Voices from Nepal: Lessons in Post-Disaster Journalism

Shortly before noon on 25 April 2015, Nepal witnessed its worst natural disaster in 80 years: a 7.8-magnitude earthquake that flattened entire villages and killed thousands. Before the nation could catch its breath, a major aftershock ripped through the country on May 12, killing thousands more. Nearly 9,000 Nepalis died in the tremors. Some 500,000 buildings were destroyed, and hundreds of thousands lost their homes. Voices from Nepal is a look at the days after. Based on in-depth interviews with reporters, editors and other communicators, the first section of this book maps the challenges that Nepali journalists faced, and outlines best practices for future scenarios. The second section contains original journalism that focuses on the lived experiences of Nepalis. Through in-depth features and personal stories from survivors, it tells the story of a post-disaster society. “An excellent reference for journalists who could face future disasters.” —CHRISTIAN MANHART UNESCO Kathmandu “This publication gives us insights into the role of Nepali journalists and how they worked after the 2015 earthquake. I believe this helps prepare us better in future if a similar situation occurs.” —GOVINDA ACHARYA Federation of Nepali Journalist

Sexual violence and the news media: Issues, challenges, and guidelines for journalists in India

This report presents the findings of a multilingual national study on the news reporting of sexual violence in India. Drawing on a content analysis of 10 newspapers covering six languages, and semi-structured interviews with 257 journalists working across 14 languages, it provides comparative insights into the routines journalists follow and the challenges they face when they cover sexual violence. The report evidences how news outlets tend to disproportionately publish unusual cases, such as those involving extreme brutality; focus on rape in urban areas; and rely heavily on police sources. Journalists rarely undertake in-depth inquiries into the cases they cover. The challenges they face include safety issues while newsgathering, difficulties in accessing key sources, and distress from the requirements of their assignments. Overall, nearly 20% of our respondents experienced psychological challenges while reporting on sexual violence, and 55% of women journalists reported workplace sexual harassment or violence. Based on the evidence, the report presents seven national and 10 organisational recommendations. It concludes by offering guidelines that individual journalists and media houses can adapt to suit their news routines

Impact of COVID-19 on journalism in Nepal.

This bilingual rapid response report presents findings from a national survey undertaken to ascertain the impact of Covid-19 on Nepali journalists and their working conditions. Covid-19 spread as Nepal was approaching the fifth anniversary of the devastating 2015 earthquakes, the effects of which can still be felt in the nation. As such, Nepal faces additional economic, cultural, and social pressures because of the global pandemic. This report outlines how national and regional journalists, and news organisations responded to the pandemic, and identifies the training and capacity building requirements of Nepali journalists to strengthen future disaster resilience

Time's up. Or is it? Journalists’ Perceptions of Sexual Violence and Newsroom Changes after #MeTooIndia

The #MeToo movement, which engulfed much of India’s news and entertainment industry in October 2018, was projected by many as a watershed moment for Indian journalism. Driven largely through social media activism, it created significant media discourse and public outcry, leading to the ‘outing’ and resignation of scores of journalists. This paper explores the perception of #MeTooIndia in regional and national newsrooms. Drawing on Manuel Castells’s ideas of networked social movement, we consider the origins of #MeTooIndia, including its mediation on private and social networks. We then draw on 190 semi-structured interviews with journalists working in 14 languages across the six administrative zones of India to explore the ‘cause’ of the campaign—the prevalence of sexual harassment and sexual violence in workspaces—before turning our attention to the impact, or potential for impact, that journalists saw in it. We find most journalists felt the movement was “good”, but did not think it influenced their newsroom environment or newswork in any meaningful manner. Regional journalists expressed more pessimism about the #MeTooIndia, men more so than women

Pandemic News Patterns in Kerala: The First Six Months

This report presents the findings of an inquiry into the journalism on Covid-19 published by two prominent newspapers in Kerala. We analyse the reportage on the pandemic in the six months after the first case in the state was reported. News coverage that appeared in the Malayala Manorama (MM) and The New Indian Express (TNIE) between 31 January 2020, when news reports confirmed the first infection in Kerala, and 31 July 2020 were analysed7 in this study. We included all articles relating to the pandemic that appeared in this six-month period on the front and editorial pages of MM and TNIE. Further, to illuminate the patterns arising from the content analysis, we conducted semi-structured interviews with 12 journalists who worked for the two newspapers, six each from MM and TNIE

Impact of Covid-19 on journalism in Sierra Leone. National survey report 2021

This rapid response report presents findings from a national survey undertaken to ascertain the impact of Covid-19 on Sierra Leone journalists. Sierra Leone was among the nations that took swift action, declaring a 12-month state of national emergency in response to the pandemic. But this came, as an International Growth Centre study 1 shows, at a high economic price. It must also be noted that the pandemic comes at a time when the nation is still grappling with the aftermath of the 2014-16 Ebola outbreak and other, more localised disaster events. As such, Sierra Leone faces additional economic, cultural, and social pressures because of Covid-19. A year into the global pandemic, this report outlines how national and regional journalists, and news organisations in Sierra Leone responded to Covid-19, and identifies their training and capacity-building requirements to strengthen future disaster resilience

India: A Spectacle of Mismanagement

The first COVID-19 case in India was reported on January 30, in the southern state of Kerala. Though the state’s response was admirably swift, it was not long before the pandemic spread in other parts of the nation. As of September, India has 4.2 million infections, more than 71,500 deaths, and is the second most-affected nation in the world—this, despite its government imposing the harshest lockdown in the world. This chapter scrutinises the timeline of India’s national response and its crisis communication. Not only did the government misjudge the threat level, it failed to utilise the time it bought by placing its 1.3 billion people under severe restrictions. Its communicative responses were delayed, and, while manifestly in line with the CERC principles, largely aimed at framing the government’s ad hoc approach to lockdown and exit as effective crisis management that has “saved lakhs of lives”

WikiLeaks and the changing forms of information politics in the "Network Society"

This chapter offers an analysis of one instance of “mass self-communication” namely the website WikiLeaks. Founded in 2006 by Australian internet activist Julian Paul Assange, WikiLeaks aimed to facilitate an anonymous electronic drop box for whistleblowers. WikiLeaks has promoted the cause of investigative journalism, organising citizens into a powerful force of news-gatherers, and laying bare a wealth of privileged information. By first disrupting and then decentralising relations of power, WikiLeaks encourages new ways of thinking. At the heart of this process is a radical recasting of what counts as a public service ethos, one which promises to reinvigorate traditional conceptions of journalism’s role and responsibilities in a democratic culture