran Khadjehnoori - Ph.d, Mass Communication, Member Of Faculty

Earthquake may occur any times and everywhere. It cannot be stopped because it is a natural phenomenon ;it is a part of environment we live in. But as soon as it happens the question is : “What shall we do?”,” How can we save people’s lives?”, “ How can we help the injured?”,” How shall we settle them in proper camps?”, “How can we help them to deal with the disaster?”. Mass media have an important role in shaping the public opinion and attitudes and since people behave according to their perceptions and attitudes so first the media experts have to gain a good understanding of their audiences, their values, traditions, attitudes and beliefs and then produce programs matching their audiences. In this article the topic has been classified into two categories: “What are the responsibilities of media before the crisis?” and “ What they have to do when crisis occurs?”

Mass Media, perception, attitude