Communicagting Disasters - Bkk Meeting Report FINAL with photos v 9 Feb 2007.doc

Co-organisers:

United Nations Development Programme - Regional Centre in Bangkok

The UNDP has established Regional Centres in Bangkok, and
Colombo, as well as a multi-disciplinary Pacific Centre in Suva
with focus on the Pacific Islands. A main priority of the Regional
Centres is to provide UNDP Country Offices in the Asia and the
Pacific with easy access to knowledge through high quality
advisory services based on global applied research and UNDP
lessons learnt. The second priority is to build partnerships and
promote regional capacity building initiatives, which allow UNDP,
governments and other development partners to identify, create
and share knowledge relevant to solving urgent development

challenges. The Regional Centre in Bangkok mainly focuses on support to
Democratic Governance, Energy & Environment and Crisis Prevention and
Recovery. The Centre also provide s support to UNDP country offices in a number
of cross-cutting areas, including capacity development, ICT for development,
public-private partnerships and mine action. The Regional Centre in Colombo's
primary focus areas are Poverty Reduction with an overarching effort on achieving
the Millenium Development Goals and HIV/AIDS.

http://regionalcentrebangkok.undp.or.th/

Television for Education – Asia Pacific, trading as TVE Asia Pacific

(TVEAP),

is a regional not-for-profit organisation that

uses audio -visual and new media to communicate
sustainable development and social justice issues in the
Asia Pacific - the world's largest and most diverse
region. Established in 1996 and governed by an
International Board, TVEAP operates as an editorially

independent, journalistic organisation that produces and distributes media
content; trains media professionals in development sensitive coverage ; consults on
communications strategies; and networks with governments, civil society and
educational institutions.

www.tveap.org

Report compiled by:
TVE Asia Pacific
9/3, Gemunu Mawatha, Nawala Road, Nugegoda, Sri Lanka.
Phone: + 94 11 4412 195
Fax: + 94 11 4403 443
Email: <contact@tveap.org>

Photographs by: Thananuch Sanguansak and Janaka Sri Jayalath for TVEAP

“…..”

“How can timely communication save lives, and mitigate impacts in
disasters? How can the media balance the public's right to know and the
affected people’s right to dignity and privacy?”

“Is too much expected of the media, when other social institutions are non-
existent, collapsing, or corrupted...or would the media have even more
responsibility precisely because of other failures in society?”

“The relationship of people with ecology and natural resources is one of the
most neglected aspects of disaster management. When we're discussing
disasters, we need to look at the social ecology of disasters as well.”

“There's a real danger that journalists become so professional that they
want to have a value-free mind when they do their stories. We should have
enough courage to say something is wrong when we encounter injustice and
unfairness.”

“Covering long-term disasters becomes tiring both emotionally and
financially.”

“Countries like mine are internationally ‘branded’ for disasters. There's
strong stereotyping. We find it very difficult to get out of that mould. We
seem to attract international attention all the time for disaster, famine,
suffering or death.”

“In a disaster, everyone is a victim in one way or another; no one is spared.
We as media are not there to merely and dispassionately report. We
invariably become a vital link the scene of the disaster has with the rest of
the country and world.”

“We've for too long had an artificial division of journalists vs. non-
journalists. We need to move above and beyond that.”

“The under-reporting and non -reporting of many human interest and human
development stories is a scandal. There are many silent emergencies that
never attract sufficient media coverage or public attention…”

“…..”

“Early warning is a pure public good. It can't be left to the market alone to
decide and manage early warning information. This is where government,
civil society, academics and commercialised media all have to join hands.”

“Some developmental agencies try to get favourable coverage – basically,
their propaganda - by paying for media air time or print space. This distorts
the news values and makes it more difficult for other agencies to get the
media coverage they deserve. This is corruption – I call it 'checkbook
development'.”

“Reporting about poverty or disasters (in the media) is as much an industry
as working on poverty reduction or disaster management (in the
development sector). But can we find ways to do well and do good at the
same time?”

“The only problem was with the international relief agencies, who are
extremely hierarchy conscious. They were not easily available to the news
media, and often they spoke only to influential Western news agencies such
as Reuters and BBC.”

“The priority of development organisations arrivin g at disaster scenes "is not
primarily to communicate, but to respond to the emergency situation on the
ground. This frustrates many journalists. It is therefore necessary for
development organisations to see information as a ‘commodity’…”

“"Some Asian g overnments don't trust their citizens enough to disclose too
much about impending disasters…and citizens have grown to distrust
anything their governments say.”

“As journalists, we've been trained to do quick, sharp and precise stories
that will have the most impact with our viewers. In doing so, we lose many
nuances in a story like the Tsunami.”

“If they want to engage the media, development professionals must first
understand the complexity, nuances and diversity in what is collectively
labeled as ‘media’. In fact, the very term ‘media’ is a plural!”

Executive Summary

"Where there is no camera, there is no humanitarian intervention,” said Bernard
Kouchner, co-founder of Medecins Sans Frontieres – and many of today’s disaster
managers and relief agencies would agree. Yet, the relationship between media
practitioners and those managing disasters can often be stressful, difficult and
fraught with misunderstandings. Communicating about disasters sometimes ends
up as communications disasters.

How can these mishaps be minimised, so that the power of established and new
forms of mass media can play a more meaningful role in managing both hazards
and disasters?

This was the broad question addressed during a regional brainstorming meeting in
Bangkok, Thailand, held on the eve of the Indian Ocean Tsunami’s second
anniversary, i.e. 21 – 22 December 2006. Organised by TVE Asia Pacific and UNDP,
the meeting brought together over 30 leading media professionals, disaster
managers and communication specialists from South and Southeast Asia.

Early on, it became apparent that both the media practitioners and
disaster/development professionals had very different attitudes and approaches to
managing information before, during and after disasters. Some of the differences
arose from a failure to appreciate the different needs and priorities of these two

groups. But this
division became less
sharp as the two
groups agreed on
the essential
functions of
information and
communication, and
the need to serve
the public interest
over individual,
corporate or agency
interests.

The meeting recognised that the media must evolve its own ethics, guidelines and
strategies for covering hazards and disasters, and these cannot be imposed from
outside. At the same time, all participants agreed on the value of greater
understanding and cooperation between media practitioners, development
professionals and disaster managers.

Participants of the meeting formed a Yahoo group to support future networking
and to sustain information sharing among themselves. An Asia Pacific Resource
Book planned for 2007 will combine the meeting’s highlights with contributions
from leading media and disaster professionals in Asia.

Building on the Tsunami Experience and

Responding to Future Challenges

A Regional Brainstorming Meet

Bangkok, Thailand: 21 – 22 December 2006

Organised by

United Nations Development Programme, Regional Centre in Bangkok

(UNDP -RCB)

and

TVE Asia Pacific (TVEAP)

Background and context

December 2006 marked the second anniversary of the Indian Ocean Tsunami,
which devastated coastal areas in South and Southeast Asia, and to a lesser extent
in eastern Africa. The event of Boxing Day 2004 ranks among the top ten disasters
of all time, with the affected countries and families still recovering from its
mighty blow.

It was astonishing that a disaster of this magnitude could arrive in so many places
in Asia without any public warning. The region has witnessed a rapid proliferation
of information and communication s technologies (ICTs) in recent years. Yet with
thunderous impact, the tsunami drove home the point that the timely and
efficient management of information mattered more than mere delivery
technologies.

In response to the Indian Ocean tsunami, the United Nations and aid donor
countries initiated an inter-governmental process to build a high-tech tsunami
early warning system in the Indian Ocean. By June 2006, UNESCO – whose Inter-
governmental Oceanographic Commission coordinated the effort – reported that
the system was ‘up and running’. Some 25 new seismographic stations would
detect underwater earthquake tremors, while three deep-seabed sensors were in
place to detect tsunami waves through tiny changes in water pressure. More
equipment, including satellite sensors and additional seabed sensors, are to be
added to the system in 2007 and 2008. A network of 26 national information
centres will enable Indian Ocean countries to receive and distribute warnings of
potential tsunamis, UNESCO added.

http://www.scidev.net/News/index.cfm?fuseaction=readNews&itemid=2945&language=1

Even the most sophisticated early warning system will be rendered ineffective
without adequate mechanisms to disseminate warnings in a timely, credible
manner. Setting up a state -of-the-art, high-tech and high-cost system is not a
solution by itself. Because the most advanced early warning system in the world
can only do half the job : alert governments and other centres of power (e.g.
military) of an impending disaster. The far bigger challenge is to disseminate that
warning to large numbers of people spread across vast areas in the shortest
possible time,

and ensure that people understand the warning and take

appropriate evacuation measures.

The crucial question remains: how can credible disaster warnings travel that all
important ‘last mile’?

