Karlstads universitet 651 88 Karlstad

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Information@kau.se www.kau.se

Fakulteten för Ekonomi, kommunikation och IT Medie- och kommunikationsvetenskap

Nina Paulsen Harling

‘More nimble, more human, more efficient‘

A case study of how the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement

relates to alternative journalism in disaster and conflict operations

”Flinkare, humanare och effektivare” En fallstudie om hur

rödakors- och rödahalvmånerörelsen förhåller sig till alternativ journalistik

vid katastrof- och konfliktinsatser

Medie- och kommunikationsvetenskap, C-uppsats Media and communication studies, thesis

Termin/Semester: Våren/Spring 2012

Examinator/Examiner: Ulf Buskqvist

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Preface

I would like to extend a big and warm thank you to Karlstads universitet and to my teachers

and supervisors Ulf Buskqvist, Christer Clerwall and above all Michael Karlsson and Paola

Sartoretto —thank you for the advice and support.

I am also very grateful to my Red Cross and Red Crescent collages that kindly donated their

time and shared their experience to answering my questions and providing important content

for this essay.

Many thanks!

Nina Paulsen Harling

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1 Abstract

Different forms of non-traditional journalism play an increasingly important role when it

comes to informing us about what´s happening around the world.

By the use of one case study—the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement—this essay aims to

research the following problem: How does the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement relate

to alternative journalism during disaster and conflict operations?

The question is explored from theory on alternative journalism and its alleged empowering

potential and as an alternative in cases where traditional journalism fails. Through individual

interviews with participants from the organization including one focus group interview, the

study gives an overview of how these professionals relate to alternative journalism and how it

is incorporated into the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement´s (hereafter RCRCM)

activities.

Conclusions include that: RCRCM is increasingly using information from alternative journalism

to monitor and listen to different audiences and as sources for operational purposes.

Alternative journalism comes with opportunities such as; closer dialogue and feedback,

credibility and accountability to the sector as well as empowerment.

Direct Movement organizational benefits include helping to mobilize communities to

participate in operations through for instance becoming members and volunteers and

contributing to fundraising efforts.

However there are challenges, in particularly in view of adhering to the RCRCMs fundamental

and key operational principles of impartiality, neutrality and independence.

Keywords: Alternative journalism, advocacy journalism, citizen journalism, participatory journalism, disaster and conflict affected Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, disaster and conflict operations, beneficiary communication.

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Sammanfattning

Olika former av icke-traditionell journalistik spelar en allt viktigare roll för oss när det gäller att

informera oss om vad som händer i världen.

Genom att använda en fallstudie, rödakors- och rödahalvmånerörelsen, undersöker uppsatsen

följande problem: Hur relaterar rödakors- och rödahalvmånerörelsen till alternativ

journalistik under katastrof- och konfliktinsatser?

Frågan undersöks utifrån teorier om alternativ journalistik och dess påstådda potential som

alternativ i fall där traditionell journalistik misslyckas. Genom individuella intervjuer och en

fokusgrupp-intervju med kommunikatörer från organisationen ger studien en översikt över

hur de förhåller sig till alternativ journalistik och hur den införlivas i rödakors- och

rödahalvmånerörelsens (härefter RCRCM) aktiviteter.

Slutsatser inkluderar att: RCRCM använder alltmer alternativ journalistik för att följa och

lyssna på bredare målgrupper men också som källor för operativa ändamål. Alternativ

journalistik ger framförallt möjligheter såsom närmare dialog och återkoppling, trovärdighet

och ansvarighet (accountability) för sektorn samt medbestämmande.

Direkta organisatoriska fördelar inkluderar underlättandet vad gäller att mobilisera

befolkningen till att delta i insatser, till exempel genom att bli volontärer/frivilliga eller

medlemmar samt bidra till ökad insamling.

Men det finns utmaningar, särskilt när det gäller att följa organisationens grundläggande och

viktiga operationella principer om opartiskhet, neutralitet och oberoende.

Nyckelord: Alternativ journalistik, opinionsbildande journalistik, medborgarjournalistik, deltagande journalistik, katastrof- och konfliktdrabbade, Röda Korset och Röda halvmånen, katastrof- och konfliktområden, förmånstagar-kommunikation.

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Contents Preface .......................................................................................................................................... 2

1 Abstract ................................................................................................................................ 3

Sammanfattning ........................................................................................................................... 4

2 Introduction .......................................................................................................................... 7

2.1 Problem statement and research questions ..................................................................... 8

2.2 Relevance ........................................................................................................................ 10

2.3 Background to problem area – Alternative Journalism .................................................. 12

2.4 Background to problem area – Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement....................... 13

2.5 Limitations ....................................................................................................................... 15

2.6 Disposition ....................................................................................................................... 15

3 Theoretical framework ....................................................................................................... 16

3.1 Examples of historically related research ....................................................................... 17

3.2 Technical development and use...................................................................................... 18

3.3 The State, deterritorialization, and jurisdiction: security ............................................... 19

3.4 The role of alternative journalism in disasters and conflicts .......................................... 21

3.4.1 Interaction between traditional and alternative journalism ............................... 25

3.5 Organization Communication ......................................................................................... 27

3.5.1 ICRC approach to work in conflict and crisis, communication objectives and

social media channels ........................................................................................................ 28

3.5.2 IFRC approach to work in disaster and crisis management communication

objectives and social media channels ................................................................................ 29

3.5.3 National Society communication objectives and social media channels related to

conflict and disasters, the example of Swedish Red Cross ................................................ 31

4 Methodology ...................................................................................................................... 31

4.1 Choice of method ............................................................................................................ 32

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4.2 Population and selection ................................................................................................. 32

4.2.1 Interview details ................................................................................................... 32

4.3 Execution ......................................................................................................................... 33

4.4 Critique of method .......................................................................................................... 35

4.4.1 Generalization ...................................................................................................... 36

4.4.2 Reliability .............................................................................................................. 36

4.4.3 Validity .................................................................................................................. 37

4.5 Ethical considerations ..................................................................................................... 37

5 Results and analysis ............................................................................................................ 38

5.1 Research question one: How does the RCRCM use externally produced alternative

journalism? ................................................................................................................................. 43

5.2 Research question two: What kind of actions is taken by RCRCM, based on reports from

alternative journalism during disaster and/or conflict operations? .......................................... 45

5.3 Research question three: How do RCRCM communicators use platforms of alternative

journalism (journalism by participating in internal and external web-based media or channels

such as blogs or micro blogs/twitters) to achieve the RCRCM communication objectives?..... 47

6 Conclusions ......................................................................................................................... 51

7 Discussion: findings related to research gaps .................................................................... 55

8 Future research .................................................................................................................. 59

References .................................................................................................................................. 61

Appendix 1 (Interview details) ................................................................................................... 66

Appendix 2 (Interview Guide including definitions) ................................................................... 67

Appendix 3: Key Note speech Pierre Kremer, IFRC, at CDAC ..................................................... 72

Appendix 4: Red Cross workers account of communicating with vulnerable communities ..... 77

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2 Introduction

My interest for the subject of this thesis was triggered partly thanks to my own working

experience. I have worked for all three parts of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement

(RCRCM) for more than 13 years. My positions have included Communication Delegate in

former Yugoslavia, Caucasus and Reporting Delegate in South Asia. For the past years I have

been working at the Swedish Red Cross in different disaster management related positions. In

my work I still relate to media, including social media, particularly during disaster situations.

The additional power of the new forms of journalism and crowd sourced information (e.g.

systems which allow direct reporting of needs by those affected as opposed to “traditional”

journalism performed by formally educated journalists) is widely discussed as part of the

discourse within and outside humanitarian sector. Especially with regards to how it can make

crisis and disaster related rescue and recovery processes more targeted and ultimately much

faster operations. One example is the work at the Humanitarian Policy and Conflict Research

(HPCR) at the Harvard University, see references section.

As part of its own aim for improved communication with and accountability to beneficiaries,

the sector is exploring ways to improve its work in the new media environment. There is also

an implicit threat that if humanitarian organizations do not use the opportunities well, there

are risks of negative publicity as today, beneficiaries often have the means to speak out and

will communicate whether they have been served adequately or not. The debate in the media

as well as applied studies I have come across (see reference section) also indicate that there is

a general interest for the subject.

While there is available research on different kinds of alternative journalism (e.g. Atton, Allan

and Thorsen, Carpentier, Deuze, Karlsson etc.) new concepts of journalism are still relatively

contentious. According to Atton, there is virtually no research in terms of alternative media

audiences and research in the detailed international comparative studies. Researchers have

not focused on how alternative media is produced, how people work, how they learned the

job, or how do they identify and select their stories (Atton 2009). Atton also mentioned we

know very little about who uses alternative media and for what purposes (Atton 2008).

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With regard to advocacy journalism Waisbord’s suggested areas, linked to the problem area of

this thesis, the following would benefit from research:

-does global advocacy effectively shape news coverage when it dovetails with local actions,

considering journalism´s preference for local news hooks?

-How (does) global advocacy movements effectively support local advocacy needs to be

understood by analysing local reporting practices? (Waisbord 2009).

2.1 Problem statement and research questions

By the use of one case study looking at the world's largest humanitarian network — the Red

Cross and Red Crescent Movement — this essay aims to research the following problem: How

does the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement relate to alternative journalism during

disaster and conflict operations?

The aim of the study is to examine and compare how Communication staff representing the

three different parts of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement (hereafter RCRCM) relate

to alternative journalism from two sides; as recipients but to some degree also as producers

(then linked, one could argue, to public relations). For instance, what kinds of actions are

taken based on reports from alternative journalism during disaster and conflict operations?

In order to be able to approach this, the problem statement has been divided into more

specified questions which can be dealt with and investigated more easily:

1. How do the RCRCM use externally produced alternative journalism?

2. What kinds of actions are taken by RCRCM, based on reports from alternative journalism

during disaster and/or conflict operations?

3. How do RCRCM communicators use platforms of alternative journalism (journalism by

participating in internal and external web-based media or channels such as blogs or micro

blogs/tweets) to achieve the RCRCM communication objectives?

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There are many concepts and definitions in today’s world of journalism including new forms

of journalism. Therefore it is admittedly a challenge to provide clear and concise definitions. In

this essay, the definitions used mainly build on theories based on the following researchers:

Nip, Atton, Waisbord and Allan and Thorsen.

According to the practices observed by Dr Nip in Journalism Studies (2006:1), the connection

between mainstream journalism and the people can be categorized as: (1) traditional

journalism, (2) public journalism, (3) interactive journalism, (4) participatory journalism, and

(5) citizen journalism.

