The Real "Enemy" in Disasters

The newly formed Emergency Media and Public Affairs group in Australia held its annual conference in Melbourne, Australia May 24-26. Network Nine news reporter Brett McLeod, who produced Dart Centre Australasia’s "News Media and Trauma" DVD, and Ochberg Fellow Gary Tippet both represented the Dart Centre at different presentations at the two-day conference.

McLeod gave a 40-minute presentation on the work of the Dart Centre from the perspective of "do no further harm." In this presentation, Brett spoke of not only the importance of self-care and peer support but also Dart’s focus on respectful and ethical interviewing and treatment of survivors. Ochberg Fellow and Dart Centre Australasia director Gary Tippet presented on a panel that explored the media’s interactions with emergency services.

Both presentations raised the issue of working with emergency services rather than in opposition to them, highlighting the fact that during emergencies the two groups typically have more in common than not.  Australian Broadcasting Corporation local radio journalist Richard Dinnen from Far North Queensland noted that during Cyclone Larry the media "saved lives during the emergency and sustained life during the recovery.”  This sentiment was echoed throughout the recent Victorian bushfires. During the disaster, the media often became the main avenue of communication for local communities, and their storytelling became part of the healing process.

The panelists encouraged proactive dialogue between media and emergency services, concluding that the "enemy" in disaster situations isn't the media, but bad media-responder relationships.