Bridging the ‘last mile’ requires a combination of national an d local level capacity
building, community-based disaster preparedness and strategic alliances with
those who already have swift, inexpensive outreach to communities. Strategic
partnerships with the mass media (radio, television, online and print media) would
be key to success in these efforts.

During the past 15 years, Asia’s airwaves have become crowded with a cacophony
of FM radio and television channels that reach out to most households day and
night. These media outlets can play a major role both in d isseminating disaster
warnings, and also in:
• coordinating relief and rehabilitation;
• preparing communities for disaster risks; and

• raising public awareness about actions taken or should be taken by different

organizations and individuals to minimize future risks before disasters strike.

A well-coordinated, collaborative plan would enable tapping the mass media’s
unparalleled outreach in times of impending or unfolding disasters, as well as in
post-disaster coordination.

http://www.scidev.net/content/opinions/eng/a -long-last-mile-the-lesson -o f-the-asian -

tsunami.cfm

Meeting goals and objectives

On the eve of the disaster’s second anniversary, TVE Asia Pacific and UNDP
organised a regional brainstorming that brought together over 30 leading media
professionals, disaster researchers and managers and development communication
specialists from across South and Southeast Asia. The meeting’s goal was to
discern the key communication lessons of the Tsunami (and other disasters), both
in terms of the mass media and new media.

Its objectives were:
• To explore the role of media professionals and their use of information and

communication technologies (ICTs) before, during and after a disaster;

• To share lessons learned among media professionals and key players in disaster

risk reduction based on the experience of the Tsunami disaster; and

• To come up with a fe w suggestive guidelines for engaging the mass media and

new media for more effective communication before, during and after
disasters.

Workshop content

The agenda of this two-day meeting was designed to encourage maximum
interaction among all the participants. It avoided formal presentations or
speeches, and instead included series of panel discussions, debates, interactive
sessions, group work and film-screenings. A large part of the workshop content
was generated by the participants themselves.

The final version of the agenda is given as Annex 1.

Workshop participation

A total of 33 participants took part in this meeting. Among them were:
• media communicators interested in better covering disasters;
• disaster managers, interested in better links with the media; and
• development professionals keen on improving links between the two.

There was representation from both South Asia and Southeast Asia. There was also
a good mix of journalists, broadcasters, media managers, researchers and
development professionals. The list of participants is given as Annex 2.

The o verall meeting facilitators were:
• Chin Saik Yoon, Communications specialist and Publisher, Southbound Press,

Penang, Malaysia

• Nalaka Gunawardene, Director and CEO, TVE Asia Pacific

Workshop proceedings

We have captured below the essence of the many ideas, opinions, arguments and
suggestions presented during two days of intense discussion and debate.

Day One: 21 December 2006

Introductory remarks

Marcia V J Kran, Deputy Regional Manager and Head of
Policy and Programme, UNDP Regional Centre in Bangkok,
stressed the importance of information management,
learning and training, and early warning systems. She
suggested creating historical disaster databases to
understand disaster trends, and to better understand
early warning stakeholders.

She added: "UNDP recognises and supports the very
critical role played by the media. In terms of access to

information, raising awareness, shaping democratic governance structures, and
promoting safer communities."

Nalaka Gunawardene, Director and CEO of TVE Asia Pacific, said that it "took a

mega-disaster like the Indian Ocean Tsunami to
open our eyes... To make us realise how vulnerable
we were (and perhaps still are ).” He felt the media
and other information and communications
technologies (ICTs) had not done a good job in
alerting the Asian public about the oncoming
Tsunami. He quoted the words of Sir Arthur C
Clarke to this effect (see boxed quote below).

He went on to
say that after
the Tsunami had

struck, the media’s role was paramount. This
was living proof of what Bernard Kouchner, the
co-founder of Medecins sans Frontieres, had
said: "Where there is no camera, there is no
humanitarian intervention.” If not for the wide
coverage in the media, the world would not
have pledged US$13 billion for relief and
recovery efforts.

He urged the meeting to remain focused on the
following:

“The Asian tsunami’s death toll
could have been drastically
reduced if the warning – already
known to scientists -- was
disseminated quickly and
effectively to millions of coastal
dwellers on the Indian Oce an rim.
It is appalling that our
sophisticated global
communications systems simply
failed us that fateful day.”

- Sir Arthur C Clarke, novelist and
long time resident in Sri Lanka,
quoted during the opening remarks

• Public communication of disasters using mass media and new media

• Look at all phases of a disaster: before, during and after
• Consider many different types of disasters
• Study the nexus between media-based communications and disasters with a

view to finding ways to improve this relationship on all fronts.

Chin Saik Yoon, publisher and communications
specialist, saw disaste rs as the more visible
‘peaks’ in processes that unfold over time
affecting lives of large numbers of people. Media,
as mirrors of society and analysts of social trends,
should be interested in these processes as much
as they cover the ‘peaks’.

During the self-introductory session, each
participant was asked to share a "quick personal
insight related to any disaster". These helped
illustrate the diversity of nationalities,
experiences and perspectives in the room. Some are captured in Box 1.

Box 1

Recalling disasters

These are among the impressions and experiences cited by participants at the
outset of the meeting.

•

Chin Saik Yoon, Southbound Press

: Shortly after the Tsunami, I wrote about

the experience of the Nallavadu village, Pondicherry, on the eastern coast of
India, whose people were alerted about the oncoming Tsunami via phone from
Singapo re .

This call, given by one villager who was working in Singapore, saved

everyone’s lives. But later I found out that he had become the most hated
person in his community! Because while lives were saved, the village suffered
significant property losses. But the news had spread far and wide that this
village had been "saved" by that call, which prevented relief or recovery support
from reaching the people. Everyone thought this village was doing just fine.

•

Lynette Lee Corporal, Inter Press Service-Asia Pacific

: Philippines is known as

the country of typhoons, super-typhoons, mudslides and landslides, so I am not
a stranger to disasters. I've covered serious disasters, and have also done
volunteer work after disasters, having glimpse s of how it is to be on the "other
side" of the situation. The perspective as a volunteer is very different,
something which most media practitioners lack.

•

Chanuka Wattegama, UNDP-APDIP

: Before the Tsunami there were only a

handful of blogs written by persons based in Sri Lanka , and these too didn’t
have much following. Within days of the disaster, many new blogs emerged.
These not only tracked and reported what was happening on the ground, but
continued to cover other matters of public interest afterwards. Now there are
at least 100 - 200 regular b loggers, many expressing themselves on a daily basis.

•

Shahidul Alam, Drik Picture Library

: As a media person, I need to find a

balance. What's very important is sending out the messages, the real stories of
what's happening during a disaster. On the other hand, countries like mine are
internationally ‘branded’ for disasters. There's strong stereotyping. We find it
very difficult to get out of that mould. We seem to attract international
attention and coverage all the time for disaster, famine, suffering or death .

•

Amjad Bhatti, Duryog Nivaran - South Asian Network for Disaster Risk
Reduction

: A farmer who had e xperience of 30 years of flood once told me : "We

used to pray to have floods." He explained that floods used to bring fertile
deposits to their lands. These are nuances that are often overlooked by
‘experts’.

Session 1:
Distilling media experiences and learnings of the Asian Tsunami

Panel 1: Covering the Indian Ocean Tsunami: the hard news edge

Moderated by Chin Saik Yoon, members of this panel were journalists and news
editors who recalled how they covered one of the biggest news stories in recent
years – the Indian Ocean Tsunami.

Milind Khandekar, Deputy Managing Editor, Star News, India:

• For a media practitioner, the biggest challenge in a

disaster is logically managing information about the
unfolding event. You have to get the pictures. This was the
challenge when covering the Tsunami. We have heard and
seen so many disasters in India, yet n ever heard of
Tsunami. Honestly, we were not ready for it.

• In India, the first reports of the Tsunami came in from the

e astern metropolis of Chennai around 9 am. These talked
about flooding at Marina Beach. Water was said to be
coming into the city. There were no reports yet from other
parts of the state of Tamil Nadu. Our first reaction was: is
it a flood? It took us time t o understand this was a Tsunami.

Even while the story was still unfolding, we found out that it was hitting our
neighbours worse: Sri Lanka, Thailand -- and things were getting worse by the
hour.

• In a disaster, everyone is a victim in one way or another; no one is spared. We

as media are not there to merely and dispassionately report. We invariably
become a vital link the scene of the disaster has with the rest of the country
and world. During the Gujarat Earthquake, I allowed dozens of affected people
to u se my microphone -- live on air – to speak out and tell their family and
friends elsewhere that they had survived.

Asoka Dias, Sirasa TV/Mararaja TV, Sri Lanka
• When the Tsunami story was breaking, one big challenge was to find a word or

a phrase to explain the Tsunami in our local languages (Sinhala and Tamil).
Historically Sri Lanka has had some tsunamis, but none in living memory. We

struggled to describe what was happening.