Using Dr Nip´s categorization as a starting point, this thesis will select two of the above

mentioned forms of journalism which are amongst the non-traditional, namely number (4)

participatory journalism and (5) citizen journalism. These two forms have been selected as

they are perceived to be relevant in a RCRCM context.

Participatory journalism takes the form of the news users generating content, more or less

independently of the professionals, whereas the professionals generate some other content,

and also produce, publish and market the whole news product. Again RCRCM benefits from

this but perhaps even more so volunteers and staff may well be in a position to produce

participatory journalism.

Citizen journalism has been chosen as it concerns amateurs writing as citizens, members of

societies, e.g. activists who could for example include disaster affected community members

themselves or RCRCM volunteers living and serving those affected in communities.

In addition and due to the RCRCMs task to advocate on behalf of vulnerable people (e.g.

disaster affected), I have also found it relevant to include a third journalistic form to study in

this essay, namely the concept of advocacy journalism. Alternative journalism will be the

umbrella concept used in this thesis to cover the three selected forms of journalism (advocacy

journalism, citizen journalism and participatory journalism.

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In summary, the definition of alternative journalism in this thesis is about journalism which is

not created by traditional or mainstream journalists. It is about journalists who are not

educated in the traditional sense but still performing tasks that contribute to journalistic

value. Alternative media, as chapter 3.2 and 3.4 will show, are commonly associated with

different social media forms such as blogs, Facebook and twitter.

A more detailed explanation of the definitions and interview questions used to answer the

above problem statement are found in the Interview Guide, appendix 2.

2.2 Relevance

Mass media and journalism are among our most important social institutions. They are central

to democracy, citizenship and our everyday lives. We therefore have reason to care about

how journalism is developed and continues to be developed.

Professional journalistic education has only been available since the late 1960s. Up until the

beginning of the 21th century, these “traditional” journalists with formal education in

journalism have had more or less a monopoly on news production. As in many professions,

journalism involves a great extent of information processing, but differs from other activities.

For example, commercially produced journalism is constitutionally regulated in e.g. Sweden. It

works according to specific criteria and ethics (Kovach, B. and Rosenstiel, T. 2007:18).

Journalism is also closely linked to questions of who creates edits and comments on news

content.

One way to describe communication through the media is to think of the transmitter as the

producer and the receiver as the consumer or public (Shannon 1948). However, a starting

point of what the media does to people has in recent decades has been reversed to the

discussion on what people do with media. The terms of both journalistic production and

consumption have thus changed fundamentally, above-all, with regard to distribution. The

result is, among other things, that we are more likely to get more perspectives and voices

from the world outside traditional media - often without filtering by traditional gatekeepers.

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At the same time, the workload for traditional or mainstream journalists has increased and

the appeals for ‘ready-made’ news stories have increased. Major news organizations are

struggling to cope with slashed budgets in recessionary times. As Allan and Thorsen point out

(2009:3) they are increasingly relying upon the appropriation of first-person news reporting.

this appears especially valid in crisis situations, such as disasters and conflicts.

There has long been a close association between citizen journalism and the reporting of crises for it is in situation of crises…that ordinary people are often “compelled to adopt the role of a reporter” and “bear witness to crisis events unfolding around them” (Allan and Thorsen, X preface).

The value of citizen journalism is the greatest when and where the professional media fail

(Nip: 2009). Disasters and conflicts are examples of such situations. At the same time

disasters and conflicts are by nature of their mandate and activity the contexts in which the

RCRCM operates to serve vulnerable people. Therefore I find that there is a convergence

between the concepts of alternative journalism (as I am defining it in this thesis with different

sub groups such as citizen journalism), the RCRCM and its disaster and conflict related

operations.

The technical possibilities for even single individuals to initiate and drive projects to highlight

humanitarian causes or fundraise in the name of humanity are also becoming more common.

Examples of this are publicly initiated efforts to catch the war criminal Joseph Kony (TT. 2012)

and targeted humanitarian aid projects using twitter (Utterström, A. 2012).

Parallel to humanitarian efforts made by organizations or individuals, there is an increasing

interest and pressure from humanitarian back donors to show detailed results at beneficiary

level and a risk associated with not being able to do so. One example of the donor interest is

that Directorate General ECHO, the Humanitarian Aid department of the European

commission, in early spring 2012 committed a consultancy to conduct a survey on the

application of participatory approaches for disaster-affected communities in humanitarian

initiatives. Communicating with affected communities is thus a high priority on humanitarian

organizations´, donors and engaged citizens´ agenda.

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2.3 Background to problem area – Alternative Journalism

Increased democratization, mass communications, commercialization, and a technology

revolution have changed journalism rules in recent decades. The possibilities for distribution

information have increased. Today citizens are presented in communication models both as

producers and consumers. Individuals with different backgrounds, class and language around

the world and with no formal journalism training act as both producers and consumers of

journalism. They can collaborate with established media or create their own forums such as

blogs through social media.

The result, as seen by many is that more voices around the world are heard and seen - often

without being filtered by traditional gatekeepers - and may provide a more multifaceted view

of the world, e.g. it counteracts the simplistic picture that particularly commercial media often

presents. Several researchers such as Young, Khiabany, Ngyen (Allan & Thorsen 2009) suggest

that the increased involvement of citizens in the media contributes to greater

democratization. The rapid progress has been made possible by technological developments

but also by political development, for example, due to fewer military dictatorships and one

party states during the latter half of the 1900s. At the same time, other challenges such as

information overload make it more difficult and time consuming than before to determine

what information is actually useful or not.

Alternative journalism can be said to contribute to several of the elements of journalism such

as contributing to the truth and highlighting what is important and relevant as well as

providing critical examination of government and to some extent the economic elite.

Researchers debate as to whether the alternative forms of journalism can be called journalism

or not. If there is a publisher who can stand before the law, clear rules on e.g. source

protection? Kovach & Rosentiel’s well-known description of journalism does not include

alternative forms of journalism (Kovac and Rosentiel 2007: 18). At the same time they say that

the purpose of journalism is not defined either by technology or by journalists. The principles

and purpose of journalism are instead defined by something more basic: the features that

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news plays in people's lives. The primary purpose of journalism is to give citizens the

information they need to be free and self-governing.

The concept of alternative media is in itself a highly contested notion and alternative media

can be understood in different ways, from a variety of theoretical perspectives. Bailey and

her co-writing researchers however have proposed four ways to approach, study and research

alternative media: community, alternative, civil society and rhizome. At the same time they

claim that there is no “right way” to frame or define alternative media (Bailey et al 2008).

Some models of alternative journalism are also criticized and researchers are in general rather

careful in attributing great importance to alternative journalism and media. Still, a growing

amount of alternative media is out there with growing audiences and readers (for example

Huffington Post, Democracy Now, iReport, OhmyNews and Flashback in Sweden)

2.4 Background to problem area – Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement

The RCRCM is described as the world's largest humanitarian network. It is made up by three

parts: 187 national societies, such as Swedish Red Cross and Pakistan Red Crescent Society

and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC). The third

part, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has special mandate based on - and

is also the guardian of - the Geneva Conventions. (see also web links in the reference section).

The RCRCM provides assistance and protection to people affected by disasters and conflicts

but also support communities in becoming stronger and more resilient in development

projects. It is guided by seven fundamental principles enabling it to work in a neutral and

impartial way to address vulnerability: humanity, impartiality, neutrality, independence,

voluntary service, unity and universality. It has around 13 million volunteers who are

considered trained and active. These volunteers often work near their homes. In that way the

volunteers also represent ordinary citizens who are also in varying degrees affected by the

disasters that occur in their area.

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The RCRCM also works in cooperation with governments (in a special role as independent

auxiliaries, therefore not being a non-governmental organization), donors and other aid

organizations. In summary and based on dialogue with colleagues, the RCRCM communicates

with the outside world in order to:

- Reach the most vulnerable and improve quality of its programming and support.

- Increase the warring parties' in conflicts compliance with International Humanitarian law

(IHL) for the protection of civilians.

- Increase general awareness of the RCRCM’s mandate in conflicts (specifically ICRC) and its

role linked to IHL, its basic principles and its un-political, non-religious status in order to

reach acceptance, trust and safe access to vulnerable people.

- Influence stakeholders/policy makers on behalf of vulnerable groups to improve their

humanitarian situation (e.g. minorities, the landless and other vulnerable groups).

- Raise funds for various activities.

- Receive feedback on performance, accountability to recipients and donors.

- Ensure beneficiary communication/dialogue/relationship building.

- Increase the number of members and volunteers (relates only to national societies).

It is important to note that it has always been relevant for RCRCM to communicate within

view of building acceptance, to ensuring relevant support and accountability to stakeholders.

One example is the so called Red Cross and Red Crescent messages, screened and delivered

by RCRCM and its volunteers. They have enabled e.g. victims of war such as prisoners of war

and their families to regain lost contact on strictly personal matters since 1897. The IFRCs

flagship annual advocacy publication called World Disasters Report 2005 was much devoted

to the subject of information and stated that “People need information as much as water,

food, medicine or shelter”.

With IFRC and national society services in many areas developing from needs based to rights

based it is also relevant to link up with the United Declarations Human Right, article 19:

“Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes the freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers”.

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RCRCM has embarked using social media and alternative journalism sources to reach their

overall, including communication, objectives.

2.5 Limitations

Due to the time and space limitations of this essay and the need to limit the study area, three

aspects of alternative journalism were selected due to their perceived link with RCRCM

information objectives (advocacy journalism, citizen journalism and participatory journalism).

A particular focus on the RCRCM as opposed to the whole humanitarian sector was also

pursued to limit the study. Through a number of interviews with communication professionals

in the RCRCM, a description of how professional media relations can be carried out in the

humanitarian industry during disasters was made possible.

The thesis looks at how the RCRCM is influenced by alternative journalism, and to some

extent also how it can influence the external world, the latter which can be explained as part

of its public relations. However the concept of public relations will not be elaborated upon in

detail.

This essay focus on one method of research: interviews. The subjects for the interviews are 13

strategically selected professional communication staff members who represent the RCRCM.

2.6 Disposition

To start, the ‘Theoretical Framework’ will be presented. It includes a section on historical

perspective to alternative journalism with related research and a description of the technical

development and use which has facilitated the development of alternative journalism. A short

summary of some of the legal realities traditional and alternative journalists face will also be

provided. Then examples of the role of alternative journalism in disasters and conflicts

including forms of interaction between traditional and alternative journalism will be

described. After this comes a section on organization communication followed by a short

description of each part of RCRCMs main formally expressed communication focus and

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available communication channels as sub sections. Swedish Red Cross (SRC) will mainly

represent the examples of the 187 national societies.

