Improving interaction between media and the response teams/aid agencies

- How to make the most of the effective communication and partnerships?

- How to address challenges aid/humanitarian agencies are facing in collaborating with media?

• Making the natural antagonism between response teams and the press work for you.

• Help reporters find the dignity of their subjects.

Rwandan refugees expelled from camps in Zaire; aid blocked by Rwandan Army and allied rebels.

Photo: Jean-Claude Coutausse, Goma, Kibumba refugee camp, August 1994

Communication Partners• Trust

• Honesty

• Admitting shortcomings– Reframe as

• Laying out the challenges– Not what we’re going, or going to do– What we need to accomplish

• And what potentially stands in the way

• Framing a Narrative– Replete with Tension, Cautious Hope– People to Empathize with– People to Respectfully Portray with Dignity

Journalist interviewing refugees in Somali Photo: Barry Malone,

Reuters Blog, 2011

Never Misinform, Mislead or BS• Help Shape the Context of the Story

• Avoid Stereotypes– Easier said than done

• Avoid Dismal Narratives without Hope– Easier said than done

• Help them Find Sincere Characters to Profile– No Posers; Real People facing Real Challenges– Nobody with an agenda

• Make Sure Everyone Profiled Is Safe

“Tribesmen in Africa have a close relationship with their cattle.” World Watusi Association, May 2012

Stereotypes: Hutu & Tutsi

• Not Tribes– Speak the same language

• Different Occupational Groups– Subsistence Farmers and Cattle Herders

• (Psst…What about…Distinct Ethnic Origins)

• So Intermingled, hard to distinguish now

Land in Moyale, Kenya goes dry, 2009 Photo: Sarah Elliott/EPA, The Guardian, September 3, 2009

Obstacles to Achieving Your Goals• Group Violence, Thuggery & Sectarianism

– Provide Reliable Information “On Background”

• Individual Sexism, Rape & Abuse– Help them find cases that are safe to report, & how to do so…

• Corruption, Thievery & Incompetence– Don’t cover for anyone including your own organization

• Weather, Disease, Safe Water– Help them understand the vulnerabilities of refugees

• Education, Motivation & Training– Enlist them, make them at least get the long-term goals

Farmers tending to a corn field near Yelwa, Nigeria Photo: Jacob Silberberg, Getty Images

Long-Term, Unresolved Challenges

• Dependency• Permanent Refugee Status• Vulnerable Populations

Long-Term Sustainability Goals• Agricultural Restoration & Independence• Cultural & Community Restoration & Cohesion• Respect for Human Rights• Self-Sustaining Communities & Nations

International Women’s Media Foundation awards Solange Lusiku Nsimire, Congolese editor, mother of six, 2014, for stories on government corruption,

injustices against women and international aid abuses. Photo courtesy of IWMF.

Final Thoughts

• Help reporters find the dignity in everyone.– “The Pornography Trap: How not to write about rape,” by Jina Moore, Columbia

Journalism Review, January/February 2011

• Help journalists make partners of their readers so they understand the sensitivity involved in interviewing subjects

• Make yourself the partner liaison between journalists and populations helping to tell their stories safely and with dignity.

Partnership…Freelance journalist & International Women’s Media Foundation Fellow Monique Jaques tours HEAL Africa with

Dr. Luc in North Kivu, Democratic Republic of the Congo. Photo courtesy of IWMF.