Toward a framework for Caribbean media coverage of disasters
The Association of Caribbean Media Workers (ACM) has long advocated for inclusion of natural disasters as one of the more serious challenges to media development in the developing world. Since its establishment in 2001, the organisation has been involved in activities supporting colleagues in the face of several regional disasters; notably in Grenada following Hurricane Ivan of 2004 and in Haiti, after the 2010 earthquake.
In 2017, the region was confronted by the serious impacts of Hurricanes Irma and Maria. |
Emerging out of these experiences, the ACM, in collaboration with key partners, met and formulated compact guidance for media workers in the coverage of disasters. This document is available here Toward a framework for Caribbean media coverage of disasters
The impacts of these events on native populations have been considerable. They also served to highlight the need for greater levels of preparedness by the media themselves. This is so since physical assets, personnel and all forms of media output suffered considerable damage and harm.
In all instances, considerable damage to media plant and equipment and injury/displacement of journalists and other media workers critically undermined the ability of conventional media to play a role in response and recovery efforts, whatever the part media played in mitigation and preparedness activity. On March 2 and 3, 2018, the ACM, in collaboration with IFEX and in partnership with the Public Media Alliance (UK), the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA), UNESCO, UNICEF, Caribbean Broadcasting Union (CBU) and CARICOM Secretariat convened a symposium to consider the structure of a framework to guide better media performance at times of disaster.
The objective was to prescribe protocols for the support, engagement and recognition of the role of Caribbean media in the coverage of disasters while acknowledging and facilitating the important part they play in all phases of disaster preparedness and recovery, with journalists and media workers recognised as indispensable respondents in the face of a catastrophe.
The Hurricane Season of 2017, brought these imperatives to the fore in an unprecedented manner because of the multiplicity of affected territories and as a result of the key role played by media houses and practitioners in providing important channels of public communication that proved crucial in the saving of lives, accessing of assistance to affected communities and the restoration of social order
