Providing News for Quake Survivors

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Pakistan, looking back a year after the earthquake Providing News for Quake Survivors hen Pakistan’s worst natural Within days of the disaster struck on October 8, quake Internews organ- 2005, over 80,000 died—in- ized a team of radio re- W cluding 30,000 children in porters from the North classrooms. More than 100,000 West Frontier Province to were injured, and 3.5 million produce comprehensive lost their homes. coverage of the humanitar- With transmitters down and radios ian situation and the relief lost in the rubble, survivors had little eﬀort, helping people to access to credible information. Rumors make critical decisions

were rampant. Many in cut-oﬀ moun- about their future. The DAVID SWANSON/IRIN DAVID

tain villages realized too late that their journalists had received © best hope for survival would have been extensive training from A year after a powerful earthquake devastated northern Pakistan, some 100,000 still to trek out, their wounded on their Internews over more than live in tent camps as another winter approaches. Families like Nadia’s (above) continue backs, as bad weather meant no heli- two years in field reporting to rely heavily on radio news to stay informed about relief and reconstruction efforts as they rebuild their shattered lives. copters were coming to rescue them. continued on page 6 IN THIS ISSUE From firewood collection to Barack Obama FOCUS: HUMANITARIAN MEDIA Refugees from Darfur Get Their Own Radio Stations Short Takes: Clinton, Katrina, and Carlos ...... 2 hen fighting broke out in a re- station that serves refugees from Darfur gion of northeastern Chad and as well as the local Chadian popula- Q and A with Mark Frohardt ...... 3 medical staff were evacuated tion, let people know not to take their Editorʼs Note: Humanitarian Media ...... 3 W from a local hospital, Radio wounded there. Absoun, a community radio When relief agencies urged refugees Photo Essay: Local Media in Disasters ...... 4 to use solar cookers instead of hunt- ing for scarce firewood, Radio Absoun Rebuilding Media After the Tsunami ...... 7 covered the story. The station’s report- Yogyakarta Station Fills Information Void ...... 7 ing helped refugees to voice their concerns—including objections that the Internews Turns 25! ...... 8 cooking did not taste as good without the smoke flavor—but also made them more aware that firewood collection

was causing environmental damage GEORGE PAPAGIANNIS/INTERNEWS GEORGE and increasing tensions with local On a visit to Chad, US Senator Barack Obama was interviewed Chadians. by reporter Issaka Allafouza (left) for La Voix du Ouaddaï, one of INTERNEWS three radio stations Internews is building for Darfuri refugees. continued on page 6 S HORT T AKES FROM I NTERNEWS HEALTH TEAM JOINS CARLOS PASCUAL ON A I D S C O N FERENCE INTERNEWS BOARD The pivotal role of the news media Carlos Pascual has joined Internews in reducing the spread of HIV/AIDS Network’s Board of Directors. Pascual was the focus of an Internews delega- is Vice President and Director of the tion to the 2006 International AIDS Foreign Policy Studies Program at the Conference in Toronto, Ontario in Brookings Institution. August. Attended by some 20,0000 Pascual joined Brookings after a 23-year career in the US Department of State,