• The tsunami hit many provincial

correspondents based in coastal areas.
According to one assessment, two
correspondents went missing and 23 were
injured. Add itionally, nearly 1,000 members of
121 journalists' families were displaced, with
housing and equipment damages totaling US
$300,000. Among the damages listed are 48
houses, 80 still cameras and nine television
cameras. This, and telecommunications
disruption in the affected areas, placed

practical difficulties in obtaining coverage in the initial days.

• Sri Lankan government requested the media not to carry photos of dead bodies.

Later, we realised affected people were using pictures in the media to identify
their missing loved ones. This prompted some individuals to record the TV
reportage of the tsunami and sell them on CDs for approx US$ 1.50 per copy.

Ahmed Shakeeb, Television Maldives
• You can barely imagine impact of that magnitude

for Maldivian people living on the sea. The
Tsunami struck Maldives at 9.20 am in the morning.
It became more shocking because of the nature of
our livelihood. As the Tsunami hit, the whole
commun ication system failed. The telephone and
radio systems failed. The only thing that still
worked were the TV signals.

• Because of the Maldives’ small land mass and

population, the world did not realize how badly it
was affe cted. Some 13 islands had to be to tally
evacuated. Out of these, four islands were later
abandoned . Nearly two years later, a couple of
thousands people are living in temporary shelters.

• Almost 95% of the Maldives is the sea. The sea is everything for us Maldivians:

playground for our children, and source of livelihood for many of us. In a split
of a second, their friend (the sea) became an enemy. After the Tsunami,
everyone is afraid of the sea. Not just the sight of it, but even the thought of
it. But we have to overcome this: we cannot live in the Maldives fearing the
sea – it is never more than a few metres away!

More information at:

http://www.asiamedia.ucla.edu/tsunami/article.asp?parentid=21428

Box 2

Indian News Channels: United by Tsunami

The first hours and days after the Tsunami saw the highly competitive Indian news
media organizations sharing each other’s information, visual and contacts in the
true spirit of cooperation. Panos South Asia Executive D irector (and former News
Director of India’s Sun TV network) A S Panneerselvan told the meeting:

"Generally, the Indian news market is highly competitive with 18 TV news channels.
They're not willing to share visuals or co-operate. But something extraordinary
happened soon after the Tsunami news broke. For the first time, none of the
channels was insisting on exclusivity. They were simply downloading each other's
images, without even bothering about the rights or other issues.

"This was indeed rare. W e know how many contracts have to be signed e ven for
broadcastin g 10 seconds of a cricket match. The kind of cross-flow of information
after the Tsunami was amazing. All channel rivalries were momentarily forgotten.

“The only problem was with the international relief agencies, who are extremely
hierarchy conscious. They were not easily available to the news media, and often
they spoke only to influential Western news agencies such as Reuters and BBC.”

Panel 2: Covering the Asian Tsunami: beyond news headlines

Moderated by Manori Wijesekera, Regional Programme Manager of TVE Asia Pacific,
this panel discussed the Tsunami’s coverage in formats other than news and
current affairs, and how such coverage extended beyond the hard news values.
TVE Asia Pacific’s Children of Tsunami was one key experience discussed during a
panel. Three of the four panelists had been associated with this multi-country,
multi-media initiative (see Box 3).

Box 3

Children of Tsunami: Journalism with empathy

Children of Tsunami was TVE Asia Pacific’s main
response to the Tsunami. It tracked -- on
television, video and web -- how affected people
were rebuilding their lives, livelihoods and homes
after the disaster. From February to November
2005, TVEAP-commissioned local film-makers
made monthly visits to two chosen families in each
country. Based on location filming and field
investigations, they produced television, video and
web stories for a global audience.

The main focus was on eight surviving children, who served as ‘story guides’ –
but the stories also covered their extended families, neighbours and
communities. Using their specific experiences, Children of Tsunami showed
how tsunami recovery was progressing – or, in some places, stagnating – across
affected Asia.

TVEAP’s Regional Programme Manager Manori Wijesekera described it as ‘an
open-ended experiment that took us beyond the comfort zone of conventional
television journalism’. She added:

“Positioned between hard -edge news and current affairs TV journalism and the
development community, TVEAP was well equipped to engage in this exercise.
As a regionally operating media organisation, we were extremely keen to tell
the story of tsunami recovery using the audio -visual medium. But instead of
producing documentaries laden with information and statistics, we opted to
personalise the stories.

“This was done by tracking the recovery efforts of eight Tsunami affected
families in the four countries most affected – India, Indonesia, Sri Lanka and
Thailand. It’s called a longitudinal study in the television industry.”

For more information, visit:

www.childrenoftsunami.info

Pipope Panitchpakdi, Director - Documentary, Nation Broadcasting Corporation,
Thailand
• As journalists, we've been trained to do quick, sharp and precise stories that

will have the most impact with our viewers. In doing so, we lose many nuances

in a story like the Tsunami.

• Most editors are disinterested in "slow moving" stories.

Once the news value faded away, it was a challenge to
keep the Tsu nami stories on the air. When TVEAP
approached me with this idea, I welcomed it as that
would allow me to track two affected Thai families for a
year. Nation TV agreed to let me work half time during
that period, but with full pay.

• Much of the Tsunami coverage in the Thai media (as

well as international media reports filed from Thailand)
centred around how foreign tourists were killed or

injured. No one had looked at how the disaster affected the Moken (‘sea
gypsies’) -– nomadic, indigenous people living in coastal areas and some islands.
One of the two Thai families tracked for Children of Tsunami was a Moken one .

• Children of Tsunami enabled me to raise other issues that were not

adequately covered in the mainstream Thai media. For example, how some
Western relief offers came with attempts in Christian prose litization, or the
difficulties faced by Tsunami widows -- under Thai law, their husbands were
not considered dead till bodies were found.

Joanne Teoh Kheng Yau, Executive Producer,
Channel News Asia
• In the days following the tsunami, Channel News

Asia received satellite news feeds showing the
extent of devastation, as well as what experts,
charity workers and politicians were doing to
provide relief. But we felt the need to move beyond
headlines. We w anted to examine the various facets
of the tsunami’s impact – social, cultural, political
and even scientific aspects,” she recalled.

• Shortly after the disaster, I visited my native town

of Penang, Malaysia, where my grandmother was
among the affected. The randomness of this event caught many journalists by
surprise. Many of us were groping for words to describe the impact.

• It was in the second half of 2005 that I became involved in Children of

Tsunami, when TVEAP negotiated a co -production arrangement with Channel
News Asia. I was designated as executive producer for CNA’s documentary
based on the material filmed by the four country teams: Children of Tsunami:
No More Tears.

• I have seen many types of TV and video productions related to disasters, but

never come across a sustained effort like Children of Tsunami. It covered the
struggles of some very ordinary people with extraordinary courage in the
tsunami’s aftermath. It captured many nuances and subtext. These details tell
us more than the screaming news-headlines. My challenge was to distil so
much that was gathered over the year into 26 minutes.

• Even now, many media organisations still work according to a ‘disaster

template’, which needs to evolve.

Dendy Montgomery, Freelance TV professional, Aceh
• Aceh was the worst hit by the Tsunami. The good news

is that children in Aceh are no longer afraid of the sea.
They go to the beach every Sunday.

• There has been progress, but not for everyone.

President Clinton was in Aceh recently, but when I
asked affected people, some said: ‘We don’t care who
comes visiting. When do we receive our permanent
houses?’

• The Tsunami disaster in Ache is not sexy (as a news-

story) anymore. For several months after the disaster,
all eyes were on Aceh. When the first year's
commemoration came up, reporting took a spurt. Then it slowed down again .
You should follow your heart. Journalists from elsewhere come to Aceh to do
what their news directors want, and not really to report on what's happening
on the ground .

Frederick Noronha, Freelance journalist & new media activist, India
• There seems to be a ‘hierarchy of reporting’ in disaster related media

coverage. For example, some disasters are covered
much more widely than others. The international
news media takes an interest in some countries
only when a major disaster strikes. Even within
countries, some areas receive media attention only
when a disaster strikes.

• We need to critique the media for not telling the

stories that break over a long period. The tsunami
story is not yet over. It may no longer be ‘sexy’,

but there is much unfinished business in the post-tsunami recovery process.

• The under-reporting and non-reporting of many human interest and human

development stories is a scandal. There are many silent emergencies that
never at tract sufficient media coverage or public attention. Today we have
the tools and technologies to spread information quickly and inexpensively. We
need to find alternative communications strategies.

Session 2 :
Beyond the Tsunami: zooming out to the wider issues

Debate 1: Communicating Disasters or Communications Disasters?

