Greater role for media in crisis

Media institutions must do more to help war-affected civilians by providing crucial humanitarian information and helping to ensure that the international community responds more appropriately to emergency situations, like the DRC, the ‘Christian Science Monitor’ stated on Wednesday. The media were gradually emerging as an important player in alleviating the plight of populations in crisis but could still do more to bridge “a staggering information gap”, it said. In the DRC, it said, more than 1.7 million people were believed to have died from war-related conditions though observers believed many could have been saved “with access to even the most basic health information,” the report said.

Local populations that know what is happening are better equipped to deal with disaster; deal more effectively with such things as rumour, landmines, cholera outbreaks or the tracking of lost relatives; and enable refugees, displaced people or other affected civilians to better understand the way the international community operates, according to the report. The types of information suggested to help civilians survive or improve their situations in crises included: ‘news you can use’, such as the location of food distribution points; distance education programmes for children; refugee newsletters; post-conflict youth radio; health soap operas and interactive roadshows promoting anything from peace-building to racial tolerance to HIV/AIDS awareness.

The distribution of wind-up or solar radios would also be very useful, the report said. Reliable, impartial and independent media initiatives can dramatically improve the effectiveness of international aid operations” by responding credibly to the needs of affected populations, it added. [see CSM report at: http://www.reliefweb.int/w/rwb.nsf/WCE?OpenForm]