the National Security CLINTON GLOBAL INITIATIVE Council, and the US INTERNEWS AT Agency for International Development (USAID). CLINTON MEETING At the Department Former National Security Advisor of State, Pascual served Sandy Berger highlighted Internews’ as Coordinator for Humanitarian Media Assistance Project Reconstruction and at the Clinton Global Initiative in New Stabilization, leading US York in September. Berger presented a government planning to certificate to Internews Network Chief help reconstruct societies Operating Officer Jeanne Bourgault. in transition from con- CGI is an invitation-only, non-par- flict or civil strife. His tisan endeavor that joins leaders from a work focused on Sudan range of disciplines to devise innovative and Haiti, and creating solutions to global challenges. CARLA CARTER-HOPWOOD a capacity for civilian Internews made a commitment to Members of the Internews health journalism team working in India, Kenya, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Thailand and the US participated in the 2006 International AIDS agencies to prevent and CGI to implement a humanitarian Conference in Toronto in August. Internews held a roundtable discussion on “African News respond to conflict. He media assistance program that builds Media and HIV/AIDS” with the World Bank. previously served as on its experience helping local media to Ambassador to Ukraine. provide critical information to popula- researchers, health experts, NGOs and tions affected by disaster. Internews is activists, the conference is the world’s MARKING K A T R I N A seeking funding partners to achieve this most important annual gathering deal- IN NEW ORLEANS commitment. ing with this critical health issue. In partnership with the World Bank, FIREBOMBED S T A T I O N Internews held a special roundtable WILL BE REBUILT discussion on “African News Media and HIV/AIDS.” Recognizing that At 2:30 a.m. on August 11, some- stigma and lack of information in one threw a firebomb through the sub-Saharan Africa deter many people window of Radio Istiqlal, a community from finding out their HIV status or radio station in Logar, Afghanistan. seeking treatment, the session explored Though no one was seriously hurt, the treatment of HIV/AIDS in African nearly all the equipment was destroyed. OLGA KRAVTSOVA/INTERNEWS RUSSIA Radio Istiqlal is one of 32 indepen- news media and offered suggestions for On the one-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, Maxim Voronin African journalists’ engagement with from the TV station TV-2 in Tomsk, Russia filmed in New Orleans’ dent, Afghan-operated stations built HIV/AIDS issues. Lower Ninth Ward. Voronin was part of a group of five promising by Internews throughout Afghanistan At the conference, Internews also young Russian television journalists who toured several US cities under grants from USAID and Pact. provided daily online news updates in a 40-foot long mobile production studio. The journalists also Internews is helping the station to re- made an appearance on CBS’ The Early Show. The tour was place its lost broadcasting equipment from developing country journalists organized by Downtown Community Television Center in New who attended the conference. York, Internews Network, and Internews Russia. and to rebuild in a safer location.

2 Q and A with Mark Frohardt

ark Frohardtʼs sixteen-year career in What are humanitarian relief has led him to coor- some of the dinate health services for refugees on the roles media play in a M Thai-CambodianM border; work for Doctors humanitar- According to the Red Cross, "Information Without Borders in Chad and the United ian crisis? Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Sudan bestows power. Lack of information can In the im- and Somalia; assist with the repatriation of Kurds LAURA STEIN/INTERNEWS mediate make people victims of disaster . . . People into northern Iraq after the first Gulf War; consult in aftermath Mark Frohardt, Humanitarian Media Director for Internews Network need information as much as water, food, Sarajevo during the Bosnian war; and manage UN of a natural human rights field operations in Rwanda following disaster, medicine or shelter. Information can save lives, the genocide. Frohardt, who joined Internews in people only know what they can see livelihoods and resources." 1999, serves as Africa Regional Director and Humani- of their immediate surroundings. Broadcast media, particularly radio, tarian Media Director. can provide a critical assessment of the This issue extent and severity of the crisis for the What drives your interest in using entire community. This helps families of Internews HUMANITARIAN media in crisis situations? to decide whether to pack up and move Report focuses MEDIA My initial interest arose from seeing or hunker down. how the lack of information in a com- on Internewsʼ Local media can play a key role in in- plex emergency could have enormous forming the response and the process work enabling negative consequences for people af- of reconstruction. Reporters who have fected by the crisis. local media to provide essential information been covering the community for years In a crisis situation, the sooner an ef- are well-placed to create a forum for during humanitarian crises, including the fective two-way flow of information discussion, giving voice to the commu- Asian tsunami in December 2004 (page 7), the can be established between the local nity in the reconstruction process. population and those providing assis- To what extent do relief agencies rec- massive earthquake in Pakistan one year ago tance, the sooner those affected by the ognize the role of media in disasters? crisis can become active participants in (page 1), the ongoing refugee crisis in Darfur Humanitarian organizations often find their own recovery. (page 1), and the May earthquake in Western it easier to communicate through con- In a crisis, isn’t media support a luxu- trolled information campaigns rather Java, Indonesia (page 7). ry compared to food and shelter? than local media, whom they perceive It is not a zero-sum game. Support for as overly focused on the problems in In a crisis, relief and recovery is most effective local media doesn’t detract from hu- assistance delivery. manitarian response; accurate informa- Support for local media can help when those affected by the disaster and tion dramatically improves the delivery reporters better understand the com- of assistance. the relief agencies that serve them receive plexities of delivering aid in an emer- Information abhors a vacuum. So the gency and form more constructive accurate, relevant information. Local media absence of reliable broadcasts or other relationships with humanitarian agen- can play a vital role as a two-way channel forms of information coming from cies. This helps local reporters provide trusted sources creates exceptionally the information that communities need of communication between these parties, fertile ground for rumors. to maximize the use of assistance and ensuring that people know how to get aid and In Chad we found that when the gov- report on the problems of aid through ernment imposed travel restrictions, a constructive public dialogue, rather that humanitarian agencies know how best to rumors spread that the government was than simply critical reporting. deliver that aid. Having lost so much already, trying to make life difficult for the ref- The best way to ensure effective com- ugees to make them go home. Actually munication between the humanitarian disaster survivors deserve no less. there were serious security problems. community and the local population Once local radio shared this, people’s is not through information campaigns, attitudes changed. but through local media who speak in ANNETTE MAKINO a voice that the community trusts. EDITOR ([email protected])