The first activity under this session was a debate on ‘Communicating Disasters or
Communications Disasters?’. Moderated by Nalaka Gunawardene, it involved four
participants representing diverse backgrounds such as print and broadcast media,
development agencies and research/advocacy groups.

In starting off the debate, Nalaka Gunawardene raised several questions:
• Is information itself an essential ‘relief item’ during and after disasters, as

recognised in the World Disaster Report 2005 ?

• Where does the media’s role begin and end in disasters: should the media

merely report and analyse – or get involved in rescue, relief, recovery and
rehabilitation as well?

• How do we balance the public’s right to know with the right to privacy of

disaster affected persons

• How do new media alter the traditional media coverage of disasters? Can

citizen journalists help improve communication of disasters?

The following are highlights of initial and later remarks made by each participant
of the debate.

Lynette Lee Corporal, Project Editor, Inter Press
Service - Asia Pacific, raised the issue of the mass
media "losing interest" in disasters after a while.
• The Tsunami (like otherdisasters) came in "different

waves" -- the need for information, the need for
analysis and commentary, the spurt in citizen
journalism.

• Citizen journalism has changed the way journalism is

practised today. Unlike the detached ‘objectivity' of
the professional journalist, we have some honest,
real accounts of what happened at the ground from
citizen journalists (mainly bloggers ). That in some
ways has enhanced the reporting of professional journalists. The two groups
have become complementary.

• The reporter needs to know what is hap pening... and not just go ‘blind’ to the

scene of a disaster or any other event. Understanding and reflection are
important attributes of a good communicator.

Amjad Bhatti, Regional Coordinator, Duryog Nivaran - South Asian Network for
Disaster Risk Reduction, called for defining 'disasters' and going beyond the

"obsession with macro disasters".
• Since the Indian Ocean Tsunami, there has been a

trend of "Tsunamisation of disasters" which had led
to a desensitisation of responses in other disasters
large and small.

• Disasters that set in slowly are being overlooked. For

example, if 500 people die in a single train disaster,
it's a big story for the media. But if that many - or
far more – people die over a period of time by
drinking pesticides, that's not as big a story.

• So many people have to die in one place at the same

time for it to qualify as ‘news’ in today’s media
world. Mega-narrative of disaster is attractive to the

media. For them, the motto seems to be: "If it bleeds, it leads".

• We must question how the media perceives 'news'. For instance, in 2005,

98.22% of the total number of people affected by all disasters in South Asia
were those affected by floods. But the story of flood disasters was buried
under issues like Kashmir earthquake and the T sunami.

• There are 'missing' disasters (which don't get reflected in the media). Among

them are c limate-induced, technological or biological disasters. Talking openly
about HIV/AIDS is still a taboo in many parts of South Asia. Sea level rise in
Bangladesh is not seen as a potential disaster. Famine becomes a story,
drought doesn't –because the latter kills slowly.

• The disaster-management discourse has to be linked with the media

perspective, and vice versa.

A S Panneerselvan, Executive Director, Panos South Asia, argued that
development professionals and disaster managers should not view the 'media' as a
monolithic entity.
• If they want to engage the media, development

professionals must first understand the
complexity, nuances and diversity in what is
collectively labeled as ‘media’. In fact, the very
term ‘media’ is a plural!

• Yet, development professionals regard and

engage the media on simplistic presumptions. To
many deep -immersed in text, media are only or
largely broadsheet newspapers. A few romanticise
community media as if that’s the panacea for
everything.

• In reality, there is a multiplicity of narratives that go on in the mainstream

media all the time . Contending and contesting viewpoints co-exist, negotiate

their space and offer a wider view of the world as it is, rather than the world
as we want it to be. Important as it is, development is only one of many areas
of human endeavour that the media cover.

• Within media, it's always a constant struggle to get important stories out, and

seasoned journalists have developed various tactics, e.g. subtle subversion,
creative trespassing, passing a story to a rival media organisation if it can’t be
covered in one’s own media outlet, etc.

Shahidul Alam, Director, Drik Picture Library, argued that it is always assumed
that one primary concern o f the media is to inform (and sometimes educate) the

people …and one primary concern of developmental
agencies is to remove poverty. Are these premises
correct in all situations?
• These romanticised notions ignore the political

economy of both the media and development sectors.
If we are to make both media and development more
effective, we have to wake up and recognise the
driving forces and realities.

• Let's face it: the commercialised media's job is to

make money for its owners or shareholders, while the
development agencies are constantly trying to secure
more funding to sustain themselves. Self interest,

rather than the public interest or the greater good, seems to dominate.

• Reporting about poverty or disasters (in the media) is as much an industry as

working on poverty reduction or disaster management (in the development
sector). But can we find ways to do well and do good at the same time? This
needs more attention and discussion. We need to move beyond the platitude s
and rhetoric. We need to take the reality head on and find creative ways to
push our own public interest agendas within existing inequalities.

• Some of us don’t like to confront this reality, and opt for terms and strategies

like 'alternative media'. Well meant as these are, we often tend to marginalise
ourselves in doing so. The so -called mainstream media can, in fact, be used as
a vehicle for all kinds of reformist, progressive agendas – we just need to be
smart and tactical about it.

• The biggest challe nge is to make what is currently perceived as ‘alternative’

viewpoints into mainstream viewpoints.

Interactive session: “My wish….”

During this interactive session, each participant had the opportunity to express a
personal wish on one of the following aspects:
• How hazards, disasters and

post-disaster situations
can be b etter
communicated in the
media;

• How to improve linkages

and partnerships between
media practitioners and
disaster managers; and

• In what ways can the more

established and newer
ICTs support this process?

Here are the wishes expressed by participants, reproduced in their original
wording (excepting improvements on grammar for clarity), as sorted into several
categories by the meeting co -moderators:

AVOIDING CONFLICT:
• Developmental agencies and NGOs often feel that they 'possess' or 'own' the

community that they provide assistance to. This creates tension/conflict
between journalists and developmental agencies.

• To avoid confrontation, there is a need to focus on the public interest.
• Disaster officials should avoid using jargon. They need to be responsive to the

journalists’ questions.

• If a question is a complex one, journalists need to take the time to listen to

the complex answer. Don't ask for the simplistic response.

• Both journalists and disaster managers should indulge in more self-reflection.

PRACTICES:
• Give utmost importance to "commons" (and common interest) rather than

"exclusive", "logo and brand" exercises.

• See and consider the media as a partner.
• Disaster communicators to think like a CEO of an enterprise and see

journalists/media as consumers of information.

INTERGRATING:
• What are the best models and examples formedia and disaster managers

cooperating well?

o Involving the media as a stakeholder.
o Involve media in joint assessments (not just after the project is over).

After that, sponsor media professionals to visit projects and discuss
issues.

o "Embed" journalists in your work.
o Co-creation ofcontent.

COMMUNITY-CENTRED:
• Idea: Set up community-based communication channels in disaster prone areas

(e.g. community radios, community newspapers, theatres, etc.)

• How best to magnify the voice of disaster-affected people:

o Magnify access to tech-help-know-how
o Sensitize managers about the difficult circumstances of minorities
o Drama can be used to simulate a situation that requires a quick

response (knee-jerk reaction). So dramatize a disaster in training.

• Provide a venue (or numerous venues) for affected people to air their

grievances, needs, etc., and act on these ASAP.

• Effective disaster management is difficult without local capacity to organise

and direct
volunteer
action when
disaster hits,
and without
building the
capacity for
disaster
preparedness
within the
communities.
Volunteerism
has a proven
value. Use it!

• Develop and

encourage New Media (blogs, picture blogs, video blogs orvideo collections
like YouTube.com) to give a voice to the poor and rural communities who do
not get their fai r share of voice in the mainstream media.

• Media should give as much space to the affected people through live group

sessions on the ground, phone-in or SMS. This helps in the affected people
getting to voice their pain and needs. It works better than the traditional way
of doing a "human interest" story.

BUILDING UNDERSTANDING/TRUST:
• Having standard practices or standard operating procedures (SOP) in place for

disaster response, relief and recovery. There is no time to think or plan during
the stress. So follow SOP only or act automatically.

• Help media to understand the issue, w hile not promoting the organisation.
• Develop (cultivate and nurture) an ongoing relationship with the media.

• Establish a network for media and 'disaster relief providers' forbetter and

efficient communications. (A possible outcome of this meeting.)

• Understanding the limitations of each other.
• Journalists, disaster managers and development workers should be provided a

milieu to share their concerns and success on a common platform.

• Best practices/models: Mutual understanding on expectations has helped.

• An effective co-ordinating mechanism (for example, TNTRC, a neutral forum)

is already working on balancing interests of government, local I/NGOs.

• Just try to understand the *priorities* of the "other" side. * To build trust and

respect: exchange opportun ities -- let journalists work with organisations, and
officials into the newsroom, for a day.

