Covering Disaster: Media responses to the tsunami and its aftermath

Media outlets take relief into their own hands

The media pitches in to help relieve devastated areas by providing free missing persons ads, calling for donations and making direct contributions

Wednesday, January 26, 2004

By Anuja Kumaria
AsiaMedia Staff Writer

In post-tsunami Asia, newspapers and television stations are staking their claims in history, but not just with their coverage. The press is dedicating a considerable amount of space and time to help locate missing people and raise money for tsunami relief.

Media Relief Rundown

68H news radio station, Indonesia
Sent technicians to help rebuild four radio stations in Banda Aceh and restore communication for the Acehnese.

Al-Jazeera, Saudi Arabia
Broadcast a telethon on January 6. The station aired scenes of the disaster and donors, and raised $67.4 million.

All India Radio, India
Broadcast hundreds of messages from Andaman and Nicobar Islands concerning missing people. The station also set up a helpline service in the Tamil Nadu area to assist victims in India and Sri Lanka.

Bangkok Post, Thailand
Displays icon on the website which leads to a special tsunami relief page featuring missing person ads, contact information and donation information. The paper also auctioned off an autographed Manchester United jersey for 100,000 baht ($2,594).

ERT, Greece
This state-run radio and TV broadcaster organized a telethon that raised over $12 million by January 5.

The Film and Television Producers Guild of India
HELP Telethon Concert featureed Bollywood actors, musicians, singers, directors and producers. The program aired live on February 6 to raise funds for the tsunami victims.

Infinity Radio Stations, United States
Staged a day-long donation event in California on January 10 to solicit funds for tsunami victims.

Lanka Academic, Sri Lanka
Set up a comprehensive page on their website in support of tsunami victims, including messages to donors, avenues for donation, emergency contacts and ways to find missing persons. The newspaper’s main organization, Lanka Academic Network, has raised $54,723.39 as of January 25, 2005.

MediaCorp, Singapore
Sent medical aides to devastated areas in Sri Lanka. Also, with the help of Fly Entertainment, MediaCorp recorded an album called “Hope,” which raised $60,000.

Metro TV, Indonesia
Made videotape search service available to those looking for missing friends and relatives. Special program, Jendela Kasih, airs stories of missing persons.

MTV Networks International
 The broadcasting union will offer MTV’s Asia AID Concert rights-free and cost-free to all broadcasters globally on February 3 to help generate as many donations as possible. The concert will feature American artists as well as well-known international artists.

NBC, United States
Live telethon, “Tsunami Aid: A Concert of Hope,” on January 15, featured famous American musical artists and actors and raised $18 million.

The New Straits Times & The Star, Malaysia
Ran a donation campaign/contest at the end of December. The highest donor’s photos were featured on the front pages of each paper.

Radio Komunitas Suara Muhammadiya, Indonesia
The first radio station back on its feet in Banda Aceh announces names of missing persons free of charge.

World Vision, Australia
A benefit concert at the Sydney Opera House and an associated telethon were broadcasted by Australian television networks on January 9. The nationwide telethon raised over $20 million for the organization’s tsunami relief effort, making Australians the highest donors in the world per capita.

While most news outlets are collecting donations or linking their websites to charity organizations, others are stepping in to provide material help and proactive fundraising.

Some Asian media outlets have created sections on their websites and in print to run free listings and photos of missing persons. Indonesia's Metro TV news channel, for example, recently began providing a video search service so families and friends can try to recognize missing persons on videotapes aired on the channel since December 26. The news channel opened their video footage library to the public on January 1. Since then, over 700 people have visited Metro TV in search of their relatives. The station also created a program called Jendela Kasih (Window of Love) in which viewers are selected to share their stories about their missing relatives in the hopes that someone will contact the station with information about their whereabouts. The station has attracted many hopefuls with their relief programs -- most leave empty handed.

Local radio stations also announce the names of the missing: In Banda Aceh, Indonesia, Radio Komunitas Suara Muhammadiyah restarted their broadcast on Jan. 7. Of 16 radio stations in the area, Radio Suara Muhammadiyah was one of four to receive aid from Indonesia’s 68H news radio station. According to an article by Ruslan Sangadji in The Jakarta Post, about 10 people come to the station every day asking for their missing relatives' names to be announced. Despite the station’s lack of resources and funding, it allows these announcements to be made free of charge.

Media organizations around the world are raising money for the relief effort. Malaysia’s The New Straits Times and The Star each ran donation competitions amongst their readers a few days after the December tsunami. The newspapers announced that a photo of the most generous donor would run on the front pages of each paper. Not only was this a competition between readers, but also between two rival newspapers. The papers’ fundraising drives brought in over $40.8 million.

Media companies in Asia are also lending out their own resources. Singapore's MediaCorp, for example, sent medical aides on January 13 to help relieve devastated areas in Sri Lanka. In conjunction with talent management company Fly Entertainment, MediaCorp gathered artists together to record an album called “Hope” -- sales of the album raised $60,000.

It is difficult to say how effective these tactics really are. Some question the motives of media organizations--who is the media really helping? Free missing persons advertisements, for example, may not be finding as many people as they are finding more readers. The sacrifices the media makes by running programs in the name of the tsunami relief are repaid by an increase in readers, watchers and listeners of the news. Reuters and AP, for example, reported that tsunami news helped boost the ratings of American television news outlets.

Yet, ratings are not always the the end result. USAToday reports that NBC's Jan. 15 telethon in America, which raised $18 million, did not lead to stellar ratings for the network. Three Australian networks aired a Jan. 9 telethon simultaneously -- putting their ratings-race aside -- and raised $15 million.

Whether their motives are relief-driven or ratings-driven, the media's efforts in the tsunami aftermath do promote other global relief efforts. Tsunami devastated areas are able to rebuild as quickly as they are, in part, because of global awareness, which is facilitated by the press.