 The Drum Beat – 666 – Journalists and Crisis: Strategies and Resources |
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| SOCIAL AND MOBILE MEDIA IN TIMES OF CRISIS |
| 1. Verification Handbook: A Definitive Guide to Verifying Digital Content for Emergency Coverage |
| Noting that rumours and misinformation can cause people to invent and repeat questionable information in emergency situations due to uncertainty and anxiety – now amplified due to new technology like social media – the resource provides best practice advice on how to verify and deal with user-generated content (UGC) during emergencies, as well as actionable advice to facilitate disaster preparedness in newsrooms. Case studies are included. Authored by journalists from the BBC, Storyful, ABC, Digital First Media, and other verification experts, this is a resource for journalists and aid providers. [Feb 2014] |
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| 2. Philippines Network of Environmental Journalists (PNEJ) |
| Amongst other activities, PNEJ developed and launched Philippine EnviroNews in an effort to deliver a steady stream of information about environmental issues in the Philippines from its network of over 200 journalists. The website integrates elements of SMS reporting – using text messages on mobile phones – to maintain communications with journalists spread throughout the country, as well as in the event of the natural disaster, when internet connectivity is threatened. It is built on the platform of FrontlineSMS, free, open source software that turns a laptop and a mobile phone or modem into a central communications hub to facilitate structured communication between members of the network and the public. |
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3. Message Mapping
by Jaime Ellertson |
| «By analyzing first-hand accounts from administrators of emergency notification incident management systems, the behavior of end users and recipients of broadcasts, and expert insights from industry professionals,» this document focuses on message construction for crises. Various social media and other methods are described. [Jan 2013] |
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- Also listen to Mapping the Void, a documentary on the BBC website, which describes the way that a group of American students heard about the Haiti earthquake, logged onto their laptops, and started mapping any post-disaster information they could find online.
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| DEALING WITH TRAUMA |
| 4. Dart Center for Journalism and Trauma: Tips and Tools |
| Each topical section of this ongoing online resource includes discussion on topics such as: «Children are not miniature adults, and they deserve special consideration when they end up in the news…» or «The death of one human being at the hand of another is a story that journalists are expected to tell. What are the special challenges posed by these stories of fatal violence?» The Disaster section includes links to resources such as shared tips and tools on using social media to find reporting sources, as well as how to fact-check and curate social media to augment coverage. [Columbia School for Journalism Dart Center for Journalism and Trauma] |
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| 5. Journalism: New Challenges |
| One chapter of this e-book, designed to engage journalists in «lively debate about the future of journalism», explores how recent insights into trauma science can improve the quality of journalism. The author of this chapter argues that there is little useful discussion around such practical issues as «what to do when an interviewee breaks down in the interview, how to listen non-judgmentally, how to fact-check without implying that one does not believe the interviewee?» The reluctance to discuss these issues head on, the author writes, leaves practitioners to learn by «trial and error» and hinders media scholars from doing adequate descriptive justice to how journalists experience their work. [Centre for Journalism and Communication Research, Dec 2013] |
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| 6. Disaster and Crisis Coverage |
| The disaster guide is divided into two sections. Section I provides guidelines for delivering news in a professional manner and maintaining personal safety. As stated by the authors: «Crises often render severe mental and emotional stresses on victims and survivors, the individuals who are often vital sources. Thus, Section II addresses trauma and offers suggestions helping journalists work with grieving victims and survivors in an ethical, sensitive, and effective manner. This section defines traumatic stress and offers tips to media professionals for their own self-care.» [International Center for Journalists, Dec 2009] |
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| Call for Papers: Special Issue (December 2014): Risk Communication in Epidemics and Emerging Disease Settings |
| There is a call for papers for the December 2014 Special Issue of the Journal of Communication in Healthcare: Strategies, Media, and Engagement in Global Health (JCIH). This particular issue is «dedicated to risk communication in epidemics and emerging disease settings, which is a very timely topic given the increasing role of communication in preparing for and responding to public health emergencies as well as to humanitarian disasters.»