• Development workers put on media glasses. Journalists put on development

glasses. Both need to talk in the people's language.

• Find common interests and work together.
• Let the disaster-affected people speak, communication. Be fair with them

(there 'no competition'). Respect and (try to) understand each other's
constraints and roles.

Day Two: 22 December 2006

The second day started with the moderators presenting a summary of the
interactive session which ended the first day.

This was followed by the screening of audio -visual material.

• Children of Tsunami: No More Tears (24 mins) was a regional documentary

co-produced in late 2005 by Channel News Asia of Singapore and TVE Asia
Pacific, based on year-long filming carried out in India, Indonesia, Sri Lanka
and Thailand (see Box 3). It was broadcast Asia-wide on the first anniversary of
the Asian Tsunami, in December 2005, and has since been repeated several
times on Asia’s leading English news channel.

• Participant Asoka Dias screened extracts from his media network’s news and

current affairs coverage of the two Tsunami related Sri Lankan stories where
the media had played a key role:

o The case of two men who were caught on a freelance journalist’s video

camera on Tsunami day as they robbed the necklace of an affected
woman and threw her back into the waters immediately after the first
wave had struck Galle. Based mainly on this evidence, a judge
sentenced both me n to death in December 2006.

o The case of baby Abilash, who was separated from parents and washed

away by Tsunami waves but miraculously survived. Dubbed ‘Baby 81’ by
the media, he received worldwide coverage when the media claimed
nine couples claimed him as their own – which turned out to be a
fabrication. (See Box 4 for more information.)

• Asoka saw the first example as one where the timely action by a professionally

trained videographer – himself caught in the unfolding disaster – helped solve a
crime. The second was where the media went overboard, and ‘created news
needlessly’ when so many other, more legitimate stories were unfolding all
around them.

• Nalaka Gunawardene, originator of Children of Tsunami, described how

challenging it was to get regional and global broadcast media organisations to
take note of the thousands of individual recovery stories behind the mega-
story of the disaster’s death and destruction. “When they were not following
the blood, they were following the (aid) money. For sure, both were important,
but was that all the Tsunami story was?” Nalaka referred to the insensitive
conduct of some western media outlets – claiming to be global media – when
they assigned a disproportionately high level of coverage for affected nationals
from that media’s country of origin /location. Jeremy Seabrook called this
‘imperialism in death’.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6178779.stm

http://media.guardian.co.uk/site/story/0,14173,1381297,00.html

Box 4

Sri Lanka’s Baby 81: Controversy manufactured by media?

A Sri Lankan baby who grabbed world media attention as a "celebrated" Tsunami orphan

was later united with his biological family -- but not before it had created headlines.

The four -month-old boy, Abhilash Jeyarajah, was picked up by a neighbor who found the

infant under a pile of garbage immediately after giant waves lashed Kalmunai on 26

December 2004. The man handed over the child to the Kalmunai hospital. The parents,

who also survived the waves, later found their child.

Police denied nine couples claimed him as their own and hospital authorities confirmed

that only one couple had come forward to claim the baby. The man who handed over the

child to hospital has told police that he had known the child was that of his neighbors and

that there was no dispute about the parentage.

“Because it had a miraculous escape, a lot of people showed interest in the child, but they

never said they were the parents," chief inspector W. C. Wijetilleka was quoted as saying.

"Only one couple claimed the child. No one else has come forward to make a legal claim."

But newspapers and news agencies said squabbling had broken out over "Baby 81" -- as he

was dubbed by hospital authorities in Kalmunai, going by the admission number.

Apparently, nine couples who lost infants in the tsunami had all said he was theirs. The

New York Times referred to him as a "celebrated orphan".

"As far as the police and the courts are concerned, only one couple is claiming the child,"

inspector Wijetilleka said. "We have reported the facts to court and the judge ordered the

hospital to release the child to the parents."

The story was fuelled by the hospital’s initial reluctance to release the boy until he was

well enough. The couple then petitioned the court, which ordered on 12 January 2005 that

the baby be given to them. DNA tests, presented to court on 14 February 2005 confirmed

their claim as biological parents.

“The young couple was at the centre of endless media coverage for several weeks,” says

Asoka Dias, Station Director of MTV/MBC Network, Sri Lanka. “This created public

impression that they also received a great deal of money and other help, which was not

the case. They have had to relocate to a new neighbourhood, and are struggling to lead

normal lives.”

Sources: Lanka Business Online,

www.lbo.lk

IHT:

http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/02/14/asia/web.01214baby81.php

Session 3:
Enhancing the media's role in communicating disaster

Panel 3: Communicating before disaster strikes

This panel was moderated by Roopa Rakshit, Communications and Information

Manager of the Asian Disaster preparedness Centre (ADPC), Bangkok .
She stressed on the need for "timely, accurate communication" which could
be a cost effective way of saving lives and reducing property damage.

Some of the suggested bullet-points for discussion were:
• What meaningful role can the mass media play in disaster awareness

and preparedness at the community or national level?

• How can the media cover different types of disasters -- some evolving

slowly (e.g. drought) and others more rapidly or without prior warning?

• How best can the mass media amplify credible hazard warnings, broadcast

them to the largest numbers in the shortest possible time?

• What role do the new media play in disseminating early warnings?
• How can we improve the nexus between disaster managers, early warning

systems and the media?

Cherdsak Virapat, National Disaster Warning Centre, Thailand, said his country

was preparing a national office to coordinate an early-warning
system for impendin disasters.
• We want to see the media play a key role in disseminating

these early warnings to the public in a fast, efficient and
reliable manner.

• But we are finding it difficult to engage the media. Some

sections of the Thai media say they don't trust us. We feel
they don’t know very much, and they don't want to learn.
When we invite them for media training, they say: ‘No, we
don't have much time. We want just the news.'

Lakshaman Bandaranayake, Managing Director, Vanguard Management (ETV
Channel), Sri Lanka, argued that the broadcast media offered wide reach and
quick access in his country.
• We can reach 80% of our population through TV , and 90% through radio. It also

has a value in terms of immediacy. But the media cannot be the only channel,

and every available means of communications -- even
the traditional village drummer – needs to be looked at
and creatively integrated into delivering disaster
preparedness and disaster warning information to every
section of society.good. It can't be left to the market
alone to decide and manage early warning information.
This is where government, civil society, academics and
commercialised media all have to join hands.

• The t raditional school of journalism may not readily

acknowledge the possibilities thrown up by the new

media. But the fact is that the new media are here to stay. We can’t just
dismiss the new media saying ‘they don't have enough accountability, or don't
follow the same code of ethics as the more established media do’.

• There are exciting opportunities that emerge with the new media, such as

user-generated content, social networking and video blogging. It’s up to all
public spirited people to explore how these can be put to serve the public
interest. The new media offer strong ways of binding communities together.
We can create user-groups that are attracted by disaster concerns, and
encourage them to share best practices.

Pablo Torrealba, Regional Risk Reduction Specialist of
the UNDP's Crisis Prevention and Recovery (CPR )
Team, contested the view that disasters were "natural".
• Disasters are triggered by a natural event which

shocks society. We cannot change the event, but we
can change society’s response so that it doesn't
become a disaster.

• Most disasters build up over time, some aggravated

human action or apathy. It's a question of: how do

we create a disaster (over a period of time).

• People who are most impacted by disasters are those

who are always left out ofthe development process.

Joe Carlos, Programme Manager, Asia -Pacific Institute
for Broadcasting Development, called for "good
journalism" that would help turn a story into an
"interesting, moving piece of story-telling".
• We need better protection to ensure the safety of

journalists covering disaster and conflict situations. It
is important to have guidelines for the media's own
safety in times of disaster.

• We also need ethical guidelines on aspects such as interviewing those

traumatised by disasters, handling privacy issues of disaster affected people ,
and in breaking bad news to the next-of-kin.

• Investigative journalism is needed to understand the factors and processes

that turn hazards into disasters.

Working group activity

Participants divided themselves into three smaller groups and worked in parallel
sessions to come up with some guidelines for more effective engagement of mass
media and new media before, during and after disasters.

These were then presented at plenary level and discussed. The resulting draft
guidelines are given in Annex 3.

Box 5

Be better prepared !

Journalists across Asia can benefit from training on how to cover hazards and disasters in

greater depth and with more sensitivity, the meeting was told. Joe Carlos, who works for

AIBD, a regional organisation that builds the skills and knowledge of broadcast media

personnel, had several specific suggestions:
•

Regular dialogue between the media and different stakeholders;

•

Media awards for the most appropriate coverage of any kind of disaster;

•

Using local Asian languages more widely and effectively for such coverage;

•

Training journalists in how to cope with trauma themselves, and those traumatised by

a disaster;

•

Training of community broadcasting staff as this media could play a bigger role in

taking the knowledge to the grassroots.

