Reporting Humanitarian Disasters in a Social Media Age
New York: Routledge (2018), 252 pp.
Series: Routledge Research in Journalism
ISBN 978-0-367-58419-1 (pbk); 978-1-138-48357-6 (hbk)
Signature commbox: 70-Development-E 2019
"Drawing on more than 100 in-depth interviews with journalists and aid agency press officers, participant observations at the Guardian, BBC and Save the Children UK, as well as the ordinary people who created the words and pictures that framed these disasters, this book reveals how humanitarian disasters are covered in the 21st century – and the potential consequences for those who posted a tweet, a video or photo, without ever realising how far it would go." (Publisher description)
1 Introduction, 1
2 Distant Suffering in a Digital World: the background to the changing nature of disaster reporting, 21
3 "The odd mucky weekend, not a one night stand": The relationship between aid agencies and journalists when covering disasters, 55
4 The 'first draft of history' or just 'smoke and mirrors'? How journalists and aid agencies see the use of UGC in humanitarian crises, 80
5 Twitter Takeovers, Blogging and 'Following the Sun': how aid agencies use the tropes of social media and UGC, 112
6 Cloning and Co-opting: How the mainstream media use UGC, 134
7 'Tweeting the Quake': how ordinary citizens tell their stories, 165
8 Ethical Questions Going Forward: Payment, Permission, Privacy, 198
9 Conclusion, 228
2 Distant Suffering in a Digital World: the background to the changing nature of disaster reporting, 21
3 "The odd mucky weekend, not a one night stand": The relationship between aid agencies and journalists when covering disasters, 55
4 The 'first draft of history' or just 'smoke and mirrors'? How journalists and aid agencies see the use of UGC in humanitarian crises, 80
5 Twitter Takeovers, Blogging and 'Following the Sun': how aid agencies use the tropes of social media and UGC, 112
6 Cloning and Co-opting: How the mainstream media use UGC, 134
7 'Tweeting the Quake': how ordinary citizens tell their stories, 165
8 Ethical Questions Going Forward: Payment, Permission, Privacy, 198
9 Conclusion, 228
