Open Media Watch

Humanitarian Media

Natural Disasters

Following are articles from other sources related to media in natural disasters and in conflict or post-conflict situations. The opinions and views expressed in these articles are not necessarily those of Internews.

Haiti

Ushahidi & The Unprecedented Role of SMS in Disaster Response, Haiti Rewired, February 23, 2010
What if we could communicate with disaster affected communities in real-time just days after a major disaster like the quake in Haiti? That is exactly what happened thanks to a partnership between the Emergency Information Service (EIS), InSTEDD, Ushahidi, Haitian Telcos and the US State Department.

Twitter Teams with Haiti Telco To Provide Free Text Tweets, Epicenter (Wired), February 22, 2010
Text messages have already raised $32 million for Haiti relief. Now Twitter is partnering with the devastated nation’s dominant telco to provide free text Tweets to Haitians so they can better keep in touch with each other and the outside world.

Haitians Find Help Through the Airwaves, The Takeaway, February 10, 2010
Radio has always been an important part of Haitian society. And since the earthquake, it has played an even more critical role, serving as the primary mode of transmitting information about aid.

Haitian Radio Returns to the Air, Slate, February 5, 2010
Haiti's radio journalists, many of whom have long experience of operating under dictatorships and elected governments with little tolerance for critical press coverage, know a thing or two about adversity.

Haiti Relief’s Secret Weapon: Google Earth, Wired Magazine, February 9, 2010
Days after the Jan. 12 earthquake, a group of Haitians set up a small tent camp in an open field not far from the U.S. Embassy. In theory, this small community was well-situated to receive aid: It was in spitting distance of a helicopter landing zone.

Haitian media a part of story, International Reporting Project, February 3, 2010
As she ducked under the canopy of tarps in a tent city here and looked for wounded survivors to interview, journalist Florence Lisene got an urgent call. It was her uncle. He wanted to speak to Lisene's mother, who was sitting under a blue tarp around the corner in Place St. Pierre -- where Lisene and her family have been camping since their home pancaked. "This hasn't been easy, " Lisene, 27, a radio reporter who has worked at Signal FM for the past year. "You have to put your personal emotions aside to deal with whatever situation you see."

Signal FM radio station provides lifeline in Haiti, Los Angeles Times, February 1, 2010
When her husband went missing in Haiti's earthquake, Elcie Dyess turned to Signal FM radio station. Like thousands of other desperate people, she used the radio to broadcast an appeal for help.

Growing Port au Prince's Internet Network, Inveneo, January 29, 2010
In the past few days, Inveneo's team in Haiti has achieved remarkable results. In the midst of the Port au Prince chaos, they've been able to deploy long-distance WiFi links between several NetHope member organizations, bringing high-speed Internet access - critical communication capacity - to relief agencies making a difference in Haitian lives.

Community radio stations obliterated, off the air in Haiti, Committee to Protect Journalists, January 27, 2010
More than two weeks after earthquake that devastated Haiti, several community radio stations are still off the air. In the western and southeastern parts of the country, at least 16 stations are facing serious problems that have suspended their broadcasts, Sony Esteus, executive director of SAKS, a local organization of community radio stations, told CPJ.

U.S. Helps Haitians Keep Earthquake Survivors Informed, USAID, January 26, 2010
Haitian police and civilian volunteers, assisted by the U.S. military distributed more than 43,800 hand-held radios to survivors of the devastating Jan. 12 earthquake. In a collaborative effort, the team handed out self-powered radios at major distribution centers in Cité Soleil, the Presidential Palace, the Petionville Club and other affected areas throughout the city.

Mapping the Disaster, Wired (Haiti Rewired), January 26, 2010
So many different kinds of maps exist of the crisis in Haiti, it can be dizzying. Now, one group has brought them all together in one place: the Harvard Center for Geographic Analysis' Haiti Earthquake Data Portal. The site was built on the model that the CGA created for the Sichuan earthquake in 2008.

Haitians Find Lifeline In Local Radio Station, NPR, January 25, 2010
From the moment the earthquake struck in Haiti, one radio station has been on the air around the clock acting as a lifeline for Haitians in Port-au-Prince and around the world on the Internet.

Quake-hit Haiti radio stations broadcast from street, Reuters, January 25, 2010
Outside their wrecked headquarters, Radio Caraibe's presenters broadcast from a makeshift studio spilling over a pavement in Haiti's quake-hit capital, supplying news and messages about aid and victims.

Cell phones and radios help save lives after Haiti earthquake, CNBC (Reuters), January 24, 2010
In a tiny general store in the northern suburb of Croix-des-Bouquets, Jacques Pierre jams the choke of his Honda generator and cranks it into life. Half a dozen Haitians wait in line to pay 40 gourdes (75 cents) to recharge their cell phones for a quarter of an hour.

Battered Haitian media remains vital lifeline, Terra Daily (AFP), January 24, 2010
Haitian journalists have never missed a step since the devastating quake, working hard to keep their countrymen informed of the latest frontline news in their daily battle to survive.

The Only Silver Lining in Haiti, Huffington Post, January 21, 2010
The media is having a shining moment in Haiti. At long last, its relevance is clear.

Filling Another Need for Haiti - Information, The World Bank, January 21, 2010
As the Bank and others prepare their response plans for Haiti, it is worthwhile taking a moment to stress the importance of media and communication in the aftermath of the disaster, as well as in the more long-term post-crisis reconstruction period.

Media Operations Centre gets backing from Haitian government, Reporters without Borders, January 21, 2010
Haiti’s culture and communications minister, Marie-Laurence Jocelyn-Lassègue, has given her support for the Media Operations Centre installed in Port-au-Prince by Reporters Without Borders and Quebecor.

Haiti: Restoring Communications and Local Media Networks, Global Voices Online, January 20, 2010
Haiti's communication infrastructure was seriously damaged after a 7.0 earthquake devastated the Island on January 12. Since day one, Global Voices has been intensely curating and amplifying the voices of local citizen journalists and activists.

Haiti radio fills information void in disaster, Associated Press, January 20, 2010
"The radio station is the people's life right now," said 56-year-old Roselaure Revil, a Haitian who runs a small church aid program that is out of food, water and clothing. "Without the radio station, the country is dead. Without the radio station, we can't communicate. We don't have anything."

Low-tech radios connect some Haitians, CNN Tech, January 20, 2010
In the brutal aftermath of Haiti's earthquake, Jean-Robert Gaillard turned to his low-tech radio for solace and for a lifeline.

Twitter comes in handy as Haitians pick up the pieces, Business Daily, January 20, 2010
Every five seconds, 40 new tweets appear on Haiti on the online social network, Twitter. The statistic is testament to the outpouring of the world’s grief over last week’s 7.0 earthquake estimated to have killed at least 100,000 people . It is also a testament to a growing dependency on technology for communication.

New Web-based relief tools emerging to help Haiti, AP/Business Week, January 19, 2010
Hundreds of tech volunteers spurred to action by Haiti's killer quake are adding a new dimension to disaster relief, developing new tools and services for first responders and the public in an unprecedented effort.

NetHope Bringing Internet Connectivity to Haiti, PR Newswire, January 18, 2010
NetHope, in partnership with its nongovernmental (NGO) member agencies and the United Nation's Emergency Telecom Cluster, dispatched a disaster relief and IT specialist to Haiti today to set up a telecommunications infrastructure and wireless connectivity in Port-au-Prince.

In Haiti earthquake coverage, social media gives victim a voice, Guardian, January 14, 2010
With normal communications channels upset, social media has played a key part in news from Haiti – particularly at CNN