Session 4:
Strengthening links between media and disaster managers

This concluding session of the meeting was joined by a few representatives from
Bangkok-based UN agencies, disaster management organisations and mass media
organisations.

Workshop moderators welcomed them, provided a summary of meeting activities
thus far, and invited them to introduce themselves.

Debate 2: Communication under duress: Do disaster managers make
good communication managers?

This debate was moderated by Chin Saik Yoon, and involved four participants.

Suggested discussion points were:
• When disaster strikes, how to balance the media's insatiable thirst for new

information with ground realities and survival needs of the affected?

• How can disaster managers cope with media scrutiny and criticism? Do

journalists get in the way of relief and rescue efforts?

• Who looks after public accountability and transparency?
• What media can disaster managers take into confidence?
• Which media outlets are the most important -- local, national or global?
• How can we optimise the strengths of print, broadcast and the online media?

• Can anything be done about 'checkbook journalism' that some media

organisations indulge in at disaster scenes (paying or rewarding affected
people to talk t o them exclusively)?

• What non-media communications methods are available to disaster managers?

Heru Hendratmoko, Radio 68H community radio
network, Indonesia described the challenges his
network faced in covering the Tsunami’s aftermath.
• We first heard of the Tsun ami through an SMS,

which simply said: "Earthquake in Aceh.
Seawater rising." We sent in our first reporter to
Aceh with a satellite phone, and he was given a
ride on the plane carrying the Indonesian vice-
president.

• Several international TV networks were beaming pictures from Sri Lanka and

Thailand showing the damage. But the devastation in Aceh turned out to be
much bigger than initially thought. This became known only after a few days,
and then the world responded generously.

• But the post-disaster management could have been better handled by the

Indonesian government. Relief materials were piling up at airport and harbours.
People’s needs and expectations were not being met. Frustrations were setting
in, and morale was very low.

• We decided to use the airwaves to uplift the morale of the Achenese. We felt

this would help them to start rebuilding their lives. Of course, it was not easy.

• We also started rebuilding the local radio station damaged by the waves, and

sought international assistamce. Before the disaster, we had 14 radio stations
in Aceh and we now have 25.

Lisa Hiller, Communications Manager, UNDP Nepal, held
the view that the priority of development organisations
arriving at disaster scenes "is not primarily to communicate,
but to respond to the emergency situation on the ground".
• This frustrates many journalists. It is therefore necessary

for development organisations to see information as a
‘commodity’ -- in the same way they see emergency
shelters or water supply as a commodity.

• As relief workers, we don't just arrive, bringing the tents,

and then say ‘Oh, here it is - you guys pick it up’. We
would find distribution networks, and make sure the
tents reach the right people. We have to manage information in the same way.

• It’s a bit surprising that in Asia – where a majority of countries are still

developing – that development is not considered a top news story.

Surein J S Peiris, Deputy Director General, Sri Lanka Red Cross said the Tsunami

was major challenge to his relief organisation. The
Red Cross did have decades of experience in dealing
with various types of disasters, but the Tsunami was
of an unprecedented scale and magnitude.
• The strength of the Red Cross is in its

volunteerism. We had the capacity and readiness
to mobilise thousands of volunteers for rescue
and relief within hours.

• Under the overall banner of Red Cross, over two

dozen organisations operated in Sri Lanka in the
months following the Tsunami. This included the
ICRC, IFRC, a number of Red Cross societies from

other countries, and of course the Sri Lanka Red Cross. Most sections of the
media did not grasp nor appreciate this complecity. To them, it was all one
and the same Red Cross. Some misreporting and confusion arose as a result.

• As the Red Cross operates on a neutral basis, its preferred mode of operation

is collaboration and partnership building. Sometimes the Red Cross cannot
make statements as expected by the media, criticizing aid agencies or
governments.

• In my view, the media needs to raise and sustain the coverage of the issue of

internally displaced people (IDPs) both in times of disaster and conflict.

Prof Nalini Rajan, Dean, Asian College of Journalism (India) stressed the value
of self reflection by both media practitioners and development/disaster

professionals.
• While journalists dislike it when they are criticised, they

seldom exercise the advers arial role they are expected to
play.

• The media is good at reporting an event in terms of the 5

Ws in journalism -- who, what, where, when and why --
they but not so good at explaining processes that lead to
an event, or the ‘how’ part of it.

• Criticism is needed on both sides: development workers

need to focus the spotlight of criticism on themselves
because there is a good deal of self-congratulation go ing

on while there is much unfinished business.

Box 6

Governments, disasters and communications

Indian environmentalist Anil Agarwal wrote a scathing comment after the Bhuj

earthquake of 2001: “Disasters come and go but, our government has become a

permanent disaster”. While we are vulnerable to natural disasters, he said, these

temporary and preventable disasters turn into massive calamities because of the

“perpetual disaster that this country’s governance system has come to represent”.

The uneasy relationship between Asian governments and the governed came into focus

several times during the meeting. Whether it was the failure of governments to

adequately prepare or warn people of impending disasters, or the inadeq uacies in post-

disaster relief, recovery and rehabilitation, participants felt that governments did too

little, too late.

Lack of good communications was part of the problem. "Governments don't trust the ir

citizen s," was one observation that many agreed with. In some countries, this could be

traced to their colonial or dictatorial past. Similarly, many citizens feel they cannot

count on their governments: the authorities often just want to avoid causing panic and

alarm -- and hence play down or even deliberately suppress early warnings.

The sheer lack of reliable information and the many bottlenecks prevents its flow were

also identified as problems. For instance, in the 1984 Bhopal gas disaster, it took a long

time before the leaking deadly gas could be identified and its seriousness assessed.

The meeting agreed that for media to fulfill its role as public educator and early

warning disseminator, governments need to get their act together and create an

enabling environment. One participant – a media manager - shared his bitter

experience of having to face legal action for a bona fide error in a public interest

website his company had put up after the Tsunami.

Clearly, a good deal of ‘bridge building’ and confidence building is needed.

In the ensuing discussion, participants cited both best and worst practices in
disaster communications. One aspect that drew several comments was the
obsession of many relief and development agencies for ‘branding’: the
phenomenon of using disaster relief items, as well as disaster relief
communications, as ‘logo delivery mechanisms’.

Nalaka Gunawardene drew attention to another unhealthy trend: some
developmental agencies seeking favourable media coverage – basically, their
propaganda - by paying for air time or print space. “This distorts the news values
and makes it more difficult for other agencies to get the media coverage they
deserve . This is corruption – I call it 'checkbook development',” he said.

Development agencies present acknowledged they are under much pressure to
document and account for resources they receive. While coping with these
institutional imperatives, the meeting agreed, issue-based public communication
of development and disasters should not be sidelined or abandoned.

Concluding Remarks

The meeting concluded with a few remarks by the co -organisers and co-
moderators.

• Nalaka Gunawardene described plans for compiling a regional resource book on

Communicating Disasters, which would include: the full report of this meeting;
invited contributions from several participants; and contributions from a
number of other media or development professionals in the region.

• Participants agreed on the value of an internet-based mailing-list focusing on

communications and disaster. The idea is to keep it open to others who are not
present, but interested in the intersection -point of these two topics.

• Building online (or print) directories of journalists interested in developmental

communications was also mentioned. Shahidul Alam said he would be keen to
build up a listing of photographers in various parts ofAsia. Others pointed to
the existence of some such lists.

• Amjad Bhatti mentioned attempts to create a global network of journalists

working on disaster issues. He said special editions were also brought out, with
six being released so far, related to disaster themes. "In South Asia, we are
sharing mountains, river basins and deserts. The question is how to also share
more information?"

In her concluding remarks, Cherie Hart, UNDP’s Regional
Communications Advisor, said looking at the issue in terms of"media
vs. development practitioners or disaster practitioners" was a false
divide. She added: "I don't think they're two different sides. We need
to see each other through the same lens. We have more in common in
goals that we have, than we might first realise ."

She also said it was another "false divide" to see things in terms of the
mainstream media vs. alternative media. "I find that divide is really

fuzzy. More and more, we're seeing bloggers breaking the stories. We're seeing
alternative media coming to the fore. We've already seen how cell phones are
taking the lead."

Manori Wijesekera, TVE Asia Pacific’s Regional Programme
Manager, concluded the meeting by thanking everyone for
having participated with such energy and enthusiasm. “We
had worked hard to bring together a good mix and balance of
participants, and that resulted in a dynamic meeting of minds
where discussion was forthright and honest. Our challenge is
to carry these ideas forward in our own spheres of work.”

