Following Haiti

For the past week and a half I've been glued to CNN watching Cooper Anderson report on the aftermath of the earthquake in Haiti. My Dad is on the Virginia Task Force One Urban Search and Rescue team, which is currently down in Haiti. His team is the first to be deployed for natural disasters such as this one. I've spent all my free time following the team's progress and hoping that they not only have great success in their mission, but stay safe themselves. For me it's hard to watch anything but the news because I am directly connected to what is going on in Haiti right now. My Dad has gone on several other missions, but this one seems to be the most disastrous.

I found that this mission is also relevant to Media Writing because of the technology involved. We discussed in class that people want the news and information as soon as it happens. In a crisis such as Haiti, it is important to be able to get the news out fast and have it be correct. Technology has played an important part in this mission because it is the first time that we, the families, are able to send email directly to the team. Although they cannot write back, it is great that we can send them a quick hello to keep their spirits high. Another great outlet this mission has been Face Book. The family support group has created a page to keep all the families connected. They also update the page through out the day with pictures, links, and information on what the team is doing that day. It's great to have all of this and be able to follow the mission and have information as it happens. It is comforting to know that the information is correct because it is coming directly from the source, the team.