Global Issues

When Information Saves Lives

Engaging Local Media in Humanitarian Crises

CASE STUDY: War—Gaza

Mohammad Abu Shahmeh/Internews

"It was darkness, no electricity, and the only thing that connected us to the world was a small radio. We were more than forty people, men, women, and children sleeping in the living room, listening to the radio and moving the tuner from one station to another; no one could sleep." — Um Ibrahim, a mother of eight living in Khan Younis, south of Gaza City, during the Israeli airstrikes on Gaza in December 2008 and January 2009.

THE NEED

The military conflict between Israel and Hamas in late December 2008 caused electricity outages and shortages of diesel fuel that quickly forced Gaza’s independent broadcasters off the air. Mobile phone services were also cut off, leaving ordinary Gazans with no reliable source of information in the crisis.

THE RESPONSE

On January 9, 2009, during the height of the conflict, Internews became the first and only international organization to organize the broadcast of vital information on distribution of food and blankets, safe havens, road closures, medical care, and other humanitarian news to the people of Gaza. Produced by a team of Palestinian journalists, the special broadcasts, which currently focus on the fragile ceasefire and reconstruction period, air on three independent radio stations in Hebron and one in Gaza.

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