Media & Communications in Emergencies

March
2013 Influence for Good -- influenceforgood.org
Media and Communications in
Emergencies
1
Oxfam
video
about
hygiene
promo5on
in

northern
Hai5,
2010

March
Journalist
in
Aleppo,
Syria.
Photo:
AFP
Who is “the media”?
2

March
The
Commi)ee
to
Protect
Journalists
(CPJ)
reports
that
in
2012:
67
journalists
died
because
they
were
journalists
-‐
32
were
murdered
-‐
12
were
on
dangerous
assignments
-‐
25
were
caught
in
the
crossﬁre
or
in
combat
232
journalists
were
imprisoned
for
their
profession
in
2012.
These are journalists…
3

March
CPJ report continued -
 Syria
was
by
far
the
deadliest
country
in
2012,
with
28

journalists
killed
in
combat
or
targeted
for
murder
by

government
or
opposi?on
forces.
In
addi?on,
a
journalist

covering
the
Syrian
conflict
was
killed
just
over
the
border
in

Lebanon.


With
internaConal
journalists
blocked
and
tradiConal

domesCc
media
under
state
control,
ciCzen
journalists

picked
up
cameras
and
notepads
to
document
the
conflict
—and
at
least
13
of
them
paid
the
ulCmate
price.

One,
Anas
al-‐Tarsha,
was
only
17
years
old.
At
least
five
of

the
ci?zen
journalists
worked
for
Damascus-‐based
Shaam

News
Network,
whose
videos
have
been
used
extensively
by

interna?onal
news
organiza?ons.
hGp://cpj.org/2013/02/aGacks-‐on-‐the-‐press-‐in-‐2012.php

4

March
This is also a member of the
media:
5
Glenn
Beck,
formerly
of
Fox
News,
USA

March
What is the media?

The
media
is
a
means
to
an
end,
not
an
end
in

itself.
It
is
a
channel
for
communicaQng

informaQon
–
whether
biased
or
unbiased
–
to

a
chosen
audience.

6

March
Means for communicating
 Print
(newspapers,
magazines,
etc)
 Television
 Radio
 On
the
Internet:
• Social
media
(Facebook,
TwiGer)
• Email
(newsleGer)
• Dedicated
website
(example:
Huﬃngton
Post)
• Blogs
7
Flickr,
NS
Newsﬂash

 Who
makes
the
decisions
about
what
they

report?
 What
is
their
bias?
 Who
funds
them
and
how
much?
 Who
is
their
audience?
March
Some questions to ask yourself
about media outlets:
8

March
To work with the media…
 You
have
to

understand
them.
 You
can’t
just

reﬂexively

scapegoat
them.
 Have
a
posiQve
but

cauQous
aftude.
9
AnQ-‐corrupQon
acQvist
gives
an
interview
on

Austrian
radio,
2012

March
What is communications in
emergencies?
10
Communica5ons
in
emergencies

isn’t
always
as
‘glamorous’
as
this!

March
Communication is advocacy
11

March
Ways to reach the public
 Through
the

channel
of
the

media
 Speak
directly
to

the
public
12
Pakistan
Red
Crescent/IFRC
public
communica5ons

ini5a5ve
in
Pakistan,
2010
hIp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r1gvgnBlvf8

March
Who are you trying to reach?
 The
people
you’re
trying
to

communicate
with
are

called
your
“targets”
 Who
your
targets
are
will

be
determined
by
your

objecQve
for
a
given

communicaQons
acQvity
13

March
Potential targets: in the disaster
area
 People
aﬀected
by
the
emergency
 People
receiving
assistance
from
your

organizaQon
(beneﬁciaries)
 Decision-‐makers
(community
leaders,
local

authoriQes,
naQonal
authoriQes)
 InternaQonal
community
(representaQves
in

the
disaster
area)
 Donors
(in
the
disaster
area)
14

March
Potential targets: external
 The
general
public
(awareness-‐raising,
pressure

group
on
decision-‐makers)
 Donors
 Decision-‐makers
(foreign
governments,
UN)
 ExisQng
supporters
(for
grassroots
acQvism,

pressure
group
on
decision-‐makers)
15

March
What are your objectives?
 Will
vary
by
your
targets
 But
generally,
they
are:
• Inform
people
about
the
situaQon
• Seek
to
inﬂuence
people
to
take
acQon
or
make
a

certain
decision
that
will
aﬀect
the
situaQon
• Raise
funds
for
your
programs

• Strengthen
your
organizaQonal
brand
oa
strong
brand
facilitates
all
of
the
above
16

March
Interviews: the good…
17
Oxfam’s
Marcel
Stoessel
speaks
to
al-‐Jazeera
television
from
Kinshasa
in
2010.
The

video
quality
is
poor,
but
Stoessel
delivers
a
basic
but
compelling
message
with
a

strong
voice.
hIp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=30_3ll233mM

March
Interviews: the bad (and ugly)
18
In
this
30-‐minute
al-‐
Jazeera
documentary
on