This has since been launched, and can be accessed at:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/communicating -disaster/

Annex 1

Building on the Tsunami Experience and

Responding to Future Challenges

A Regional Brainstorming Meet

Bangkok, Thailand: 21 – 22 December 2006

Organised by TVE Asia Pacific (TVEAP)

and

United Nations Development Programme Regional Centre in Bangkok

(UNDP-RCB)

Venue: Royal Orchid Sheraton Hotel and Tower

2 Charoen Krung Soi 30(Captain Bush Lane), New Road, Siphya, Bangkok
10500

Agenda

Meeting Formats:

Panels:
• Typically 3 - 4 panelists

• Moderator introduces topic in 3 – 5 mins

• Each panelist gets 5 mins for initial remarks (prepared statements or

PowerPoint presentations not expected – you may speak from notes).

• Q&A engagement with the full group for at least 30 mins

Debates
• Typically 4 participants in ‘fish bowl’ style seating arrangement

• Moderator introduces topic, and elicits brief initial responses from participants

• Cross-talk between participants is allowed and encouraged

• Moderator moves around, asking pointed questions of both participants and the

live audience – aim is to provoke and stimulate

• With moderator’s permission, the audience gets to pose questions to

participants, or make very short and relevant comments

Interactive sessions
• These will happen involving the full group, or in smaller working groups.

• Exact nature, scope and tasks are to be announced during the meeting.

Film screenings
• Large screen projection of relevant documentaries, preceded or followed by

brief discussion on issues raised by them.

Overall meeting facilitators:

• Chin Saik Yoon, Communications specialist and Publisher, Southbound Press,

Penang, Malaysia

http://www.digital-review.org/bau32.htm

• Nalaka Gunawardene, Director and CEO, TVE Asia Pacific

http://www.childrenoftsunami.info/crews/exec.php#4

Workshop Sessions Overview

Day

Time

Session/activity

Opening remarks and self introductions

Session 1: Distilling media experiences & learning of Asian
Tsunami
Session 2: Beyond Tsunami: zooming out to the wider issues

Day 1
Thursday
21 Dec

Evening dinner and river cruise

Session 3: Enhancing media’s role in communicating disasters
Session 4 (with more local participants joining):
Strengthening links between media and disaster managers

Day 2:
Friday
22 Dec

Closing remarks

Day 1: Thursday, 21 December 2006

Note: Bullet points given under each topic are only suggestive, and not
in anyway meant to confine or influence the discussion in a particular
direction. Moderators will use these and other points to provoke wide-
ranging discussion.

08:30 – 09:00

Registration of participants and distribution of materials

09:00 – 09:15

Welcome and opening remarks:
• Nalaka Gunawardene, Director and CEO, TVE Asia Pacific

• Marcia V.J. Kran, Deputy Regional Manager and Head of Policy and

Programme, UNDP Regional Centre in Bangkok

09:15 – 09:45

Getting to know each other: one minute spotlight
• Tell us who you are, what you do and where you come from

• Share a quick personal experience related to any disaster

09:45 – 10:00

Meeting agenda and formats explained

Session 1

Distilling media experiences and learnings of the Asian Tsunami

10:00 – 11:00

Panel 1: Covering the Asian Tsunami: the hard news edge
Journalists and news editors recall how they covered one of the
biggest news stories in recent years
Moderator: Chin Saik Yoon
Proposed panel:

• Milind Khandekar, Deputy Managing Editor - Star News

• Asoka Dias, Sirasa TV/Mararaja TV, Sri Lanka

• Ahmed Shakeeb, Television Maldives

11:00 – 11:30

Tea/coffee break

11:30 – 12:30

Panel 2: Covering the Asian Tsunami: beyond news headlines
Moderator: Manori Wijesekera, TVE Asia Pacific
Proposed panel:
• Pipope Panitchpakdi, Director - Documentary, Nation Broadcasting

Corporation, Thailand

• Joanne Teoh Kheng Yau, Executive Producer, Channel News Asia

• Dendy Montgomery, Freelance TV professional, Aceh

• Frederick Noronha, Freelance journalist & new media activist, India

12:30 – 13:00

Film screening:
Children of Tsunami: No More Tears
Co-produced by TVE Asia Pacific and Channel News Asia, December 2005

13:00 – 14:00

Lunch break

Session 2

Beyond Tsunami: zooming out to the wider issues

14:00 – 15:15

Debate 1: Communicating Disasters or Communications Disasters?
• Is information an essential ‘relief item’ during and after disasters?

• Where does the media’s role begin and end in disasters?

• Should media merely report and analyse – or get involved in rescue,

relief, recovery and rehabilitation as well?

• How do we balance the public’s right to know with the right to

privacy of disaster affected persons

• How do new media alter the traditional media coverage of disasters?

• Can citizen journalists help improve communication of disasters?

Moderator: Nalaka Gunawardene
In the ‘fishbowl’ (proposed):
• Lynette Lee Corporal, Project Editor, Inter Press Service - Asia

Pacific

• Amjad Bhatti, Regional Coordinator, Duryog Nivaran - South Asian

Network for Disaster Risk Reduction

• Shahidul Alam, Director, Drik Picture Library, Bangladesh

• A S Panneerselvan, Executive Director, Panos South Asia

15:15 – 15:45

Tea/coffee break

15:45 – 17:00

Interactive session: “I wish….”
Each participant gets to express one wish on how hazards, disasters and
post-disaster situations can be better communicated in the media:
• Format: express in 1 min or less (alternative: write on flash card)

• Feel free to add to someone else’s wish

• Facilitators will cluster and collate all wishes to produce a synthesis

for Day 2

17:00

End of sessions

19:00

Dinner reception and river cruise

22:00

Estimated time of return to the hotel

Day 2: Friday, 22 December 2006

09:00 – 09:15

The combined ‘wish list’:
A synthesis of participants’ wishes exp ressed on Day 1
Summed up by Chin Saik Yoon & Nalaka Gunawardene

09:15 – 09:30

Film screening 2
Video clips sourced by meeting participants

Session 3

Enhancing media’s role in communicating disasters

09:30 – 10:30

Panel 3: Communicating before disaster strikes
• What meaningful role can the mass media play in disaster

awareness and preparedness at community/national levels?

• How can media cover different types of disasters – some evolving

slowly (e.g. droughts) and others more rapidly or without prior
warn ing?

• How best can mass media amplify credible hazard warnings,

broadcasting them to the largest numbers in shortest possible time?

• What role do the new media play in disseminating early warnings?

• How can we improve the nexus between disaster managers, early

warning systems and the media?

Moderator: Roopa Rakshit, Communication & Information Manager,
Asian Disaster Preparedness Centre (ADPC), Bangkok
Proposed panel:
• Cherdsak Virapat, National Disaster Warning Centre, Thailand

• Pablo Torrealba, Regional Risk Reduction Specialist, Crisis

Prevention and Recovery (CPR) Team, UNDP

• Lakshman Bandaranayake, Managing Director, Vanguard

Management (ETV channel), Sri Lanka

• Joe Carlos, Programme Manager, Asia-Pacific Institute for

Broadcasting Development (AIBD)

10:30 – 11:00

Tea/coffee break

11:00 – 12:15

Working group activity

• Participants divide themselves into three smaller groups and work

in parallel sessions to come up with some guidelines for more
effective engagement of mass media and new media before, during
and after disasters.

• Working groups will be provided a brief and the meeting convenors

will roam among the groups to provide inputs if needed.

12:15 – 13:00

Group work presentations
• Working groups come back together to present each group’s

recommended gu idelines

• Followed by discussion.

13:00 – 14:00

Lunch break

Session 4

Strengthening links between media and disaster managers
(involving several more participants from Bangkok)

14:00 – 14:10

• Welcoming newly joining participants from Bangkok-based UN

agencies, disaster management organisations and mass media

• Summing up what has happened so far
By Chin Saik Yoon and Nalaka Gunawardene

14:30 – 15:15

Debate: Communicating under duress – Part 1
Do disaster managers make good communication managers?
• When disaster strikes, how to balance media’s insatiable thirst for

new information with ground realities and survival needs of
affected

• How can disaster managers cope with media scrutiny and criticism?

• Do journalists get in the way of relief and rescue efforts?

• Who looks after public accountability and transparency?

• What media can disaster managers to take into confidence?

• Which media outlets are most important – local, national or global?

• How can we optimise the strengths of print, broadcast and online

media?

• Can anything be done about ‘chequebook journalism’ that some

media organisations indulge in at disaster scenes (paying/rewarding
affected people to talk to them exclusively)?

• What non-media communications methods are available to disaster

managers?

Moderator: Chin Saik Yoon
In the ‘fishbowl’ (proposed):
• Prof Nalini Rajan, Dean, Asian College of Journalism, India

• Heru Hendratmoko, Radio 68H, Indonesia

• Lisa Hiller, Communications Manager, UNDP Nepal

• Surein J S Peiris, Deputy Director General, Sri Lanka Red Cro ss

15:15 – 15:45

Tea/coffee break

15:45 – 16:30

Debate: Communicating under duress - Part 2
How to build better ‘bridges’ between media and disaster managers
• What are the best models and examples for media and disaster

managers cooperating well?