Please click here for instructions for authors and information on how to submit an article as well as general information on JCIH. The deadline for all submissions for the December 2014 special issue is June 28 2014. If you have questions, contact Renata Schiavo, PhD, MA, Editor-in-Chief at:cih.ed@maneypublishing.com or renata@renataschiavo.com |
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| INTERSECTIONS WITH HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE |
7. Mobile Technology in Emergencies
by David Hollow, Joel Mitchell, Catherine Gladwell, and Ruth Aggiss |
| How can the full potential of mobile phones to work as transformative tools in emergency response be realised? It is this question that led Save the Children and the Vodaphone Foundation to interview emergency response staff in 6 countries (Niger, Kenya, Somalia, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, and Pakistan) to identify 3 key themes that should be addressed: increasing accountability, building preparedness, and prioritising collaboration. [Dec 2012] |
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| 8. Communicating During Disasters: Examining the Relationship between Humanitarian Organizations and Local Media |
| This report examines the relationship between humanitarian aid organisations and local media from the perspective of the aid providers in order better serve the needs of communities affected by disasters. As detailed in the document, there are 2 primary areas in which progress is critical: (i) improving the relationship between humanitarian organisations and local media; and (ii) transforming the way in which humanitarian organisations approach 2-way communication. [Internews report with Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA), Sep 2013] |
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| 9. Emergency Media Standby Kits |
| These kits are designed to ensure that humanitarian communication teams and local media partners have the right equipment on hand to rapidly set up an emergency newsroom and be able to broadcast when critical infrastructure is down. Internews’ humanitarian communication teams can deploy within 72 hours of a disaster to assess and assist local media organisations and help humanitarian responders understand and address the information and communication needs of disaster-affected communities. Each kit contains the equipment necessary to respond to fully fledged humanitarian communications operations and can be taken to different crisis contexts. |
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10. Toward Resilience: A Guide to Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Change Adaptation
by Marilise Turnbull, Charlotte L. Sterrett, and Amy Hilleboe |
| This introductory resource is designed for staff of development and humanitarian organisations working with people whose lives and rights are threatened by disasters and climate change. It provides introductory information, principles of effective practice, guidelines for action/advocacy in a range of sectors and settings, case studies, and links to tools and resources for the application of an integrated, rights-based approach to disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation. [2012] |
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| Call for Papers: Special Issue (Autumn 2014): International Media Assistance |
| The Global Media Journal, German Edition, invites submissions for its autumn 2014 issue on the theme of international media assistance.
«Support to the media sector is usually understood as aid to strengthen an independent, diverse and plural media, including press, broadcast and digital/social media. Justifications for this kind of aid are usually articulated in terms of promoting freedom of expression, accountability, good governance, peace and human rights in beneficiary countries as part of bilateral and multi-lateral aid spending. Assistance is also given to the media as a vehicle for public education and behaviour change.»
Original submissions are invited that look at the practical or theoretical aspects of international media assistance or those that question the ideological underpinning for this kind of assistance. Amongst the many possible topics: media assistance in conflict-prone societies (e.g., the promotion of peace journalism), media assistance in (semi-) authoritarian regimes, and integration of media assistance into broader democracy support and development agenda – e.g., as part of the post-2015 Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
See the submission guidelines here. Articles (30,000-50,000 characters) will be peer-reviewed, but reports from the field (20,000-40,000 characters) and essays and commentaries (10,000-30,000 characters) are welcome as well.
Contact christoph.dietz@cameco.org or marysmyers@btinternet.com for any queries.
