By Dane Waters
One of my earliest experiences in community centred media took me to Banda Aceh a number of years after the tragic tsunami in 2004. Five years on and the devastation was clearly still visible. Research by colleagues with disaster response found in that initial critical phase of the disaster, people weren’t necessarily prioritising items that we would associate with primary needs such as food, water, shelter but the most important need was information. People had no idea what had just happened which lead to widespread fear and insecurity. Information is clearly a critical basic need.
This need, lead to the development of the Rapid Response Radio Unit, where teams could be quickly mobilised in times of disaster, to set up emergency radio stations using a suitcase studio. These stations provide the important information that communities most crave during challenging times. It is now being implemented through First Response Radio.
I learnt very early on that information, up-to-date, local information, is a basic need, particularly in times of crisis. While different to a natural disaster, it’s become increasingly evident local information is also needed through the Covid-19 pandemic. Working in a rural community in Australia, as the pandemic spreads across the world, we are seeing increased levels of fear and insecurity because the community are not getting information from local sources at the local level in real time. Government reports occur periodically from the capital city five hours away, but in between these reports we are seeing misinformation spread through social media channels which is leading to increased fear and insecurity. People want to hear from local sources about what is happening in their community and know it’s from someone who is also experiencing what they are. It’s clear a community-centred media approach to media, from the grass roots, is needed more than ever. We need local, credible sources using the powerful tool of community media channels to support their communities through challenging times.
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HCR AUS CEO Dane in Banda Aceh in 2009