Between Mount St. Helens and the world: How the U.S. Geological Survey provided news-media information on the 1980 volcanic eruptions

Peter D. Rowley; M. H. Hait Jr.; Donald R. Finley; Donovan B. Kelly; Susan L. Russell-Robinson; Jane M. Buchanan-Banks; Katherine V. Cashman; Edna G. King

doi:10.3133/cir921

Between Mount St. Helens and the world: How the U.S. Geological Survey provided news-media information on the 1980 volcanic eruptions

Circular 921

By: Peter D. Rowley, M. H. Hait Jr., Donald R. Finley, Donovan B. Kelly, Susan L. Russell-Robinson, Jane M. Buchanan-Banks, Katherine V. Cashman, and Edna G. King

https://doi.org/10.3133/cir921

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Abstract

The eruptions of Mount St. Helens volcano, Wash., constituted one of the major national and international news stories of 1980 and involved the U.S. Geological Survey in more news coverage than any other event in its history. Much of the information about the volcano came from monitoring and research by geologists, geophysicists, hydrologists, and other scientists of the U.S. Geological Survey. This scientific information was distributed to the public, through news media, by U.S. Geological Survey personnel. Key members of this group were Mount St. Helens hazards assessment scientists, monitoring scientists, and research scientists; public affairs officers; and the Information Scientist for Mount St. Helens. The Information Scientist, a geologist or geophysicist, assumed the major role of on-site (Vancouver, Wash.) news spokesman about a week after the main eruption of May 18. The Geological Survey released information through news conferences, interviews, news pools of reporters and cameramen on trips to the volcano, special television and radio appearances, news releases, and informal contacts with reporters. Members of the U.S. Forest Service, Federal Emergency Management Agency, State of Washington, and other government agencies cooperated extensively with the Geological Survey. By providing assistance to news representatives, the Geological Survey and these other agencies helped effect rapid dissemination of the background information and daily events of a highly complex story while limiting disruption to the scientific working team and minimizing dangers to reporters and scientists.

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Additional publication details
Publication type	Report
Publication Subtype	USGS Numbered Series
Title	Between Mount St. Helens and the world: How the U.S. Geological Survey provided news-media information on the 1980 volcanic eruptions
Series title	Circular
Series number	921
DOI	10.3133/cir921
Year Published	1984
Language	English
Publisher	U.S. Geological Survey
Description	iii, 10 p.
Country	United States
State	Washington
Other Geospatial	Mount St. Helens
Google Analytic Metrics	Metrics page