Chapter four (4) on ‘Methodology’ will begin by giving an account for the choice of method,

population, selection and description of the execution of the interviews. After a general

critique of the methodology, the concepts of generalization, reliability and validity will be

provided in order for the reader to have an opportunity to evaluate the results and form his or

her own opinion about the research undertaken.

Then follows chapter five (5) called ‘Results and Analysis’ chapter ’, giving an account for the

findings in the essay relating to the research questions asked in the beginning of the essay.

These results will be discussed in the light of the theory. This chapter will also describe

findings in this thesis in relation to the selected research gaps identified by alternative

researchers mentioned in the introduction.

The Conclusions, chapter six (6) will be laid out in order to discuss the empirical results in

relation to the earlier presented theoretical framework. Chapter seven (7) will discuss findings

in this thesis related to research gaps. At the end, chapter eight (8)will describe some of

suggestions for future research will be put forth. There will also be four appendixes included,

relevant to the subject discussed.

3 Theoretical framework

The theoretical framework of this essay was based around theory on journalism with focus on

the connection between journalism and the people (particularly people directly or indirectly

affected by conflict and disaster). Selected aspects of so called alternative journalism

(advocacy journalism, participatory journalism and citizen journalism, see definitions in

appendix 2) have been prioritized in this study.

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3.1 Examples of historically related research

A number of important communication researchers are found in history. The following four

researchers described by Scannell (2007) are found to be important to the development of

alternative journalism.

The German philosopher Kant (Scannel 2007:46) is an important protagonist of modern

journalism. During the so-called Enlightenment in the 1700s he wrote pioneering works on

ethics and epistemology. Kant’s thesis was that people should have the courage to use their

own judgment instead of relying on the power, not least the so-called feudal public sphere,

for example, a country's king.

McLuhan and Innis (Scannel 2007:135) in the 1950s and 1960s represented the first media

researchers. McLuhan, known for phrases such as "the global village", predicted that in the

global village, consumers will become producers, ¬ decades before social media was

conceived.

Lazarsfeld (Scannel 2007: 11) was a pioneer in the development of both qualitative and

quantitative research methods. He described the importance of horizontal opinion leaders,

such as a politically engaged neighbour, who in addition to media messages guided an

individual's decision. In the 1980s he did research on how people decide before a presidential

election and described a more dynamic process than previous communication models made.

In this sense, the transmission model of the 1920's with the transmitter-channel-message-

receiver-noise (as the message will try to get through) is decreasing in relevance. In reality,

there are now often more transmitters, and the lines of communication involve a more

complicated process.

Atton (2008:14) describes that critical media scholarship developed as a response to an earlier

form of administrative research. Critical media scholars argued that administrative research

was simply at the service of media power. The role of academics, they argued, was not to

serve that power, it was to challenge it. Atton mentions a couple of researchers particularly

relevant to alternative journalism who worked from the mid-1990s to mid-2005 (Bagdikian, de

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Jong, Shaw and Stammers, Downing Mohammadi and Sreberny- Mohammadi).

The Citizen Journalism we see today began to take from in connection with various crises such

as natural disasters. The tsunami in South and Southeast Asia in 2004 is often used as the

starting point for when the citizen-journalism increased exponentially (Allan & Thorsen, 2009).

3.2 Technical development and use

The technical development is closely linked to industrialization, mass communication and

citizens having the opportunity to both access and influence media content. In other words

development from the steam engine, electricity to nuclear power, or from the steam press to

modern printing technology, digitization and what we have now - the Internet.

The major dividing line in terms of communication in world history, according to Innis as

described by Scannel (2007: 123), is the technological evolution of the written language.

Printing started already around 1500 BC but it was only during the 1800s and in the context of

industrialization that the development of the printing industry established itself in Europe and

the United States. This meant that newspapers were spread which in turn enabled the first

forms of mass communication.

Radio emerged in the 1920-30's and listeners became involved. TV emerged in 1940´s and the

50´s which gave new opportunities for audiences to participate, for instance as TV audience in

the studio or by calling the comments to a program.

As described by Allan and Thorsen, the internet was invented in the late 1960s to serve as a

decentralized network that would withstand a possible military attack (2009:23). During the

1990s the public Internet exploded and a technological revolution began. Newspapers started

to publish electronic versions during this period. It was also during this period that alternative

journalism started to grow rapidly. Web 2.0, the term coined 2004 by the activist and

businessman Tim O'Reilly, was the next generation of web services and business models on

the web. Common to the web 2.0 is that users should have great opportunities to be involved

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and contribute to the site's content and be able to have control over their information, such

as Facebook, Wikipedia, Flickr, YouTube etc.

Important tools for alternative media since this time have become cheaper, smaller and

lighter; laptops, cell phones, tape recorders, video recorders etc. In the last 20 years

alternative media has largely shifted to the internet. Besides being cost effective, Internet has

potentials for organization, mobilization, interaction and facilitation of debate at both local

and transitional level (Baily et al, 2008:151).

As described by Paul Conneally, a former IFRC Head of Communications, new technology has

helped to turn victims to first responders. “Broadband →power 2 empower” (Conneally, 2012)

A new potential tool recently described (Bergendorff, 2012) is the so called "Spoken web"

which is being launched in Kenya and India to reach e.g. the illiterate populations.

What we have come to see is a situation of “anyone can report anything”. This was said as

early as 1998 by Matt Drudge, the young American that first spread the news about President

Clinton’s sexual affair with the White House Intern Monica Lewinsky. As it appears, Mr Drudge

can be said to partly be right. However it needs to be underlined that still hundreds of

millions of people do not have access to e.g. the internet. According to an article the BBC

Magazine in May 2009 around 25 per cent of all adults in the world at the time did not have

internet access. While 93 per cent of people with a degree or higher levels of education had

internet access, only 56 per cent of those who did not have formal education had internet

access.

3.3 The State, deterritorialization, and jurisdiction: security

One of the expectations of the online environment was that it would transcend boundaries,

that states no longer would be able to control it.

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Salter (2009) describes that just as libel law is adapting to internationalization, so are “security

laws”. Since 2001, anti-terrorism laws have intensified and multiplied. This increases the

capacity of state authorities to survey and investigate citizens and have big effects on the

ability of both journalists and ordinary individuals to seek information about the state. Even if

internet may not be as easy to control as institutionalized media or licensed media, control

can be exerted over all material items, especially when issues of security are in play.

Salter is rather pessimistic when he describes under which legal realities e.g. citizen journalists

operate:

Mechanisms are in place that affirms jurisdictional control over citizen journalists: they are still subject to law as countries adapt to a changing legal environment. Indeed, the international scope of the internet does not mean that it escapes countries and their laws, but instead that it may be subject to the laws of many countries (2009: 182)

Activist citizen journalism will always be at a disadvantage compared to mainstream journalism – politically, economically, culturally and legally (2009:184)

As Bailey et al point out (2008:155) there is a need for high-qualitative legislation and

regulation and their enforcement in different countries and continents, embedded within

local, political, social and cultural contexts. The legislation should not be limited to human

rights, but needs to recognize the specificities and differences of alternative media on

different levels such as context, technique and organization.

While mainstream journalists in many countries work under sometimes difficult

circumstances, also confirmed by examples such as Sri Lanka in the interviews for this thesis,

it may be even more challenging for alternative journalists. One example of the frightful

environment alternative journalists may find themselves in is the story of a journalist

sentenced to death for an Al-Jazeera interview, published by Reporters Without Borders 18

May 2012.

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3.4 The role of alternative journalism in disasters and conflicts

There are many different concepts and definitions in today’s world of journalism including the

new forms of journalism and its tools, i.e. media. According to Bailey et al (2008:150) there is

no “right” way to frame or define alternative media. Therefore it is admittedly a challenge to

provide clear and concise definitions. In this essay, the definitions mainly build on theory

based on the following researchers: Nip, Atton, Waisbord and Allan and Thorsen. As earlier

mentioned in the introduction chapter, the journalism definitions I have used in this thesis are

described more in detail in the Interview Guide, appendix no 2. Other definitions which relate

to the problem area and this chapter include the following:

Conflict: There is a lack of short definitions. Simply put conflicts are contradictions that are so

large that one or more of the parties involved resort to violence to reinforce their

arguments/get their interests met/secure its survival.

Disaster: As defined by the Centre for Research on the epidemiology of disasters (CRED);

A situation or event, which overwhelms local capacity, necessitating a request to national or

international level for external assistance (definition considered in EM-DAT); an unforeseen

and often sudden event that causes great damage, destruction and human suffering. Though

often caused by nature, disasters can have human origins. Wars and civil disturbances that

destroy homelands and displace people are included among the causes of disasters. Other

causes can be: building collapse, blizzard, drought, epidemic, earthquake, explosion, fire,

flood, hazardous material or transportation incident (such as a chemical spill), hurricane,

nuclear incident, tornado, or volcano.

Social media: Represents activities that combine technology, social interaction and user

generated content. The term is used for Web 2.0 sites, where the most famous examples are

Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Google +. It may also include other Internet forums,

communities, blogs, wikis, group ware, podcast and article comments.

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In situations of disaster and conflict, alternative journalism has a rather important role. I will

in this section discuss examples of situation where the selected forms of alternative

journalism (advocacy, citizen and participatory journalism) have been used.

Historical assessment of online news in its infancy often underscore the significance of crisis

events in the latter half of the 1990s – precedents of form and practice, including the

reporting of the Oklahoma City Bombing, the crash of TWA flight 800…and the death of

Princess Diana (Allan and Thorsen 2009:21) and it has certain qualities;

Individual blogs are not always the ultimate in terms of neutrality and objectivity, but exactly because of their specificity, engagement and subjectivity, they are able to challenge hegemonic representations and discourse and articulate a more personal and, some would claim, a more genuine and passionate account of war (Bailey et al, 2008: 150-151).

Advocacy journalism

Advocacy journalism, or opinion formation journalism, is according to Waisboard the opposite

of the "gatekeeper model" where the notion of professional journalism is guided by the ideals

of objectivity and public service. Objectivity, in traditional media, especially in the U.S. and

parts of Europe, was an aspiration that has recently been partly relaxed. Examples of this are

the opinion-making journalism practiced on Fox News or Swedish Newsmill.