• How best to accommodate and amplify the voices of disaster

affected people?

• How to avoid confrontations between journalists and disaster

managers when it comes to communicating disasters?

• Balancing the interests of governments, local NGOs and

international NGOs - all engaged in disaster relief and management

• What happens when charities and relief agencies compete for

media attention and coverage, each vying for their ‘15 minutes of
fame’?

• Do disaster relief items become ‘logo delivery mechanisms’ for high

profile relief agencies?

Moderator: Chin Saik Yoon/Nalaka Gunawardene
In the ‘fishbowl’ (proposed):
Same debate participants continue

16:00 – 17:00

Further engagement with the enhanced audience

17:00

Concluding remarks by:
• Co-facilitators: Chin Saik Yoon and Nalaka Gunawardene

• Co-organiser: Manori Wijesekera, Regional Programme Manager,

TVE Asia Pacific

• Co-organiser: Cherie Hart, Regional Communications Advisor, UNDP

Regional Centre Bangkok

Annex 2

List of Meeting Participants, Facilitators and Organisers

New media and mass media organisations

• Dr. Shahdiul Alam, Managing Director, Drik Picture Library Ltd, Dhaka,

Bangladesh

• Mr. Lakshaman Bandaranayake, Chairman/Managing Director, Vanguard

Management Services (Pvt) Limited, Colombo, Sri Lanka

• Ms. Lynette Lee Corporal, Project Editor, Inter Press Service Asia Pacific,

Bangkok, Thailand

• Mr. Asoka Dias, Director Station, Sirasa TV, Colombo, Sri Lanka

• Mr. Heru Hendratmoko, Production Director, Radio News Agency KBR

68H, Jakarta, Indonesia

• Mr. Milind K Khandekar, Deputy Managing Editor, Star News, Mumbai,

India

• Mr. Dendy F. Montgomery, Freelance Cameraman, Aceh, Indonesia

• Mr. Pipope Panitchpakdi, Director of Special Report and Documentary,

Nation Broadcasting Corporation, Bangkok, Thailand

• Mr. Ahmed Shakeeb, Announcer, Television Maldives, Male, Maldives.

• Ms. Joanne Teoh Kheng Yau, Senior Producer, Channel News Asia, Singapore

Research and academic organisations

• Mr. Amjad Bhatti, Regional Coordinator, Duryog Nivaran, South Asian

Network for Disaster Risk Reduction, Islamabad, Pakistan.

• Mr. Joe Carlos, Programme Manager, Asia Pacific Institute for

Broadcasting Development (AIBD), Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

• Mr. A S Panneerselvan, Executive Director, Panos South Asia, Kathmandu,

Nepal.

• Dr. Nalini Rajan, Dean of Studies & Associate Professor, Asian College of

Journalism, Chennai, India.

• Ms. Roopa Rakshit, Communication & Information Manager, Asian

Disaster Preparedness Center (ADPC), Bangkok, Thailand.

Governmental and non governmental organisations

• Ms. Nalini Keshavaraj, Manager, Tamil Nadu Tsunami Resource Centre,

Chennai, India.

• Mr. Surein J.S. Peiris, Deputy Director General, Sri Lanka Red Cross

Society, Colombo, Sri Lanka.

• Mrs. Yupayong Thetapupa, Department of Disaster Prevention and

Mitigation, Ministry of Interior, Bangkok, Thailand.

• Mr. Cherdsak Virapat, Chief, International Coordination National

Disaster Warning Center, Thailand (NDWC), Bangkok, Thailand.

Meeting facilitation and documentation

• Mr. Chin, Saik Yoon, Publisher, Southbound, Penang, Malaysia.

• Mr. Frederick Noronha, Independent Journalist, Goa, India.

Co-organisers – TVE Asia Pacific

• Mr. Nalaka Gunawardene, Director and CEO, TVE Asia Pacific

• Mr. Janaka Sri Jayalath, Audio Visual Officer, TVE Asia Pacific

• Ms. Geeta Saravanan, Administrative Officer, TVE Asia Pacific

• Ms. Manori Wijesekera, Regional Programme Manager, TVE Asia Pacific

Co-organisers – UNDP Regional Centre in Bangkok (RCB)

• Ms. Christine Apikul, Programme Specialist – Content Development and

Knowledge Management, UNDP-APDIP, Bangkok, Thailand.

• Ms. Cherie Hart, Regional Communications Advisor, UNDP Regional

Centre in Bangkok

• Ms. Lisa Hiller, Communications Manager, UNDP Nepal, Kathmandu,

Nepal.

• Mr. Pablo Torrealba, Risk Reduction Specialist, UNDP, Regional Centre

Bangkok , Thailand

• Mr. Chanuka Wattegama, Programme Specialist ICT4D, UNDP-APDIP,

Colombo, Sri Lanka.

Annex 3

Suggested guidelines for more effective engagement of mass media and
new media before, during and after disasters

These guidelines were drafted by the meeting participants, working in three
parallel groups during the morning of Day Two.

Before a disaster strikes (hazard phase)

Gudelines for media organisations, and also government/developmental
organisations:
• Investigative reports are needed; on issues like institutional readiness.

• Pre-disaster work needs to start years before disaster, not minutes before.
• Need for credible government agencies tackling such issues.
• Institutional, developmental and academic institutions need to provide media

with easy-to-digest information.

• Non-media institutions need to assist media in covering slow-moving stories,

and to provide the 'human face' to what could otherwise be just dry stories.

• Fill in the 'resource gap'. Recognise logistical limitations of the media, with

support from institutions for exposure visits and the like.

• Developmental organisations and institutions should make efforts to

understand the diversity of the media. This means, diverse sections of the
media need to be dealt with in differing ways.

• State of preparedness needed to be created among media organisations.

• Reach out to a greater variety of the media, and also the traditional media
• Institutions could make available B-roll footage available to the media, exploit

existing networks such as the UNiFeed,

http://www.un.org/unifeed/

. Online

photo libraries could also help to build awareness in the media. Institutions
(working on disaster issues) should consider starting blogs.

• Local languages need to be deployed in media campaigns.
• Editors should be encouraged to have a 'disaster beat'
• Preparedness is a cultural value. It needs to be built upon.

During an unfolding disaster and immediately afterwards (first two
weeks)

• It’s not possible nor realistic to compile a rigid list of do's and don'ts.
• This phase of the disaster, in most cases, involves a window of two weeks from

the time a disaster breaks.

• Focus on the 'immediate' media -- newspapers, TV, radio, web, cell phone.

(Theatre, music, etc., may not be relevant at this point of time.)

• Work actively to bridge the mismatch between victims' needs and relief

agencies’ interest/focus.

• Let media have access to all information and sites, without restriction. Don't

prevent journalists from reaching the disaster and other relevant sites.

• Encourage active participation of affected parties in the information and

communication processes.

• Rather than preparing any more manuals or guidelines for media, what is

needed is training, reorientation and sensitising for developmental agencies.

• Media needs to considered and build (based on spot-reporting), a central desk,

expert panel and other suitable forms to better cover an unfolding disaster
situation .

• The goal is to spread information effectively, and provide expression to the

people affected.

• Media should be treated as (those generating information for) part of the

public domain, and a space for complementing ideas.

• Guidelines: Encourage and support all forms of narratives, and visuals.
• Guidelines: Be sensitive. There can be a difference between showing bodies

and gore.

• Guidelines: Don't be offensive.
• Guidelines: Be effective.
• Guidelines: Training needed for the authorities, donors, agencies to

understand journalism and how media organisations work.

• Bridge the mismatch between information available and needed.
• Assessment should start from the ground up.
• Let media have access to real information.

• New media (including TV) requirement: good ‘sound bytes’.
• Media needs to adopt an antagonistic position, based on its logic of operations.

Idea is to make those in power more accountable, less cosy.

After a disaster: long-term recovery

• Taking care of physical needs without overlooking mental disorders, stress,

psychosomatic issues that are not often raised.

• Factors that exacerbate the problem need to be focused on: ethnic tensions,

regional divisions, etc.

• Issues of gender need to be considered: especially concerns such as redefining

women's role in the family after a disaster.

• Make available “cultural” emergency relief, as well as recovery support
• Disaster beat is recommended, the media should work to keep post-disaster

issues in the news.

• Media should focus on both immediate aftermath and long-term effects.
• Be aware about possible mismatch between aid available, and the community

needs.

• Media coverage needs to extend beyond the status quo in society (e.g. male

control of households and assets).

• New media can play a special role in bypassing the hierarchy.
• Media has a role in 're-energising' the community during recovery phase.
• Media also has a role to play in sharing relevant stories with the community.