3 Glimpses of the Role of Local Media in Disasters Tsunamis, earthquakes, hurricanes, epidemics, refugee crises—these are just a few of the natural and human-created disasters that have struck recently. In several countries, Internews has turned its expertise in fostering independent media toward enabling local media to play a vital role

in alleviating human suffering. STRONG ANGEL III ANGEL STRONG

WAYNE SHARPE/INTERNEWSWAYNE

INTERNEWS INDONESIA

GEORGE PAPAGIANNIS/INTERNEWS GEORGE

WHITE PAPER ON BEST PRACTICES FOR HUMANITARIAN MEDIA Internews is producing a paper on best practices for local media in humanitarian crises. To receive a copy when the paper is complete, please

email [email protected]. For more information on Internewsʼ work in humanitarian media, see www.internews.org/global/er. PICTURES/INTERNEWS EDWARDS/STILL MARK

4 PHOTOS THIS PAGE, FROM TOP: • CALIFORNIA. Strong Angel III, a disaster response demonstration held in San Diego in August, joined disaster responders, technologists, relief workers, and military and civil officials to test out technologies and tools for responding to a humanitarian crisis. Internews representatives Mark Frohardt (far left) and Kathleen Reen (not pictured) worked with citizen media guru Dan Gillmor (standing) and others, contributing their real-life expertise in media and disasters. • PAKISTAN. In the aftermath of the October 2005 earthquake, Internews produced a daily radio program on relief and reconstruction and distributed 10,000 wind-up/solar radios to affected families to help them stay informed on issues such as government compensation policies and health warnings, and methods for reconstruction and rehabilitation. • SRI LANKA. Internews responded to the December 2004 Asian tsunami by setting up mobile radio production units. Journalists were trained to produce a daily radio program of information for those affected by the crisis. • ACEH, INDONESIA. After the tsunami, Internews helped community radio station Suara Aceh (Voice of Aceh) to provide the first emergency programming for Banda Aceh and surrounding areas. OPPOSITE PAGE, FROM TOP LEFT: • WEST JAVA, INDONESIA. An Indonesian journalist interviews a chicken seller about avian flu at a bird market in Bandung. Internews has trained journalists in the technical skills and safety precautions needed to cover the story of avian flu. • ACEH, INDONESIA. The 9.3 Asian earthquake and tsunami caused major damage and flooding in the city of Banda Aceh. • CHAD. On the main square in Iriba, reporter Al Haram Oumar conducts an interview for one of Internews’ community radio stations for refugees from Darfur as well as local Chadians.

INTERNEWS SRI LANKA

KATHLEEN REEN/INTERNEWS

MORE PHOTOS ONLINE Mark Edwards, one of the world’s most widely published editorial photographers, spent a week following Internews’ post-quake reporting team. He captured this family, left, listening to a wind-up/solar radio. For more images, see MARK EDWARDS/STILL PICTURES/INTERNEWS EDWARDS/STILL MARK www.internews.org/slideshow/MarkEdwards.

5 In Eastern Chad, Refugees from Darfur Get Their Own Community Radio Stations continued from front page and water distribution; where to get Through Radio Absoun, which health and immunization services; and broadcasts from the dusty frontier what is happening in their home ar- town of Iriba, the refugees have gained eas. Radio Absoun also airs social and a forum to express their concerns to educational programs, especially those the relief agencies, and the agencies are dealing with violence against women able to explain their roles and programs and domestic abuse. The staﬀ includes more eﬀectively. Chadians and Sudanese refugees who Radio Absoun is one of three com- produce their programs in Arabic,

munity radio stations Internews is French and Zaghawa.