First, today's advocacy-journalism is also said to emanate from a model based on citizens'

initiative, which consists of organized groups using the news media to influence reporting, and

related public policy. Waisboard believes that civic advocacy initiatives over more traditional

opinion-makers have different circumstances (the civil can e.g. be seen both as a source of

news and news-residents). Citizens' Initiatives like to use traditional journalistic methods and

codes but increasingly also public relations. Examples include Greenpeace who mixes street

theatre and public relations to get in on the news sites or music shows by social movements

trying to combat HIV and AIDS (and reduce stigma and discrimination as part of multimedia

behaviour change communication) to attract media coverage.

..a recent World Bank survey among those living on less than one dollar a day found that when asked, most of the responded that “access to voice” would make the biggest difference in their lives” (Scholz, (Boler, Ed) 2008:359).

23

American musician Kanye West’s remix “George Bush Don´t like Black People” which he

produced after what some consider the scandal of the blatant non-response of the GW Bush

administration to the Katrina hurricane disaster (Scholz, 2008:358), could certainly fit under

the heading of activism and perhaps fit under the advocacy journalism category. As described

by the Guardian on 4 November 2010, G.W Bush considered this the worst moment of his

presidency.

Sometimes it leads to trouble as described by Scholz (2008: 358) when the young Parisian

designer Alex Chan produced the film “the French democracy” explaining the deep-rooted

racism in France which led to the riots in 2005.

Citizen journalism

Citizen journalism is thus amateurs acting as media producers with no formal journalistic

qualifications. They write as citizens, members of societies, activists, fans or admirers. Citizen

journalism, according to Atton, can be divided into categories such as: part of social

movements (e.g. to combat poverty), a local alternative journalism (as news from the

community centre), fanzines and blogs.

Examples of alternative emergency reporting include an American girl who published a letter

by mail from her friend in Kosovo during the war itself and the massive documentation of

alternative journalism after the terrorist attacks in the United States September 11, 2001

Allan:2009). Allan describes that blogs are widely used in citizen-journalism, from the girl who

portrayed the reality of the Iraq War and by doing this fought against the media's misleading

coverage or the researcher who blogged about climate change impacts in Antarctic.

It was after the tsunami in South and South East Asia 2004 when the term citizen journalism

was appropriated into the journalistic lexicon (Allan: 2009). In 2005 two crises unfolded that

helped make citizen journalism to expand further. In London bombs exploded and ordinary

Londoners captured the commuter trains trapped underground as it happened. The pictures

captured the horror of what it was like to be trapped underground. The other big disaster was

Hurricane Katrina. The editors Allan and Thorsen describe in Citizen Journalism: Global

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Perspectives how important citizen journalism, for example texts and images from mobile

phones, can be after disasters such as Hurricane Katrina to provide information, including

messages from citizens who wanted to help those left homeless.

After the earthquake in Haiti in January 2010, technology and volunteerism produced

emergency related information to save lives:

Less than two hours after the Haiti earthquake, Ushahidi (Swahili for ʻtestimonyʼ or ʻwitnessʼ), an open source platform developed during Kenyaʼs 2007-08 post-election violence, came online (Heinzelman et al, 2010, p.2). The platform, haiti.ushahidi.com, was intended for people affected by the earthquake to freely add information describing among others trapped persons, medical emergencies and needs such as water, food and shelter to a map (CDAC et al, 2011, p.15) as referred in Griberg 2012).

As described by Allan and Thorsen (2009) citizen journalism may need to use a lot of creative

forms in countries with limited freedom, war and lack of infrastructure such as electricity and

internet connection. A chalk board outside a house can become a "Journal", icons in a

suspended UN helmet next to the painting might indicate to the reader that "the UN was

involved" in the story, as the example from Liberia. War blogs from both civilians and former

soldiers in Iraq provided perspective that journalists who accompanied the troops were not

able to accomplish during their mission.

For mainstream news the added value of citizen journalism can now be brought forth when

packaged inside their own news presentations – especially when reporting crises and

catastrophes:

Here first hand testimonies, visceral accounts, and graphic images help to dramatize and humanize stories, injecting emotion, and urgency into the stories of people´s plight and pain. And, possibly, such raw images and graphic images and graphic accounts can also sometimes help to undergrid a mediated ethics of care or even the necessary politics of what should be done (Allan and Thorsen. 2009: XII preface).

Participatory journalism

The “Letters to the editor” section of newspapers could (Nip: 2006) be considered a

forerunner of participatory journalism, although the submitted letters were likely to be more

heavily edited than the participatory contributions are. Public journalism projects that

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included stories written by news users were the pioneer of participatory journalism as they

published the experiences, not just views, of news users.

One of the most important examples of participation journalism with global participation is

iReport which is owned by media giant CNN (in turn controlled by Time Warner Inc.). When

you for the first time click on CNN's iReport icon, you get a user-friendly look. The service is

described like this:

Welcome to iReport, where people participate in the news with CNN. Your voice along with other iReporters, helps shape how and what CNN publishes every day. iReport is how people like you report the news. The stories in this section are not edited, fact-checked or screened before they are published. News only labelled "CNN iReport" was reviewed by CNN.

CNN is clear on iReport.com that it does not provide any guarantees as to the content or

extent of the site. News content created by users are not edited, fact-examined or screened

before publication. IReport was launched as part of CNN in 2006 and has since had success

with the product (Allan and Thorsen, 2009:2).

BBC is also investing in public news, but on a smaller scale. BBC's public image is that citizen

journalism or user-generated content, UGC as the BBC prefer to call it, has been a good

investment (Allan and Thorsen 2009:4),

Like the US and Great Britain, Sweden is also quite developed with regards to participatory

journalism, there are studies suggesting that participation journalism flourishes in the Swedish

media and they have to some extent taken over work previously done by professional

journalists (Karlsson 2011). One example of web-based media with a Swedish version is

Wikinews, which include information on the website how to write their own contribution.

3.4.1 Interaction between traditional and alternative journalism

The Abu Ghraib example in 2004 (American soldiers breaching International Humanitarian

Law in prison in Iraqi and documenting it themselves on video, available on youtube)

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illustrates the interaction between investigative (mainstream) journalism and the alternative

online (Bailey et al, 2008).

It is clear that participation journalism is increasing and developing according to researcher

such as Karlsson. At first, participation in web-based news was limited, later it got the

opportunity to comment and ultimately it became more involved than commenting finished

materials. In 2009 users could comment on more news than ever before and carry out

activities traditionally regarded as journalist's role (Nip referred in Karlsson, 2011).

In a study related to Sweden only, Karlsson finds that the participation of journalism used by

Swedish news web-based/online do not constitute a major threat to traditional journalists and

editors´ so-called gatekeeping roles 2011).

Sometimes the traditional media is important for facilitating alternative journalists to

contribute to policy change. Many in the West discuss the potential of communication

through the internet as a catalyser of social change. The Facebook generation has already

received recognition for the deposition of Egypt's dictator Hosni Mobarak in 2011. For a short

period the most beloved person at Tahrir Square was the young Google manager Wael

Ghonmin.

If one is identifying the higher goal of public journalism as engaging the people as citizens and

helping public deliberation, one can, as Dr. Nip (2006) argue that the new forms of audience

participation could further these goals only by infusing the value from and learning the

techniques of public journalism. Allan and Thorsen however warn not to view technology as a

panacea when it comes to alternative journalism.

According to e.g. writer Nial Fergussen it is however not only pro-democracy activists who

know how to harness the power of networking. It is also the enemies of freedom, he says:

"Ask yourself how did the murderous mob in Mazar-e Sharif know that the Koran had been

burned in Florida? Only look at the internet and mobile phones. Since 2001, mobile phone

access in Afghanistan increased from 0 to 30 per cent". The recent debate in Sweden on the

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communication company Telia’s responsibility and accountability (or not) in enabling the

authorities in Azerbaijan to carry out actions that that breaches human rights is another

example (Arvidsson, 2012). The information Wikilieak provides is also questioned by many

government officials who believe that material can be both dangerous to the security of

nations and destroy their diplomatic work.

3.5 Organization Communication

The following short section is included to provide some aspects the RCRCM as an organization

may consider based on available and related research.

Roughly speaking when talking about organization communication, the basic objective is

creating understanding, lasting relationships and a common identity. Strategic

communications (or communication management) aims at building a communication

perspective on virtually everything an organization or enterprise is engaged in, such as

formulating communication objectives, constitute management's eyes and ears, monitor the

outside world and the organization and report on various changes, act as an internal

consultant on communications issues, responsible for designing and crisis communications,

etc.

Strategic communication can also be described as a fundamental part of an organization's

management function and a practical specialty that includes the examination of requirements,

planning, strategy formulation and execution of communication interventions and

communication processes (Falkheimer and Heide, 2010: 36).

The boundaries of internal and external information are erased and now communications

researchers are increasingly interested in the growing interdependence between internal and

external stakeholders (Falkheimer and Heide, 2010:41).

A study by Seo et al. (2009) on how transnational nongovernmental organizations (NGOs)

use new media tools in their public relation activities included a survey on communication

representatives at 75 transnational NGOs based in the United States, found that promoting

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the organization´s image and fund-raising were the two most important functions of new

media for the NGOs. Organizational capacity and main objective of the organization were

significant predictors of NGOs new media use in their public relations. However,

organizational efficiency and revenue did not significantly predict NGOs use of new media.

Advocacy is not mentioned in the a.m. summary as one of the most important functions.

However advocacy is relevant in this study. As indicated in a web based baseline survey done

by Harvard’s’ Program on Humanitarian Policy and Conflict Research (NB not a scientific poll)

with over 600 self-selected humanitarian professionals most people use it for news and

information plus exchange of information with peers and networking. It is interesting to note

that over 60% claim they use social media for the topic of promoting respect for International

Humanitarian Law while 50% engage in the topic of disaster prevention and management as

compared to climate change which attracts close to 30%.

According to some researchers people from organizations representing civil society are in a

favourable position in the editors' selection process (Holt and Karlsson, 2011) something

which can benefit organisations such as the RCRCM.

Below, the three organisations representing parts of RCRCM will be presented briefly with

regards to their communication objectives and work with social media tools.

3.5.1 ICRC approach to work in conflict and crisis, communication objectives and

social media channels

The ICRC, as described on its home page, works worldwide to provide humanitarian help for

people affected by conflict and armed violence and to promote the laws that protect victims

of war. The work of the ICRC is based on the Geneva Conventions of 1949, their Additional

Protocols, its Statutes – and those of the RCRCM – and the resolutions of the International

Conferences of the Red Cross and Red Crescent. The ICRC is an independent, neutral

organization ensuring humanitarian protection and assistance for victims of war and armed

violence. It takes action in response to emergencies and at the same time promotes respect

for international humanitarian law and its implementation in national law.

