Freelance journalist Yumiko Udo, known as the main anchor of NTV’s “news zero,” joined the Interfaculty Initiative in Information Studies in August as a visiting researcher at the Center for Integrated Disaster Information Research (CIDIR). Her research investigates how to effectively convey disaster prevention information, especially to the young generation. Among her particular concerns is what kind of information should be disseminated during normal times to encourage young people to take action in the event of a disaster. She also wants to look into effective ways to call upon people in times of emergency.

With more than three decades of experience working in television, including her 27-year stint as an NHK announcer, Ms. Udo says her research interests derive from facing dilemmas unique to mass media when providing disaster information. For example, during the Great Hanshin Earthquake in 1996, she realized that while television may be effective in providing breaking news to a large audience, the information required by the survivors and other viewers diverged over time, and that television was not suited to providing detailed information according to each person’s needs. Meanwhile, the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011 became a turning point for her to consider how to effectively call on viewers to take action to protect themselves. According to Ms. Udo, NHK had a detailed format to call on viewers in accordance with the seismic intensity of the quake. But at the time, her co-hosts on a morning show went beyond the format and gave specific advice to the viewers, such as “Please use SNS and let your friends and relatives who are not watching TV know what is going on.” She noticed that viewers later responded favorably to the specificity of the appeal in the midst of a sudden situation. “The format may work to a certain extent, but I feel that we need to rethink what is really necessary from the viewpoint of the people receiving disaster information,” she said.

Since becoming a freelancer, Ms. Udo has been going to disaster-stricken areas to interview survivors. Having listened to their diverse individual stories, she strongly feels that “people will not take action unless you say things in a persuasive way to each target audience.” On TV and Instagram, Ms. Udo is constantly experimenting with different ways of communicating with the public about how to protect themselves in case of a disaster. Drawing on her experience on the ground, Ms. Udo will continue her individual research while also collaborating with members at CIDIR.

Text: Setsuko Kamiya (Project assistant professor/Editorial team)
Photos: Jimmine Yoo (Ph.D. Student/Editorial team)
English proofreading: David Buist (Project senior specialist)