Observations on mass media reporting and individual motivation to obtain a flood inundation map—River Torrens,Adelaide, South Australia

A four-sheet set of flood inundation maps of the River Torrens floodplain in Adelaide, prepared as part of the River Torrens Flood Mitigation Study, was made available by the government in an attempt to inform the public about the flood risk. Prior levels of awareness were low, there not having been a significant flood in the area since 1931.Announcement of the Flood Mitigation Study and the maps' availability was made by news release, ministerial press conference and paid advertisements in the local press. A content analysis of the various news media's coverage of this event shows that the media generally ignored the floodplain maps and concentrated on other aspects of the news release.The maps were available free from state and local government offices, and records were kept of all persons requesting maps. In the first three months only 277 persons requested maps. Approximately two-thirds of these collected maps for personal reasons and the other one-third for occupational reasons. There was no relationship between the numbers of each sheet collected and the number of flood-prone premises on the sheet. One of the sheets shows no flood-affected premises but has been requested as much as any other sheet.The results are compared with sales figures of floodplain maps prepared for Brisbane, Queensland, after a disastrous flood there in 1974. The effect of experience of a flood is evident on both the population and the media in Brisbane when compared to Adelaide. In addition to low prior awareness of flood risk, the low prominence of the story in the mass media, the content of the media reports and the positions of the paid advertisements in the press all contributed to the poor community response to the maps.