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ICRC has globally and regionally developed guidelines including social guidelines for staff.

Main social media channels used by the organization are Facebook, Youtube, Google+ and

Twitter. It also uses Flickr and Scribd. ICRC automatically promotes all news releases on

Twitter in its available languages. It also promotes certain issues on Facebook.

In principle ICRC has three communication objectives which are to:

1. Reach out to those interested in ICRCs activities, but also those it is trying to assist.

2. Increase the visibility of communication products, e.g. news stories, reports etc.

3. Monitor Twitter and other real time information platforms to translate for its

communicative and operational work.

ICRC has recently started to do so-called “hangouts”, i.e. web based discussion seminars. On

25 April 2012 the first seminar was held on the topic “Social Media in Humanitarian Crisis

communication” was discussed (see references). ICRC also has a hotline for journalists

working in dangerous areas (see references).

3.5.2 IFRC approach to work in disaster and crisis management communication

objectives and social media channels

The IFRC describes in its own position paper its approach to disaster and crisis management;

“We (IFRC) work to improve humanitarian standards, as partners in development and in response to disasters. We persuade decision makers to act at all times in the interests of vulnerable people. The result: we enable health and safe communities, reduce vulnerabilities, strengthen resilience and foster a culture of peace around the world….” “…We (IFRC) have an exceptional decades-long history tradition in assisting people in disasters and crises and a commitment to continue to save lives, protect livelihoods and strengthen recovery from disasters and crises in the future.

The IFRC has a Global Communication document which sets the global objectives and social

media guidelines but no set policy. IFRCs plan for 2012- 2013 focus on the following five key

communication objectives;

1. Emergency communication (updated communications operating procedure and tool

for major crisis, training tools).

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2. Four areas of focus for global advocacy: neglected disasters, food security/resilience,

inequitable access to healthcare and non-violence and peace.

3. Communication development and initiatives to further address two audiences:

youth/volunteers and beneficiaries.

4. International branding initiative (common position, national society strategic

communication tools).

5. Communication business improvement: tracking and media monitoring, inline

communities and knowledge sharing, satisfaction surveys.

IFRC works with an official Facebook account, Twitter, Youtube, Google+ and Flickr. Based on

the social media monitoring that IFRC currently performs, blogs and micro blogs (e.g., Twitter)

are the two largest sources of ‘buzz’ that are collected and evaluated. IFRC has many followers

who are volunteers and frequently retweet them. IFRC also use the so called Storify

application to pull together user-generated content relating to e.g. the annual World Red

Cross Red Crescent Day on 8 May (#RCRCDay). Another example is IFRC crowd map

documenting Red Cross and Red Crescent activities in the Sahel.

"https://rcrcsahel.crowdmap.com/"

The IFRC Beneficiary Communication project is currently with the help of Infosaid consultancy

trying to map different endeavours and develop a future strategy on beneficiary

communication, have categorized different kinds of communication as follows:

1. One way – social media – blasting out information - early warning (e.g. cyclone

warning) and behavioural change (e.g. related to hygiene practices) etc.

2. Two way-social media-asking questions- receiving responses (information

gathering/management)

3. Advocacy/Accountability – social media – asking questions-receiving responses- for

outcome for beneficiaries

4. One way-mass media (radio, TV, print media) – blasting out information – early

warning and behavioural change etc.

5. Two way-mass media (radio, TV, print media) asking questions-receiving responses-

(information gathering/management.

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6. Advocacy accountability- mass media (radio, TV, print media) asking questions-

receiving responses-for outcome for beneficiaries.

In this thesis, focus lies on point number 2, 3, 5 (alternative media) and 6.

3.5.3 National Society communication objectives and social media channels related

to conflict and disasters, the example of Swedish Red Cross

The Swedish RC (SRC) domestic work gives priority to efforts relating to socio-economically

vulnerable areas, for instance in the areas of integration, support for unaccompanied minors

(refugee children under 18 year), knowledge enhancement about human rights and

International Humanitarian Law directed at young people in school age.

In relation to domestic natural or man-made disasters, SRC has a role in providing psycho-

social support in cooperation with relevant authorities.

SRC does not have a Communication Policy but has a digital strategy and guidelines on how to

use social media. It has developed its home page with a clear view to open up for comments

and dialogue rather than gate-keeping. Facebook, Twitter and to some extent blogs are used

and SRC has recently started a blog where e.g. the Secretary General is talking about the food

crisis in Sahel on 4 April 2012.

4 Methodology

In order to examine the problem area and answer the research questions for this essay, I have

carried out 13 interviews with people representing all three parts of the RCRCM. This chapter

will describe the choice of method, selection and methodological procedures surrounding the

interviews to enable the reader to better understand and evaluate the results of the

interviews.

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4.1 Choice of method

This essay is attempting to answer a question with words rather than numbers, which is a

reason why qualitative approach is appropriate. Since the aim was to study the relationship

and collaboration between RCRCM Communicators interviews with a phenomenological

(experience based) approach was used. A combination of individual interviews and a focus

group interview was carried out to facilitate dialogue between participants.

Interviews depend on the researcher’s personal abilities and knowledge about the area of

interest. In this case, a personal knowledge of the organization of research and skilled

colleague workers considerably facilitated the work of constructing appropriate questions

(Kvale & Brinkmann 2009). The downside of being part of an organization that you study is

that you have a tendency of being biased towards that organization.

4.2 Population and selection

It would have been impossible to include the entire population which could have qualified for

this essay. Instead, representatives from each of the three parts of RCRCM with job

descriptions linked to the area of research were selected. Strategic selection based on

recommendation from the initial contacts determined the respondents for this essay.

Other than interviewing relevant communication practitioners in each RCRCM part, it was also

relevant to interview one member of staff who is an experienced social media practitioner.

4.2.1 Interview details

The following persons have been interviewed as part of producing this thesis:

International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)

1. Isaac, Griberg, Social Media Officer

2. Bijan Frederic Farnoudi, Media and Public Affairs for Europe and North America

3. Jean- Yves Clémenzo, Public Relations Officer for Eastern Africa

33

International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC)

4. Joe Lowry, Communications Manager (up to Feb 2012). NB. this interview took place as

part of the qualitative interview exercise performed under the Methodology section of

this course. Some questions have been added/or omitted in the final Interview Guide)

5. Amy Greber, Social Media Officer

6. Paula Alvarado, Communications Manager at the Regional Delegation for South Asia

(up to December 2011)

7. Bob McKerrow, Head of Delegation, Sri Lanka

Swedish Red Cross (focus group interview)

8. Anna-Carin Hedén, Web Editor

9. Carl- Johan Nordlander, Manager Social Media

10. Inga-Lill Hagberg, Communication Officer, International Programmes

11. Erik Olsson, Editor SRC Membership Magazine ”Henry” and Annual Report

Uganda Red Cross

12. Catherine Ntabadde, Assistant Director Communications

American Red Cross

13. Wendy Harman, Director Social Strategy

4.3 Execution

First it should be noted that prior to this thesis, and as part of the specific methodology tasks

of this course, I made a quantitative assessment of what Swedish Red Cross related news

triggered traditional media to cover it during 14 days end of 2011. The study also looked at

the sources where Red Cross news appear, from blogs to State TV.

Further linked to this thesis I also made qualitative interview as part of the methodology

course (See appendix 1, Joe Lowry) using similar questions to those appearing in appendix 2 as

part of the testing.

34

When starting the work with the actual thesis, I discussed the problem statement, research

questions and interview questions with colleagues such as the IFRC Head of Communications,

the ICRC Social media officer and Swedish RC Managing Editor to further fine tune the

content. This was primarily to test the relevance but also the accuracy in my formulations.

Prior to the interviews I called or e-mailed each person and informed them that I would tape

the interview. I also shared in writing the Interview Guide (appendix 2) with each respondent

prior to the interview. In order to be able to share the results with fellow students, lecturers

and the public outside the university, the Interview Guide clarified that that it would not be

anonymous, nor would the content of the interview be confidential. This was also repeated

prior to each interview.

The 13 interviews for this essay were performed over a period of circa two and a half months

in 2012, from end-April to beginning June. Some contacts, like four out of five at the Swedish

Red Cross, were known to the author while new contacts and responders were recommended

by the initial contacts.

Semi-structured interviews were used (see Interview Guide Appendix 2). Most interviews

were conducted by Skype as the persons interviewed work all over the world. The

communication officers working at Swedish Red Cross formed a focus group and were

interviewed face to face on one occasion at the national headquarters in Stockholm.

Notes were taken during the interviews and most interviews were recorded on a digital voice

recorder or smartphone. The interviews went largely uninterrupted and the respondents were

friendly, talkative and cooperative.

Key quotes that represented central themes of the respondents answers, or that were

particularly noteworthy, were selected in order to illustrate the findings in the ‘Results’

section of this essay found further down.

Because the research for this project had to be undertaken in different countries, it became

necessary to perform three interviews via e-mail correspondence. Interviews questions

35

answered via email have both pros and cons (Kvale & Brinkmann 2009). On one hand, the live

and animate interaction between the interviewer and the respondent goes missing. On the

other hand, responses have the potential to be more thought-through and easier to analyse

as the text is provided directly without needing to be transcribed.

4.4 Critique of method

According to Atton, studies of alternative media tend to employ qualitative approaches. Atton

believes this is especially appropriate given the perspectives of these studies. Qualitative

methods emphasize the experience of media producers; and internal approach to

understanding the culture of participants; and a search for the meaningfulness of production

as a process (Jensen 1991 referred in Atton 2009).

A conscious sense of naivety should be adopted by the person conducting the interviews as a

way of showing openness towards the respondent and unexpected findings. Simultaneously, a

sensitivity and previous knowledge of the subject can improve the quality of the interview and

allow for a deeper and more nuanced picture of a subject (Kvale & Brinkmann 2009). This

reasoning contains contradicting elements and the essay was affected from both ends of this

spectrum as the researcher of this essay had indeed spent a significant amount of time in

working for the RCRCM, but talked to many of the persons interviewed for the first time.

Most of the interviews for this essay were conducted in the researcher’s second language

which may have an impact on the results, but as the research questions and questions were

provided and discussed beforehand with colleagues in key functions from all three parts of

RCRCM, the risk of misunderstandings were reduced considerably.

