Dear friends,
We are ending 2007 with the release of a regional book we have been
working for much of this year - please see news release below.
It's unusual for us at TVE Asia Pacific to come out with a book, because
we are primarily engaged in making and distributing factual films. But
once in a while we find it useful to capture our experiences and
reflections in print form to share with fellow professionals and the
public. This book contains a whole chapter that documents our Children of
Tsunami project
(http://www.childrenoftsunami.info)
which we implemented for a year after the Indian Ocean tsunami. It also
carries many insights drawn from others disasters before and since.
During 2007, I had the good fortune of meeting and working with many of
you. I take this opportunity to thank you for being in our network of
media, academic and civil society friends across Asia and beyond, and
wish you restful holidays and a productive 2008.
With warm regards,
Nalaka Gunawardene
Director, TVE Asia Pacific,
www.tveap.org
* * * * *
Communicating Disasters:
New Asian book revisits Tsunami's communication lessons
Colombo, Sri Lanka: 23 December 2007.
A new Asian book published this month takes a critical look at the
communication lessons of the Indian Ocean tsunami of December 2004, and
explores the role of good communications before, during and after
disasters.
Titled 'Communicating Disasters: An Asia Pacific Resource Book',
the multi-author book discusses how information, education and
communication can help create disaster resilient communities across the
Asia Pacific region, home to half of humanity.
Coming out in time for the third anniversary of the tsunami, the book
carries an entire section which reflects on the communication lessons of
that mega-disaster.
Drawing on the tsunami, Kashmir earthquake and other recent disasters,
the book concludes: adequate planning by media and disaster managers can
help avoid communications disasters when communicating about disasters.
With focus on the appropriate use of media-based communications, the
publication covers rapid on-set disasters such as tsunami, earthquakes,
cyclones and landslides as well as those that unfold slowly, such as
drought.
The book, co-published by the non-profit media foundation TVE Asia
Pacific and the UNDP Regional Centre in Bangkok, brings together 21
authors most of them from Asia who share their experiences and
insights on effective communication related to various disasters.
It was released during the Third Global Knowledge Conference (GK3) held
in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, from 11 to 13 December 2007. The role of
information and communication technologies (ICTs) in disaster prevention
and early warning was discussed during the event, attended by 1,700
people.
Communicating Disasters was edited by two leading Asian
journalists Sri Lankan Nalaka Gunawardene and Indian Frederick Noronha
and carries a foreword by Sir Arthur C Clarke, inventor of the
communications satellite.
"Communicating disasters -- before, during and after they happen --
is fraught with many challenges," Sir Arthur Clarke says in his
foreword. "Todays ICT tools enable us to be smart and strategic in
gathering and disseminating information. But there is no silver bullet
that can fix everything. We must never forget how even high tech (and
high cost) solutions can fail at critical moments. We can, however,
contain these risks by addressing the cultural, sociological and human
dimensions."
The book's contributors come from backgrounds in print and broadcast
media, photojournalism, the UN system, civil society, academia and the
humanitarian sector. They draw on their rich and varied experience in
either preparing disaster resilient communities or responding to
humanitarian emergencies triggered by specific disasters. Five chapters
are written by leading Asian journalists who covered the aftermath of the
Indian Ocean tsunami.
"This book comes out at a time when both the media industry and the
global humanitarian sector are undergoing rapid change," says
co-editor Nalaka Gunawardene, who is also Director of TVE Asia Pacific.
"Our contributors are among the 'change agents' leading or
consolidating these changes, and thus able to offer insights from the
cutting edge in their respective spheres."
Whenever a hazard turns into a disaster of any kind, journalists and
humanitarian workers are among the first to arrive on the scene. But
their needs and agendas are different: journalists have to access and
verify real time information, and get their story out ahead of the
competition, while the priority for humanitarian workers and disaster
managers is to provide relief to affected people.
"In the information age, disaster managers have to balance their own
humanitarian priorities with the need to manage information flows and
maintain good relations with the media," the book points out.
Several chapters explore the nexus between journalists and humanitarian
workers, identifying the common ground for them to cooperate
better.
While ICTs ranging from radio and television to computers and mobile
phones - make it possible to reach more people faster on hazards and
disasters, the book emphasizes that technology is insufficient to achieve
this potential. "It requires a mix of sociological, cultural and
institutional responses by governments, corporate sector and civil
society. This also calls for building or reinforcing 'bridges' between
media practitioners and disaster managers who have traditionally been on
two sides of a divide."
Asia's recent experiences have shown how governments, civil society and
aid agencies mismanage information and communication, aggravating the
agony of affected people and wasting limited resources. As the book's
introduction says, "There is growing recognition on the need for a
culture of communication that values proper information management and
inclusive information sharing."
The book also quotes from the World Disaster Report 2005,
published by the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent
Societies (IFRC), which made a strong case for a greater role for
information and communication in disaster situations: "Information
is a vital form of aid in itself but this is not sufficiently
recognised among humanitarian organisations. Disaster-affected people
need information as much as water, food, medicine or shelter. Information
can save lives, livelihoods and resources."
"The discussion on the role of information and communication in
disaster situations continues," the co-editors Gunawardene and
Noronha say in their introduction to the book. "Media-based
communication is vitally necessary, but not sufficient, in meeting the
multiple information needs of disaster risk reduction and disaster
management. Other forms of participatory, non-media communications are
needed to create communities that are better prepared and more disaster
resilient."
They add: "This book does not claim to provide all the answers, but
we hope it has at least raised many pertinent questions. Instead of
trying to be comprehensive or definitive, our contributors are being
provocative and imaginative."
The book is the culmination of a year-long process that began with an
Asian brainstorming meeting on Communicating Disasters that TVEAP and
UNDP convened in mid December 2006 in Bangkok, Thailand. That meeting,
attended by three dozen participants drawn from media and disaster
management sectors, identified the need for a handbook that can
strengthen cooperation of these two communities before, during and after
disasters.
The 160-page book comprises 19 chapters and seven informative appendices.
It is richly illustrated using professional images drawn from Drik
Picture Library, PhotoShare, TVEAP image archive and the work of
individual photographers across Asia.
The book is aimed at journalists and disaster managers who often have to
communicate under many pressures during and in the aftermath of
disasters. It is also a useful guide to civil society groups who are keen
on using information and communication to create safer societies and
communities.
This publication is released under the
Creative
Commons Attribution 3.0 license. Not being a commercial publication,
it will be available for free download from TVE Asia Pacific website from
January 2008 at:
http://www.tveap.org/disastercomm
For now, the book's table of contents can be viewed at:
http://www.tveap.org/news/0712com_content.html
Related news story appears at: http://www.tveap.org/news/0712com.html
...................................................................
Nalaka Gunawardene
Director and CEO
Television for Education - Asia Pacific (TVE Asia Pacific)
9/3, Gemunu Mawatha, Nawala Road, Nugegoda, Sri Lanka.
Phone: +94 11 4412 195; Fax: +94 11 4403 443
Email: [log in to unmask]
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