Hai5
six
months
aZer

the
2010
earthquake,

several
oﬃcials
show

what
not
to
do
in
an

interview:
ﬂat-‐out
denial

before
the
ques5on
is

fully
posed;
lack
of

sympathy
for
vic5ms;

lack
of
demonstrated

understanding
of
the

situa5on.
hIp://
www.youtube.com/
watch?v=rx2EQxZ7MXQ

March
What would you do?
1.
You're
a
nurse
in
a
cholera
treatment
center
and
you're
tending
to
pa?ents
in

urgent
need
of
IVs.
Suddenly
you
see
several
people
enter
with
cameras,
and
they

have
badges
to
show
they're
from
the
Associated
Press.
They're
walking
around

the
clinic
taking
pictures
of
the
pa?ents.
What
do
you
do?
2.
Figh?ng
in
the
countryside
has
caused
150,000
IDPs
to
flee
to
the
main
city.
Just
as

they're
arriving
a
huge
rainstorm
hits.
The
newspaper
The
Bangkok
Post
calls
and

asks
what's
happening
to
the
IDPs
and
what
your
organiza?on
is
doing
about
it.

What
do
you
say?
3.
You're
a
doctor
with
the
Red
Cross
and
you've
had
to
temporarily
close
your
clinic

because
there
are
poli?cal
riots
and
neither
your
healthcare
workers
nor
pa?ents

can
access
the
clinic
(riots
are
blocking
roads).
Al-‐Jazeera
calls
and
wants
to
have

your
comment
about
the
clinic
closure
and
the
poli?cal
violence.
What
do
you

say?
4.
You're
out
in
rural
Kenya,
mee?ng
community
leaders
about
a
project
your

organiza?on
is
shu]ng
down.
Your
phone
rings
and
it's
the
BBC
in
London,
calling

to
ask
for
your
comment
about
reports
they've
received
that
your
country

director
is
embezzling
funds.
You've
never
heard
of
this
before.
What
do
you
say

to
the
person
on
the
phone?
What
do
you
aêr
you
get
off
the
phone?
19
Prac5ce
scenarios
for
break-‐out
groups,
followed
by
group
discussion

March
If you have an interview request…
 First,
find
out
as
many
details
as
you
can
about
the

interviewer
and
the
interview.
 Do
not
agree
immediately
to
the
interview
if

you’re
not
authorized
to
speak
to
the
press,
or

unsure
if
you
should.
 Before
agreeing,
you
must
seek
approval
from
your

organizaQon
(unless
you
are
already
authorized).
 Ask
yourself:
do
you
have
a
media
or

communicaQons
officer
on
your
team?
• Yes?
Terrific!
Speak
with
him/her
immediately.
• No?
Get
prepared.
20

March
Yes! I have a media officer on my
team
 Your
media
oﬃcer
will
help
you:
oDetermine
if
you
should
do
an
interview
oLearn
some
basic
media
skills
oCommunicate
your
organiza?on's
key
messages
oAvoid
crossing
red
lines
oUnderstand
the
journalist
and
media
organiza?on
you'll

be
speaking
with
oUnderstand
basic
"rules
of
play”
of
interviews
(on-‐the-‐
record/oﬀ-‐the-‐record,
etc)
21

March
You don’t have a media officer?
 Do
you
want
to
do
this
interview?
 Does
your
organizaQon
want
you
do
this

interview?
 Can
you
do
this
interview
well?
 Is
this
interview
worthwhile?
22
Will
you
get
too
nervous
in
the
studio?

March
If you do the interview…
 Some
things
to
consider
before
the
interview:
• Familiarize
yourself
with
the
terms
of
the
interview

(on
or
oﬀ
the
record,
when
is
publicaQon,
etc)
• Develop
a
few
key
messages
• Look
up
the
right
words,
pracQce
pronunciaQon
• Know
your
red
lines
(what
won’t
you
say?)
• PracQce
your
key
messages
• Think
about
what
you'll
wear
and
your
body

language
(be
comfortable,
project
a
good
image)
23

March
During the interview
 Don’t
feel
rushed
 Be
passionate
 Talk
to
your
nice
Aunt

Jane

• i.e.,
somebody
who
has

natural
human
empathy

and
is
smart,
but
is
not
an

expert
on
the
subject
 Talk
about
PEOPLE!
24
A
Red
Cross
delegate
speaks
with
a

journalist,
Hai5,
2010

March
What can a media officer do for
me?
 Informs
and
inﬂuences
to
create
posiQve
change
 Creates
appropriate
preparatory
material
 Excellent
understanding
of
situaQon
and
context
 A
good
trainer
and
supporQve
coach
 Knows
target
audiences
and
explains
them
to
you
 Monitors
the
media
and
shares
analysis
 Builds
capacity
of
local
staﬀ;
strong
understanding

of
local
media
 Supports
the
program
and
the
people
you’re

assis<ng!
25

March
The state of the media today
 Journalism
rules
and
ethics
• Yes,
they
exist.
E.g.:
hGp://www.spj.org/
ethicscode.asp
 Cut
budgets
-‐-‐>
diminished
coverage
 Mindless
ﬁll?:
the
24-‐hour
news
cycle
 Sponsored
media
visits/media
imbeds
• Big
coverage,
quesQonable
ethics?
 The
future:
mobile
devices,
the
Internet,
ciQzen

journalism
hGp://sm4good.com/2013/03/19/presentaQon-‐social-‐media-‐emergency-‐response-‐operaQons/
26

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