Please send your submissions before July 15 2014 to gmj@uni-erfurt.de |
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| FOCUS ON DISASTER RISK REDUCTION (DRR) & CLIMATE CHANGE REPORTAGE |
| 11. (Un)Covering Disasters: A Conference on Disaster Journalism and Risk Communication |
| This conference – Ateneo de Manila University, Quezon City, Philippines, July 24-25 2014 – seeks to provide a venue for discussion and critical discourse of the subject of how the media covers disasters and post-disaster responses. It will bring together journalists, academics, scientists, and other stakeholders to engage in dialogue, which hopefully will lay the groundwork for the crafting of efficient and ethical frameworks for disaster reporting. |
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12. Always Alert: Reducing Disaster Risk Guide for Communicators and Radio Broadcasters
by Deborah Walter |
| This English-language manual, adapted from a Portuguese-language training toolkit, Sempre Alerta: Redução do Risco de Calamidades, was designed to be used for self-study, to gain ideas and insight about reporting and communicating DRR, and to develop training programmes with community radio stations on reporting for reducing disaster risk. [CMFD (Community Media for Development) Production, 2012] |
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13. Effectiveness Review: Community-Led Disaster Risk Reduction in Mongu, Zambia
by David Bishop |
| This report shares information from an effectiveness review of a project working to increase resilience to climatic shocks among key groups in Mongu district of western Zambia through activities such as community sensitisation on early-warning information involving: school activities, radio messages, and community meetings; efforts to strengthen community relationships with district-level early-warning institutions (e.g., weather monitoring departments); and review of community preparedness plans, including integration of traditional early-warning signs. Overall, households in the communities where the project activities had been implemented scored positively on an average of 52% of 31 characteristics of resilience considered in the review, compared to 46% in the comparison communities. [Oxfam, Feb 2014] |
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| 14. Ekuatorial |
| Ekuatorial is a geojournalism website providing news and visualisations (interactive maps) communicating information about the oceans, forests, and natural disasters of Indonesia – home to the world’s third-largest tropical rainforest and some of the highest levels of biological diversity on the globe and interactive maps. |
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15. Climate Change in Africa: A Guidebook for Journalists
by Mike Shanahan, Willie Shubert, Cameron Scherer, and Teresa Corcoran |
| This book was produced for journalists and editors, as well as teachers and trainers of journalists, to support improved media coverage of climate change in Africa. According to the publication, climate change poses a clear danger to lives and livelihoods across Africa. Journalists have critical roles to play in explaining the cause and effects of climate change, in describing what countries and communities can do to adapt to the impacts ahead, and in reporting on what governments and companies do, or do not do, to respond to these threats. [United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), 2013] |
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16. Survey of the Climate Change Media Partnership Alumni
by Erich Sommerfeldt |
| This is an evaluation of the Climate Change Media Partnership (CCMP)’s efforts to improve media coverage and public debate on climate change through a fellowship programme in which up to 40 journalists per year from developing countries receive support to attend and report from United Nations (UN) conferences related to climate change. 77 past CCMP fellows from more than 40 countries participated in the online survey. [Apr 2013] |
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| This issue of The Drum Beat was written by Kier Olsen DeVries. |
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| The Drum Beat is the email and web network of The Communication Initiative Partnership – Partners: ANDI, BBC Media Action, Bernard van Leer Foundation, Breakthrough, Calandria, Citurna TV, DFID, Eldis, FAO, Fundación Imaginario, Fundación Nuevo Periodismo, Heartlines, Iberoamericano (FNPI), IFPRI, Inter-American Development Bank, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health Center for Communication Programs, MISA, Open Society Foundations, Oxfam Novib, PAHO, The Panos Institute, Puntos de Encuentro, The Rockefeller Foundation, SAfAIDS, Sesame Workshop, Soul City, STEPS International, UNAIDS, UNDP, UNFPA, UNICEF, USAID, The Wellcome Trust, World Health Organization (WHO), W.K. Kellogg Foundation.
The Drum Beat seeks to cover the full range of communication for development activities. Inclusion of an item does not imply endorsement or support by The Partners.
Chair of the Partners Group: Garth Japhet, Founder, Soul City garth@heartlines.org.za
Executive Director: Warren Feek wfeek@comminit.com |
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| The Editor of The Drum Beat is Kier Olsen DeVries. |
| Please send additional project, evaluation, strategic thinking, and materials information on communication for development at any time. Send todrumbeat@comminit.com
The Drum Beat seeks to cover the full range of communication for development activities. Inclusion of an item does not imply endorsement or support by The Partners.
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