establishing along Chad’s border with In a news coup, another station Sudan to improve the lives of tens of Internews started, La Voix du Ouaddaï,

thousands of refugees who have fled interviewed US Senator Barack Obama GEORGE PAPAGIANNIS/INTERNEWS GEORGE the conflict in Darfur, and the lives of about security issues after he visited a Chadians affected by their arrival. refugee camp on the border in August. Internews’ Resident Advisor in Chad, Fiacre Munezeero, right, poses with Badour, a Darfuri refugee turned reporter. The station broadcasts a mixture of Internews works in partnership news, information and music for six with a Chadian organization, l’Asso- of Transition Initiatives, the US State hours every day. The result is that for ciation de Développement des Médias Department’s Bureau of Population, the first time, refugees hear news that Communautaires (ADMC). Internews’ Refugees, and Migration, and the directly affects their survival, including project is funded by the US Agency United Nations High Commissioner information on security, food rations for International Development’s Office for Refugees (UNHCR). In Pakistan, Providing Vital News for Earthquake Survivors continued from front page Jazba-e-Tameer, which ran through relief effort. After the program reported and radio production. July 2006 and was broadcast in Urdu, that the 10,000 refugees in the tent vil- Internews’ daily one-hour pro- Hindko and Pahari, played a vital role lage of Tariqabad, Muzaffarabad, had gram, Jazba-e-Tameer (The Desire to in providing survivors and relief orga- been without electricity for nearly two Rebuild), was broadcast on seven emer- nizations alike with ongoing coverage months, authorities restored power gency FM radio stations licensed by the about the reconstruction process. within the week. government following intensive advo- Gul Pervez, a listener in Thakot Jazba also reported on the illegal cacy and policy advice by Internews. Village, Battagram, said, “Jazba helped sale of relief goods such as tents, blan- end confusion about kets, and medicines by shopkeepers in seismic reports in the Mansehra. In response, a district police red zone areas and chief promised on the air to establish stopped rumors about distribution checkpoints, ending the mass evacuation. Now illicit sales. people have enough Together with the UN High information and have Commissioner for Refugees, Internews started rebuilding their also distributed 10,000 multi-power homes.” radio sets to quake survivors to keep Another listener, Bilal them informed of issues affecting them. from Bathkool Village, The radios can run on hand-crank, so- Battagram, said, “Jazba lar, battery, or electrical power. gives voice to the voice- Internews’ post-earthquake less. It has become the work in Pakistan was funded by the local BBC of Pakistan.” UK’s Department for International Jazba has had signifi- Development, the Swiss Agency for

MARK EDWARDS/STILL PICTURES/INTERNEWS cant impact in improv- Development and Cooperation, and Journalist Sumeera Awan interviews an earthquake survivor in northern Pakistan for ing eﬀectiveness and the US State Department’s Bureau of Internews’ radio program of post-earthquake humanitarian information. accountability in the Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor.

6 After Tsunami, Internews Rebuilds Media in Aceh and Sri Lanka he Asian earthquake and tsuna- a “suitcase radio station” mi that struck on December 26, to the remote province. 2004 was one of the deadliest Within two weeks of the T catastrophes in modern history. tsunami, the only radio It killed some 230,000 people station back on the air, and left countless homeless. Suara Aceh (Voice of The disaster also devastated the me- Aceh), was set up with a dia sector in aﬀected countries just at suitcase radio station to a time when survivors urgently needed allow them to extend their information about the extent of the reach beyond the capital. damage and the relief eﬀort. Radio Using a team of antennas and transmitters were washed Acehnese and Javanese away, printing presses smashed. Many journalists, Internews then journalists were killed or injured. began producing a daily The Indonesian province of Aceh radio program, Peuneugah was one of the hardest-hit areas. Aceh (News from Aceh),

Internews, which had been working which broadcast news of SHARPE/INTERNEWSWAYNE with Acehnese journalists for six years, reconstruction to an esti- The groundbreaking Peuneugah Aceh (News from Aceh) radio program was produced by immediately ﬂew in a radio team and mated one million people a team of Indonesian journalists in a production studio Internews built in Banda Aceh. through September 2006. Internews’ reconstruction work in radio program that told the story of the Aceh was funded by USAID, the John reconstruction through the voices of S. and James L. Knight Foundation, those aﬀected. the UK’s Department for International This daily 40-minute program, Development, and HIVOS. produced in both Tamil and Sinhalese, Meanwhile, in Sri Lanka, with a was a dramatic new step for Sri

