News story about the radio industry's response in many countries to assist victims of the Indian Ocean tsunami, written by Grant Goddard in January 2005 for The Radio Magazine.

1. NEWS: RADIO RESPONDING
GLOBALLY TO HELP TSUNAMI
VICTIMS
by
GRANT GODDARD
www.grantgoddard.co.uk
January 2005

2. Several worldwide appeals for funds and expertise have been issued in order
to rebuild radio stations in areas affected by the tsunami and so that mass
communication can be re-established with survivors and refugees. Indonesia’s
public broadcasting service reports losing 34 staff to the disaster, while six
journalists are reported missing in Sri Lanka.
An appeal for radio equipment and engineers has been issued by the Asia-
Pacific Broadcasting Union [ABU] to restore broadcast operations in several
affected countries. The project was initiated by the trade association
Commercial Radio Australia [CRA] and aims to build temporary transmission
facilities in Indonesia, Sri Lanka and the Maldives, as well as to provide
survivors with battery-powered portable radios to receive news of relief efforts.
Joan Warner, CEO of CRA, said the first batch of 5,000 radio sets would be
shipped to Indonesia this week, with the rest dispatched to affected areas over
the next four to five weeks. “We also have up to six transmitters that we can
donate,” she said, and added that CRA would send at least twelve engineers
to rebuild broadcasting facilities in disaster zones, in groups of four for a few
weeks at a time. Donors should contact the ABU in the first instance at
sharad.s@abu.org.my if they can help with these specific requests:
Indonesia. In Aceh, Radio Republik Indonesia has already built a temporary
radio studio, as well as AM and FM transmission facilities. It urgently requires:
5,000 portable radio receivers with new batteries for refugees, seven FM
repeater transmitters, two sets of emergency studio equipment and volunteer
engineers. Contact Prof. Dr. JB Kristiadi, secretary of the Ministry of
Communication and Information at krista@kominfo.go.id
Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation facilities were unaffected by the
disaster. 10,000 FM radio receivers are required for the survivors in 700
refugee camps. Contact Ms MS Rajapakse, secretary to the Ministry of Social
Welfare, on +94 11 2368373.
Maldives. Radio Television Maldives has lost much of its facilities, without
which it cannot communicate with survivors. It requires low power TV
transmitters, volunteer engineers, medium wave radios with new batteries for
eight refugee camps, each comprising 500 to 300 people, and two sets of TV
cameras, camera batteries, video recorders, laptop editors and mobile lighting.
VHS format is used for video. Contact Adam Malik at the Ministry of
Information, Arts & Culture on +960 33 34 06.
Amongst broadcasters who have already contributed to the effort, Radio
Netherlands is setting up emergency radio stations in Banda Aceh, capital of
the hardest hit province of Indonesia. The city’s Radio Nikoya FM had re-
broadcast daily Radio Netherlands news bulletins until it was destroyed by the
tsunami. It is hoped that the emergency stations can eventually be transformed
into permanent services. Indra Titus, head of the Indonesian department of
Radio Netherlands, said: "We want to help to get the radio stations back on the
air, because radio is a very important means of communication in the stricken
areas.”
News: Radio Responding Globally To Help Tsunami Victims page 2
©2005 Grant Goddard

3. News: Radio Responding Globally To Help Tsunami Victims page 3
©2005 Grant Goddard
UNESCO’s International Programme for the Development of Communication
has launched an appeal to raise US$600,000 that will be spent restoring radio
broadcasting in Aceh. Its assessment found that 11 radio stations in Aceh
province had been damaged or destroyed by the tsunami, and a further four
stations in the Meulaboh area had been “completely wiped out.” UNESCO
wants to rebuild these studios, provide a temporary income to stations for nine
months, and distribute 2000 battery-operated radios to refugees. Contributions
should be made to 'UNESCO/IPDC' account no. 949-1-191558 at JP Morgan
Chase Bank’s using SWIFT reference CHASUS33 and ABA no. 0210-0002-1.
Internews, an American organisation that has trained media workers in 34
countries since 1982, has launched an appeal to put local radio stations back
on the air in two affected countries. It has been working with journalists from
Aceh for six years and, in an immediate response, has sent four emergency
30-watt FM 'suitcase' radio kits to Aceh and Sri Lanka, along with mobile
phones, computers and second-hand audio recorders. Two teams of experts
will be sent to evaluate the needs of surviving journalists and the damage to
the broadcast infrastructure. Money raised will pay for further equipment to
rebuild damaged stations (at US$25,000 per station), and to deploy one radio
engineer and one resident trainer in the longer term (at US$100,000).
Donations should be marked 'ER For Asia' and made to 'Internews Network'
account no. 01082-08148 at Bank Of America using SWIFT reference
BOFAUS6S and ABA no. 121-000-358.
The Japanese state broadcaster NHK has announced an emergency
workshop on national disaster reporting for broadcasters, to be held in Tokyo
in February or March. It will evaluate the role that stations can play in relaying
early warnings to reduce casualties in natural disasters. More details from the
ABU Secretariat at vanessa@abu.org.my
[First published in 'The Radio Magazine' as 'Radio Help Needed For Tsunami Victims', #666, 15 January 2005]
Grant Goddard is a media analyst / radio specialist / radio consultant with thirty years of
experience in the broadcasting industry, having held senior management and consultancy
roles within the commercial media sector in the United Kingdom, Europe and Asia. Details at
http://www.grantgoddard.co.uk