Timothy Recuber

The book got a really thoughtful write up in the October 2017 issue of the Journal of Communication. Read it here. Here’s an excerpt:

As it turns out, that distinction between sympathy and empathy is a key component of the compelling argument Recuber, a visiting assistant professor at Hamilton College, makes that the mass mediation of disaster does not encourage sympathy for victims of catastrophe so much as inspire a pursuit of an authentic understanding of others’ suffering as an end in itself. Such understanding is always, necessarily, just out of reach. But the “ineffability” of an event as complex and emotionally potent as a disaster does not frustrate the pursuit of understanding. Rather, ineffability is its chief appeal, spurring ever more consumption of disaster-related media. To make this argument, Recuber compares and contrasts news coverage of 9/11, Hurricane Katrina, the 2008 financial crisis, and the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in addition to the Virginia Tech shooting, as well as the texts and products of other “factual media,” such as documentaries, reality television, and digital archives and forums where individuals can post and commemorate their disaster-related experiences…

Consuming Catastrophe is an insightful, innovative, interesting foray into mass media and disaster that could—and should—spark further scholarly attention, especially employing the empathetic hedonism construct Recuber has developed.