However steps to minimize possible negative second language impact have been taken by

having had a colleague going through the text. As the RCRCM mainly uses British spelling on

its external communication, the British spelling system was chosen.

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4.4.1 Generalization

The concept of generalization suggests that scientific knowledge is applicable for all cases, in

all places, at all times (Kvale & Brinkmann 2009:280).

This essay with its case study approach does not claim to be statistically representative for the

entire population. However, Ekström and Larsson maintains that if several cases (such as a

number of communication professionals in this case) show reoccurring themes and similar

patterns, there could be good reason for assuming that this would also be true in the cases of

others (2000).

4.4.2 Reliability

The Interview Guide included selected definitions of alternative journalism based on the

academic literature that the theoretical section of this course is based on. This was to

facilitate a common understanding of the subject matter, alternative journalism. The manual

also included the interview questions, again to make sure that there was a common

understanding.

This dissertation will give a good, if not generalized, overview of how the RCRCM relate to

alternative journalism. A reliable selection of representatives were found thanks to initial

contacts. The interview subjects all appeared to have answered the interview questions

honestly and the interviews ran fairly smoothly. However, there were cases of technical

problems (Skype, recording, loudspeaker etc.). In one case there was a misunderstanding

from the person to be interviewed in that he provided written answers directly and the

interview then was used as such. In another case, as it was difficult to find a time which suited

both parties for a Skype meeting, the written option was chosen.

The fact that I was interviewing colleagues could have influenced to some extent self-

censoring, e.g. not revealing some comments or aspects as I am aware that this document

also will be public and therefore available to their bosses. However I felt that most people

who were interviewed were quite comfortable in their professional roles and views.

37

The studied area is undergoing significant changes. Still it is felt that for the time being, the

questions asked succeeded in answering the research questions adequately.

In order to enhance the reliability of this essay, one could have extended the number of

people researched from the three parts of the RCRCM.

4.4.3 Validity

As mentioned, the research questions were discussed with at least one representative of each

part of the RCRCM prior to starting the interviews. This was not only to ensure that they were

understandable (reliability) but also to check that the research questions and interview

questions were relevant and no crucial question or aspect had been forgotten. I received good

feedback from both colleagues and my thesis supervisor getting started with the interviews.

As 13 interviews is not a large number to make reliable generalizations from, certain areas

where the subjects seemed to agree with each other appeared. The themes where the

answers came out the most categorical and conclusive was then laid out and analysed in the

light of previously mentioned theory.

4.5 Ethical considerations

Kvale and Brinkmann argue that since interviews by definition deal with people and many

times with personal views on subjects which could be regarded as sensitive in certain

contexts, the act of interviewing in itself is surrounded by ethical issues that need to be taken

into consideration (2009). The following steps were taken to make ethical considerations:

Information about the organizations which was gathered in other ways than through the

interviews (mainly the background information about the different organizations) was found

on their own websites or through other reliable sources and should therefore not have posed

a risk of damaging or misrepresenting the organization in question.

38

Revealing the working methods of a company could potentially lead to problems for an

organization and cause respondents being reluctant to give up ‘too much’ information. As

mentioned, each respondent was clearly informed in writing prior to interview about the

purpose of this essay, the questions and that the interview would be recorded. A section is

mentioned in the written Interview Guide about confidentiality and at the beginning of each

interview the respondent was reminded of this issue.

5 Results and analysis

This chapter will be an account for the results of how RCRCM professionals relate to

alternative media. The results will mainly be organized under each of the three research

questions introduced in chapter 2.2 and sub-headlines will divide the findings relevant for

each of the three organisations respectively. Representative quotes have been pulled out to

illustrate key points. More information on the respondents can be found in Appendix 1.

First of all, most respondents find the concepts of alternative journalism somewhat confusing,

interlinked and blurred, confirming the status of research used in this thesis and the varying

translations of the different aspects of journalism (see also chapters 2 and 3.4). As Bailey et al

have mentioned there is no one ‘right‘ way to frame or define alternative media (2008:150).

Some respondents, like Joe Lowry, describe that the convergence whereby e.g. TV stations are

becoming blogs and the other way around contributes to the blurred picture. Lowry would not

count IReport (CNNs channel for public contributions described in chapter 3.4) as alternative

journalism as there is not much different having a reporter on the scene except that there is

no money involved. If alternative journalists or alternative media platform such as blogs or

micro blogs are big enough to be interesting they are not really alternative anymore. Again

this in line with what e.g., Bailey et al note, the categories of alternative and mainstream are

not rigid; they can be extremely fluid. For instance, some bloggers have been appropriated by

the mainstream media and the publishing industry others are clearly striving to strengthen the

hegemonies in which they are located (2008-150-151).

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One respondent described that alternative media per definition is not objective but traditional

media has also changed a lot. The notion of agenda setting and gatekeeping are not quite the

case anymore and while traditional media still pretend to be objective this is really not the

case. This is also in line with the development described in section 3.4 under with e.g. opinion

making journalism such as Fox News and Newsmill have been introduced. For RCRCM

communicators the consequence is that they need to spend much time and effort in verifying

and triangulating sources, particularly in order to ensure that information is accurate and that

the RCRCM key operating principles of impartiality, neutrality and independence are not

violated in its communication. This is considered the biggest challenge by the respondents.

To differentiate between ‘journalism’ and ‘communications’ is also not entirely easy, as

described by Pierre Kremer, IFRC. National Societies (such as Swedish Red Cross) may engage

in crowd-sourcing to glean important insights from the masses, for example, but it does not

necessarily mean that they consider the individual sources ‘alternative journalists’. A National

Society may regard its micro blog as strictly a communications tool, while its more substantive

blog may qualify as a platform for journalism.

There is a varying degree of available policy and guidelines to support the work of RCRCM

communication staff related to alternative journalism and media, e.g. Uganda Red Cross has

an information policy which is updated to include alternative forms of journalism. ICRC is on

their way to standardize how information should be verified and triangulated while SRC so far

has found ways to verify information case by case to ensure its fundamental principles are not

breached. All organisations interviewed have some guiding documents to support work with

social media.

One theoretical starting point was that alternative journalism is particularly relevant where

traditional journalism fails (See section 2.3, Nip: 2009). Examples of such situations are cases

of natural disaster or conflict, i.e. environments which are both very familiar to the RCRCM.

The usefulness was clearly confirmed both in the theoretical research study of the role of

alternative journalism in disasters and conflicts (chapter 3.4) and in the interview results

(chapter 5.1, 5.2, 5.3).

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RCRCM is indeed increasingly using information from alternative journalism, especially when

it comes to monitoring “listen more than to talk, as a source rather than as a channel of

information” as one respondent formulated it. Staffs thus listen to a broader audience but

also use obtained information as sources, to inform operations and support activities. One

respondent underlined the importance of monitoring to be able to clarify miscommunication

such as false alarm early warning messages in relation to e.g. a tsunami.

Alternative journalism is mainly seen as coming with opportunities such as; closer dialogue

with target groups including affected communities, timely and relevant programming or as

one respondent put it; it makes us more nimble, more human and more efficient. This in

turn benefits feedback on how communities perceive the organization, credibility and

accountability to the human sector. Dialogue with alternative journalists is also viewed as

contributing to empowerment of communities which the RCRCM serves. Bijan Farnoudi, ICRC

described that information can be considered aid in its own right (see also section 3.4 and

Scholz on the World Bank survey confirming this) and the new channels available offer many

possibilities to be explored.

Direct Movement organizational benefits include helping to mobilize communities, especially

the youths to participate by for instance becoming members and volunteers. The new kind of

dialogue can also be supporting fundraising efforts in favour of relevant and timely support to

disaster and conflict affected people. This is relevant both after quick onset disasters such as

the Haiti earthquake 2010 but not the least also related to more so called neglected disasters

such as supporting vulnerable people after the long conflict in Sri Lanka that ended 2009.

Here follows another example of perceived benefits:

We would have more stories from the ground, stronger impact with the media; reach a wider audience of donors. There is a difference telegraphing a story or to have someone skyping and you see the story. It is more powerful! (Paula Alvarado).

The technology development and the amount of information available have developed fast

and the number of people with access to mobile connection is increasing every day, even in

countries such as Somalia. Still there is a great – if not greater – need for actors, such as the

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Red Cross/Red Crescent Climate Centre in converting accessible meteorological information

toward those who do not use traditional media into comprehensive, credible and

understandable way to communities, allowing people to mobilize. Sometimes with the help of

community based volunteers or more direct via clarifying e.g. disaster preparedness measures

to community members at risk via sms etc. In that regard one could say that RCRCM has a

kind of gatekeeping role.

I feel part of my job is to be a concierge, particularly at crises. I try to support empowerment of national society staff in the field. For instance I can shepherd a journalists to a Turkish Red Crescent staff Twitter accounts for the journalists to follow the earthquake operation (Amy Greber, IFRC).

Overall communications staff from all three parts of the RCRCM find that they still put more

resources in working with traditional journalists as oppose to alternative journalists. This is

due to factors such as the sense of better understanding the traditional actors, having

personal relationships with them and their ethic rules being clearer. It is also about RCRCM

representatives being more certain of that traditional journalists would provide space, even in

a critical journalistic piece, for a RCRCM comment and to make sure the quotes are right.

This exemplifies that even if the respondents appreciate the relevance of alternative

journalism, they still put more trust into mainstream media. This is expressed by most

respondents but particularly crucial to ICRC with its mandate linked to International

Humanitarian Law and working in conflict environments. Opinions of a political nature can

have adverse impact on operations. The different mandate is reflected in that ICRC and IFRC

have chosen rather opposite ways of communicating in social media. While ICRC limits its

communication more or less to selected heads of operations and professional communication

staff and channels, IFRC and SRC are rather promoting the use of social media towards staff,

resulting in ‘larger and mixed bouquets’ of messages. IFRC and SRC on their hand promote its

staff users to use a disclaimer when they blog to limit this risk. From a strategic

communication point of view (compare chapter 3.5) both approaches may well be right. The

scope of the thesis did not allow to conclude whether any of the organisations operate in a

more strategic way.

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However it is clear in the author’s view that the American Red Cross provides a leading

example as a national society. It finds itself empowering social media communities and at the

same time executing the mission of the American Red Cross online. If the above result in this

thesis is generalizable, one could argue that there are currently many missed overall RCRCM

opportunities in relation to communication with target groups such as, but not limited to,

diaspora groups who use alternative media. As described by Bailey et al, e.g. diaspora groups

have distinct uses for alternative media. They tend to form “communities” bound by some

degree of common political form and social interest, and by ethnicity, langue and culture.

