WUNRN
REPORTING ON HUMANITARIAN CRISES -
MANUAL FOR TRAINERS & JOURNALISTS + INTRODUCTION FOR HUMANITARIAN WORKERS
Direct Link to Full 116-Page 2014
Manual:
Direct Link to 166-Page Set of
Handouts:
"Media
has a key role to play in a humanitarian crisis situation, one that goes beyond
the simple documentation of a disaster. When populations are struggling for
basic needs and rights, media can provide a basic crucial resource,
INFORMATION."
From
Internews, this manual and set of handouts present a combination of standard,
professional reporting techniques for journalists covering humanitarian
response scenarios along with basic education in and understanding of the
humanitarian sector, its architecture, mandates, and modus operandi. The goal
of the manual and handouts is to prepare journalists to cover natural and
manmade disasters in a more informed, balanced way and to show how a
utilitarian approach to information content and dissemination can be an effective
life saver. It is intended to function as both an educational guide that
journalists can read and learn from and as an outline for a workshop focusing
on the training of local reporters.
The manual
is divided into 3 parts:
- "Section I: Information Saves
Lives - Defining Humanitarian Response Reporting looks at the
roles and challenges facing local journalists in a humanitarian response.
It emphasises placing affected communities at the centre of reporting on a
crisis.
- Section
II: What Happens in a Humanitarian Response? includes overviews of international humanitarian
systems and mandates and national humanitarian responses. This section
gives journalists the frameworks and definitions needed to cover an
emergency response. These technical aspects require some adaptation to the
appropriate level for training participants; additional introductory notes
in this section suggest ways of achieving this.
- Section
III: In the Field brings
together a range of practical skills and strategies for journalists,
including basic journalism skills, strategies for impact, dealing with
trauma (affecting both communities and journalists), and journalist safety
and security."
"While
every trainer has her own approach and will adapt activities and materials to
match individual styles, Internews encourages the following approaches as key
to effective practice:
- Put
Participants at the Centre: The key 'resource' of any training is the
participants themselves - they bring a wealth of local knowledge and
insights, as well as assumptions and sometimes prejudices. Many exercises
in the early part of the manual are designed not to deliver facts but
rather to gather and demonstrate what participants already know.
Participants are therefore able to teach one another, and teach the
trainer at the same time. This is the basis of effective pedagogy.
Exercises that draw on participants' skills, knowledge, experiences, and
understanding types have four broad goals within the course:
- To support a dynamic of positive collaboration,
essential for both effective learning and for subsequent effective
reporting
- To generate authentic critical engagement with course
materials, not 'learning by rote'
- To ensure participants share their knowledge among
themselves
- To ensure that the trainer can identify the skills and
insights participants already have, and so determine how best to tailor
training to fill any gaps that may exist, including any adaptations to
manual material
- Hands-On
Fieldwork: Practical fieldwork is almost always the best way to develop
skills. Trainers are encouraged to incorporate mentored coverage of
humanitarian response needs in the participants' own country, including
field trips. In some cases, for example where security is a prime concern,
this may not be practical. The manual therefore includes role-plays
through which participants can at least partially apply hands-on reporting
skills in a classroom setting. (As outlined in the modules, role-plays may
also be used for other purposes beyond 'substituting' for fieldwork.)
- Collaborative
Group Work: Internews encourages effective use of diverse small-group
work. This approach may include ensuring that participants who come from
different media outlets, different regions of the country, or different
social and ethnic groups are brought together rather than simply forming
groups with those they already know. Trainers should be sure to keep an
eye on the dynamics between participants in different small groups. To
facilitate this, Internews encourages simple seating arrangements that put
participants in groups in a circular setting, allowing both small-group
and whole-class activities.
- Participants
as Researchers: The manual is designed in the context of international
humanitarian response, and many of the issues and principles it covers are
broad. It has more information on international humanitarian responses
because such responses are relatively uniform and somewhat standardised
across different contexts, whereas national responses vary much more in
different country contexts."