INTERNEWS grant from USAID, Internews trained Lankan media, which have usually

TCHELL/ journalists in ﬁeld-based reporting, a ignored voices from the regions out-

ground-breaking format for Sri Lankan side Colombo. A survey conducted by

JONATHAN WI JONATHAN

In Sri Lanka, building on its post-tsunami work, Internews radio, and set up mobile production USAID showed that the project signifi- launched the Media House in Matara to ensure that Sri Lankan units in tsunami-affected areas. These cantly improved listeners’ understand- media include the voices of communities isolated from Colombo. units produced the only comprehensive ing of the issues affecting them. Yogyakarta Radio Station Fills Information Void After Earthquake or many earthquake victims in A magnitude 6.2 quake struck is fastest through radio and community Yogyakarta on the populous Yogyakarta, about 400 kilometers east participation. We give our listeners Indonesian island of Java, the of Jakarta, in the early hours of May news and information that they would F voice of radio presenter Ayank 27, killing over 5,000 people and leav- not otherwise have,” says Ayank. Lubis over the airwaves marks ing 1.6 million homeless. the start of a new day. Soon after the earthquake, Inter- “Good morning Yogya. This is news launched a project to disseminate Radio Punokawan, your friend when news of relief and reconstruction, with you’re sad and happy,” says Ayank each grants from USAID and the William morning at seven sharp when she in- and Flora Hewlett Foundation. troduces her two-hour program, Suara Besides helping community radio Warga (Voice of the People). stations rebuild, Internews worked with “I feel I have something to contrib- the Indonesian Press and Broadcast ute to help alleviate the suffering of the Society to establish an emergency AM earthquake victims,” she says. “That radio station called Radio Punokawan. INTERNEWSINDONESIA keeps me going every day despite the “The dissemination of humanitarian Ayank Lubis hosts a daily radio show for Javanese earthquake long working hours.” information to the earthquake victims victims, many of whom still live in plastic tents.

7 Internews Turns 25! ABOUT INTERNEWS INTERNEWS® INTERNATIONAL OFFICES Internews® Network is an international non- Afghanistan (Kabul) nternews Network will cel- Armenia (Yerevan) ebrate its 25th anniversary in proﬁt organization that works to improve access Azerbaijan (Baku, Ganja) Bosnia-Herzegovina (Sarajevo) 2007, marking a quarter-cen- to information for people around the world by Cambodia (Phnom Penh) tury of fostering independent Chad (Abéché) I fostering independent media and promoting open China (Beijing) media and access to informa- Côte dʼIvoire (Abidjan) tion worldwide. Egypt (Cairo) communications policies in the public interest. Ethiopia (Addis Ababa) To honor this milestone, Internews France (Paris) has launched a new web site, at www. Internews programs are built on the conviction Georgia (Tbilisi) India (Chennai) internews.org. The site features moving that providing people with access to vibrant, Indonesia (Jakarta, Banda Aceh) personal stories of jour- Kazakhstan (Almaty) diverse news and information empowers them Kenya (Nairobi) nalists, photographers, Kosovo (Prishtina) TV producers and oth- Kyrgyz Republic (Bishkek, Osh) to participate effectively in their communities, Macedonia (FYROM) (Skopje) ers who are using media Nigeria (Abuja) effect positive social change, improve their living Pakistan (Islamabad, Karachi, Peshawar) as a catalyst for change. Russia (Moscow) By nurturing dedi- standards, and make their voices heard. Formed Rwanda (Kigali) cated people like these in 70 countries Sri Lanka (Colombo) in 1982, Internews Network has worked in 70 Tajikistan (Dushanbe, Khujand) to date, Internews continues the work Thailand (Bangkok) countries and currently has ofﬁces in 23 countries. Timor Leste (Dili) it began in 1982 through its pioneer- Ukraine (Kyiv) ing televised “spacebridges” linking United Kingdom (London) INTERNEWS NETWORK HEADQUARTERS United States (Arcata, New York, Washington, DC) Americans and Soviets for uncensored P.O. Box 4448 • Arcata, CA 95518-4448 • USA Vietnam (Hanoi) discussions. The goal remains constant: Tel: +1 707 826-2030 • Fax: +1 707 826-2136 West Bank and Gaza (Ramallah) Email: [email protected] • Web: www.internews.org to use communications technologies INTERNEWS REPORT is a publication of Internews Network, Inc. to improve understanding and to em- © INTERNEWS NETWORK, INC. OCTOBER 2006 power people around the world.

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