Moreover, they may produce and use these media as political instruments to voice concerns about their exclusion from the main public sphere, to maintain connections with their countries of origin and to build and sustain a new local and transnational “imagined” community 2008:150).

A couple of respondents perceived a need for further professional communication human

resources to deal with new forms of information. The lack of professional journalistically

trained and experienced communication staff within the RCRCM was seen by one respondent

as a main limitation for dealing with alternative media as was management understanding of

the importance as compared to e.g. Oxfam.

A more practical challenge perceived by one respondent is to officially connect and integrate

alternative journalism with operations while another respondent mentioned the risk of

empowering only those with access to this technology and leaving out the rest. Humanitarian

response must be driven by need and not by who has access to technology.

From the authors point of view, a concern is if the new forms of alternative journalism and

media and the opportunities that come with them too much are associated with technical

aspects (linking to the warning Allan and Thorsen stated in 3.4.1 about not to view technology

as a panacea when it comes to alternative journalism). Having the technology in place

obviously does not automatically translate to working strategically with communication

including aspects of alternative journalism and media, especially if there is a lack of

professional communicators to fill and use the channels with regards to content.

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A perhaps more practical challenge is to ensure dialogue in social media is facilitated in the

main languages. It is for instance a priority for the ICRC to increase its global blogs

(Washington, Paris, Jakarta and Bangkok). In Beijing Kaixin (equivalent to Facebook), Weibo

(Chinas equivalent to twitter) and Louku (Chinas equivalent to Youtube) is used. In addition,

ICRC has 9-10 twitter channels in different languages such as Spanish and Arabic plus a

number of delegations with separate Twitter files (Jakarta, Tokyo, London, Washington).

However Isaac Griberg admits there is still room for improvement e.g. in Africa, Mena and

South Asia and it is a priority for the ICRC to increase its ability to communicate in local

languages.

When summarizing, there seem to be room for further study whether the RCRCM

communication capacity is geared to deal with alternative journalism in a way that supports

the organizations strategic communication or communication management (compare chapter

3.5 and e.g. Falkheimer’s and Heide’s descriptions).

Below follows more concrete examples from interviews linked to the respective research

questions introduced in section 2.2:

5.1 Research question one: How does the RCRCM use externally produced

alternative journalism?

ICRC: In many areas where the ICRC operates, such as Afghanistan, radio remains the best

tool. As explained by Isaac Griberg, the ICRC today makes more use of material including video

clips produced by people who are present in areas where the ICRC operates, for example

during the so called Arab Spring 2011. Often people provide comments on e.g. Facebook on

the ICRC’s work during crisis or natural disaster or man-made disasters. They might be

wanting to provide sources or asking for help, e.g. from Egypt 2011, Bangkok and Syria. People

representing both sides of the crisis approach the ICRC with information. When the material

contains violence and blood Isaac and his colleagues takes it out from the web site but may

still share it with the operational department as a first hand source. They also omit the

information if it is sensitive or contain information such as ’I can confirm that XX has been

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detained in XXX’ to avoid the person who has provided the information being to be put in

danger. The most credible sources however remain our delegates in the field, but sometimes

Twitter is faster.

It is important to remember that many of the audiences we communicate with are armed groups that we want to reach with dissemination about International Humanitarian Law (Geneva Conventions, NP notes) (Isaac Griberg, ICRC).

IFRC: As explained by Pierre Kremer, the IFRC approach as to what the thesis defines as citizen

journalism is first and foremost a monitoring approach. In a nutshell, the IFRC is mostly in a

listening mode to better capture this trend and evaluate its potential impact in terms of

reputation management (in Haiti for example). One interesting actor for the IFRC to follow is

the watchdog organizations and new way of fostering investigation pieces such as Bureau of

Investigative Journalism or the alternative journalist (s) behind the Inner City Press.

The perceived a need to listen broadly is confirmed by another IFRC staff member as follows:

If you do not listen 360 degrees you miss things. I find Twitter very good. You can have information from nine people getting different opinions. On my phone I get traditional media, Facebook and Twitter, policial activists, people who do not agree with mainstream politics and information through blogs…(Bob McKerrow, IFRC)

Below are a couple of concrete examples of how the RCRCM use information from citizen

journalism:

At the early time of the violence in Syria, when refugees from Syria started to cross Turkish borders, only citizen were in place. I was using info from citizens then at task force meetings and international monitoring team meetings. Sometimes information from citizens also contributes when there has been a disasters and the official figures of e.g. are stating one number of dead and lots of citizen information keeps informing about no deaths, this would be reflected in us stating something like “the number of killed at this point is XXX and unfortunately this figure is likely to be increased” (Joe Lowry, former IFRC).

Swedish RC (SRC): At the time of the crisis in Syria 2011-2012, the SRC cooperated with a

private blogger with many followers who had close connections with many people both in

Syria and Sweden. The information was used to highlight that the SRC was raising funds for

ambulances to be sent to the Syria Red Crescent. To limit the risk of cooperating with a

potentially biased person with not proven objective agenda, the SRCs decision was to only re-

tweet the blogger when he was mentioning the info which the RC had checked (i.e. his

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fundraising message to send contributions through the Red Cross itself). A SRC staff member

was also in regular contact with him. The focus group interviewed believed that the

cooperation contributed well to achieving the fundraising objective.

The SRC also mentioned contacts with the Spanish speaking local radio at the time when a big

earthquake happened during the spring in Chile 2010.

American Red Cross (ARC): As described by Wendy Harman the ARC gets at least as much, if

not more, value out of incoming conversation as compared to outgoing ones.

There is a clear agreement amongst the respondents that the biggest challenge about dealing

with alternative journalism and media is to verify the information.

You have to make sure and be damned careful. What looks OK could be carefully orchestrated propaganda, particularly when you deal with governments or government agencies, they hide themselves as alternative journalists – this is dangerous. When I am a guest speaker when we do communication trainings and I always repeat to the participants to check, check and check again the news! A good way for me is to go to BBC and then check Al Jazeera, after which I go to some of my credible Twitter contacts (2-3 traditional, 2-3 alternative)” (Bob McKerrow, IFRC).

5.2 Research question two: What kind of actions is taken by RCRCM, based on

reports from alternative journalism during disaster and/or conflict

operations?

ICRC: When communication staffs find relevant information on the ICRCs social media

platform they share the information with their operational department through personal

accounts and sources. Sometimes the challenge, and absolute necessity, is to verify or

triangulate the information, with the view of adhering to the ICRCs fundamental principles

such as impartiality and neutrality. The principles are the basis and key for the organization to

be able to fulfil its mandate. i.e. victims of conflict. In other words, more information leads to

more work for the communicators.

In the spring of 2012 the ICRC hosted a so called hangout web seminar (see references) that

also provided the recommendation not only to engage in conversations on the platforms you

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host (e.g. your organization’s Facebook page), but to explore how you can proactively engage

on others’ blogs and sites too (e.g. correct information, address rumours and answer

questions that concern your work).

IFRC: A benefit expressed by one respondent is that ’It is keeping us on our toes (as is

mainstream journalism)’. One respondent described a situation during her mission in South

Asia when the Indian State of Bihar was affected by floods. Government officials would come

and distribute water etc. but some villagers were not receiving anything as they represented a

low caste. However, the traditional journalists joining the officials did not mention any of this.

As journalists, traditional and alternative, frequent the same places and talk, the alternative

journalists, young local people who blog about what they see, would inform the mainstream

journalists and communication staff like the respondent about what they witnessed. In this

case, the respondent used the information to inform the Secretary General of the Indian Red

Cross about this piece of information for him and his national society to act upon (this could in

turn be needs analysis, distribution, advocacy efforts etc.).

Related to this discussion on can question about when an ordinary person becomes an

alternative journalist? Isaac Griberg describes (se section 5.3) what are incitements for people

to become active as volunteers, contributing with info on the web. My reflections include that

it might be e.g. when a story is interesting enough to be picked up by traditional media (e.g.

the Abu Ghraib story described 3.4.1) or when it is providing journalistic material by providing

citizens with reliable information through the discipline of verification, as well providing a

forum for public criticism.

Alternative journalists and their sources are seen as useful, not the least in situations where

there is a disaster or conflict with a lack of traditional journalists (e.g. Syria 2011). Alternative

journalism (or rather reporting as the respondent said) can be powerful when supported by

an NGO and the RCRCM as displayed in the 2011 IFRC World Disaster Report, a usually rather

well publicized annual report (media, research institutes etc.) on disaster related topics. All

you need now is a telephone to tell a story.

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Civil society actors such as NGOs and the RCRCM sometimes can act as gatekeepers, in the

sense that RCRCM is in charge of the process through which information is filtered for

dissemination, be it publication, broadcasting, the Internet, or some other type of

communication. Gatekeeping is also seen as one of the traditional roles of journalism.

SRC: Se example for research question one.

American Red Cross: Several things happen when we have a major disaster operation. As

described by Wendy Harman;

1. We update all of our official social platforms immediately to acknowledge the disaster and pledge to update our stakeholders with all the info we have as soon as we have it. (Facebook page, Twitter, Blog, Disaster Online Newsroom, YouTube, etc. 2. We deploy a Topic Profile in our Digital Operations Center and continually monitor all social conversations to determine trends, needs, and gain situational awareness. 3. We may activate our Digital Volunteers to take 4 hour shifts to listen to and respond to individuals with questions about where to find resources like shelters and food and how to donate. We also offer people hope and comfort - we call them digital hugs. 3. We have a team of 200+ Public Affairs volunteers who are pre-trained to deploy to speak to the media and to provide social content from the ground. We place all of their content on the Disaster Online Newsroom. (see suggestion future research, NP notes) 4. We continually update all of our social platforms with information about the response effort. We find that during steady state we have to be very creative to hold our stakeholders' interests, but they have an insatiable hunger for information during disasters. We especially concentrate on the Disaster Online Newsroom with "color commentary" from the ground and raw data from our Disaster Operations Center HQ.

5.3 Research question three: How do RCRCM communicators use platforms of

alternative journalism (journalism by participating in internal and external

web-based media or channels such as blogs or micro blogs/twitters) to

achieve the RCRCM communication objectives?

ICRC: During the Syrian Crisis, the ICRC has used twitter heavily to disseminate information

about its activities and about the humanitarian situation. As explained by Bijan Farnoudi, the

media interest was so overwhelming that it was the fastest and most efficient way to

disseminate key messages.

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In this regard one can claim that the RCRCM in fact in situations like this takes on some of the

roles which usually are given to the media, to provide sources of information which is verified

and filtered (e.g. from content which may lead to security risks for people mentioned or

pictured in the conversation, censorship of content with strong violence etc.).

New media has also been useful in the Democratic Republic of Congo according to Jean- Yves

Clémenzo:

When ICRC wanted to rehabilitate a water supply system there was no good map available. We decided to buy satellite image and started to draw up a map from this. We got some support from volunteers from the DR Congo Red Cross but mainly from people all over the world using our own software (similar to Open Street Map, NP notes) to draw houses, roads. Then we double checked with people in the communities to draw a rather precise map. This helped us. (see also story link called ’mapping humanitarian action ’ in the reference section).

IFRC: In the mentioned example from Syria/Turkey under section 5.1 the IFRC

Communications Manager used Twitter to access the information which he then used as a

source to complement official data with indications that the death toll would rise in the IFRC’s

official communication.

A couple of the RCRCM related examples on interaction between alternative and traditional

media, as described by Paul Conneally at the Médicines Sans Frontièrs Scientific Day (see

references), include providing hand operated radios to enable vulnerable people in Somalia

year 2000 to link up with the diaspora outside with the support of the BBC (however it is

possible to question, similar to Thorsens and Allens note in chapter 3.4.1, that technology can

solve all communication problems).

The Tsunami 2004 was a time when the use of mobile technology and people seeking or

providing information collaborated successfully with primarily local radio. The Haiti

earthquake 2010, often called the first digital disaster, enabled according to Conneally

humanitarian organizations not only to engage communities but truly to empower them,

turning them from victims to responders, and in essence, making them part of the team.

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(One might add that the concept of being part of the team ideally should be defined in

cooperation with the communities themselves, what is their view of being part of the team?)

As stated by Pierre Kremer in his CDAC speech, the Red Cross after the Haiti earthquake 2010

became a broker of communication, an intermediary between the donor and the beneficiary.

What people ask for in times of disaster or crisis is finally quite simple. Essentially, they want to be treated the same way as you and I would like to be treated in crisis situation: we would need to have access to information, to be able to express our needs and to be listened to. This is where beneficiary communication can make a difference.

Accountability, dialogue and technologies as a game changer, direct advocacy from

beneficiaries - all of these are emerging and unstoppable trends that are already influencing

the way we work, Kremer says.

In terms of advocacy journalism and participatory journalism (and Public Relations too) the

IFRC’s high profile annual advocacy publication “World Disasters Report (WDR)” is an

example. The 2011 edition theme is Hunger and Malnutrition. The edition analyses the

challenges, complexities and causes of hunger and malnutrition and advocates some

solutions. The content range from stronger support for smallholder farmers to improving

regulation of financial speculators in order to calm the increasing volatility of food prices

around the world, from advocating sustainable agriculture to empowering rural and urban

communities, and from social protection schemes to strengthening the work of international

institutions. It also examines the response to food insecurity and malnutrition in crises, and

the challenges and constraints to improving these responses.

For the India case, the IFRC used videos taken by community members themselves in

cooperation with the NGO Video Volunteers to illustrate the situation (see references

including link to IFRC WDR and sub links including India video project). The whole purpose was

to talk about the problem in India, not to talk about (i.e. promote) the RCRCM.

SRC: An example, which links closely to, or rather is an example of, Public Relations, was when

the SRC in the spring of 2012 was using the fact that a well-known stand-up comedian who

was once reunited with his family in Sweden thanks to the Red Cross and mentioned this in his

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show, took the opportunity to attract volunteers and inform about the service outside the

show. This is also in line with the development explained under section 3.4 under advocacy

journalism.

As stated by Pierre Kremer in his CDAC speech the Red Cross after the Haiti earthquake 2010

became a broker of communication, an intermediary between the donor and the beneficiary.

Since then he elaborated further as follows:

The Haitian Red Cross offers a good example of how important it is to connect with local communities based on how the latter obtain and convey information: calling in to Red Cross radio programs, exchanging SMS and tweets, conversing in-person with Red Cross volunteers.

Given the diversity of National Societies worldwide, it is difficult to generalize how each uses

social media. (Different schools of thought come into play when examined at a tactical level.

For example, is social media truly appropriate for fundraising – or is it best to focus on

relationship-building?

The American Red Cross which is one of the national societies in the forefront of social

engagement clearly states that it wants to provide valuable user-focused news and tools to

help people

- Get help or give help in emergencies

- Donate blood and get others to donate

- Take health and safety courses and get others to enrol

- Get prepared for disasters and encourage others to do so

Thereby it finds itself empowering social media communities and at the same time executing

the mission of the American Red Cross online. The American Red Cross (ARC) is here singled

out as the example in the lead with regards to using news format to communicate with

beneficiaries and potential volunteers and other stakeholders. It might not fit in a traditional

definition of “journalism”, however, this kind of news related information can be part of a

strategic communication programme.

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The ARC has a social engagement team with three specialist of which one is the interviewed

Director, a policy (on social engagement) and strategic plan, online communication guidelines,

social engagement handbook 2.0, frequently asked questions (FAQ) document related to its

digital operation centre etc. A sign that this is not only the authors’ view is that respondents

both from the ICRC and the IFRC specifically recommended I would interview the American

Red Cross. Why the American Red Cross appear to be dealing so strategically and active with

new forms of media is likely to be found in a number of reasons such as that;

- the national society works in a big country with a huge and complex media environment.

- Facebook, YouTube and Twitter were developed in the US.

- National Societies have different roles in different countries as defined in dialogue between

the Red Cross and its state and local authorities. According its home page the American Red

Cross since has its founding in 1881 been the nation's premier emergency response

organization. Over the years, the organization has expanded its services, always with the aim

of preventing and relieving suffering.

- the public health and social network system is less developed to cover its whole population

in the US as compared to e.g. Sweden.

6 Conclusions

Through (the means) of one case study and the conducting of 13 interviews with professionals

in the RCRCM, this study examined the following problem of ‘How does the Red Cross and

Red Crescent Movement relate to alternative journalism during disaster and conflict

operations?’ through the breakdown of the following three research questions.

1. How do the RCRCM use externally produced alternative journalism?

2. What kinds of actions are taken by RCRCM, based on reports from alternative

journalism during disaster and/or conflict operations?

3. How do RCRCM communicators use platforms of alternative journalism (journalism by

participating in internal and external web-based media or channels such as blogs or

micro blogs/twitters) to achieve the RCRCM communication objectives?

The theoretical framework of this essay was based on theories of traditional and more

recently emerged forms of journalism and the connection between journalism, producers of

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journalism and the audience. Selected aspects of what I have called alternative journalism

(advocacy journalism, citizen journalism and participatory journalism) and social media

channels such as Facebook, Blogs and Twitters/Micro blogs have been prioritized in this study.

One aspect which has been important in the study is to how the RCRCM takes in information

from vulnerable individuals, groups or communities who do not have access to, or are not

represented, in traditional media. The RCRCM has a clear role in advocating on behalf of these

people and/or to facilitate their own voices being heard as part of meeting their basic

humanitarian needs and rights.

According to Atton (chapter 2, Introduction), there is virtually no research in terms of

alternative audiences and research in the detailed international comparative studies. This case

study of the RCRCM is believed to have provided some information to fill parts of the gap. In

addition, available research on civil society organizations and media usually concentrates on

internal communication, strategic communications or relations with traditional media. On the

other hand there is limited research which focuses on communication between these

organizations and the people they seek to assist or help. The heart of the RCRCM’s mission is

to provide support to vulnerable populations around the world. Therefore it is important to

analyse how the organization communicates with its beneficiaries.

The notion of alternative media and journalism being contested concepts and that the line

between traditional and alternative journalism is sometimes blurred was further confirmed in

this study as e.g. respondents questioned e.g. IReport as being alternative, found that

traditional media transform into TV, blogs etc.

There is a close association between citizen journalism and the reporting of crises as it is in

situation of crises ordinary people are often “compelled to adopt the role of a reporter” and

“bear witness to crisis events unfolding around them” (Allan and Thorsen, X preface). This

statement was clearly confirmed in this thesis as was Nips view that alternative journalism is

particularly relevant where traditional journalism fails (Nip:2009).

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One theoretical department of this thesis was the notion that alternative journalism

contributes to empowerment something which the respondents also clearly supported.

The interviews with IFRC representatives in South Asia related to conditions for alternative

journalists confirmed the situation described under the theoretical framework section 3.3,

where alternative journalists, but also traditional journalists lack legal support and face the

risk of being put in jail or being killed when covering sensitive situations such as for example

the internally displaced during the conflict in Sri Lanka.

The RCRCM is increasingly using information from alternative journalism. It uses it a lot to

monitor and listen to a broader audience but also information such as sources for operational

purposes, including advocacy work. It is mainly seen as coming with opportunities such as;

closer dialogue with target groups which in turn benefits feedback on how communities

perceive the organization, credibility and accountability to the human sector, timely and

relevant programming or as one respondent put it; it makes us more nimble, more human

and more efficient. Dialogue with alternative journalists is also viewed as contributing to

empowerment of communities which the RCRCM serves.

When asked if overall the respondents find that the increased level of information stemming

from alternative journalism constitute a threat or an opportunity, every respondent was in

agreement that it brings opportunities while some answered both opportunities and threats.

One of the challenges described is the sheer amount of information around, as one

respondent mentioned; there is over 200 million Twitter users and e.g. at a time of a large

earthquake. How to bring out the pearls from the sea of information? The main challenge

perceived by the respondents regards the verifying, or triangulate information from

alternative sources.

How do one ensure the information is true and relevant? There is scope for further discussion

on how organisations such as the RCRCM should navigate in an environment with endless

amount of information. How can it use all the possibilities and at the same time deal with the

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threats and challenges? This is particularly in view of the Movements fundamental principles

such as impartiality, neutrality and independence which is key to its performance and

accesses to the people it serves to support, as illustrated by Bob McKerrow’s quotes in section

5.1.

Relating to the study described in section 3.5 by Seo on how NGOs organizations use new

media tools in their public relation activities it was found that promoting the organization´s

image and fund-raising were the two most important functions of new media for the NGOs.

Advocacy is not mentioned in the a.m. summary. A Harvard University web based study (not

scientific but 600 self-selected humanitarian workers participating) does indicate participants

use new media tools for advocating International Humanitarian law (60%) and disaster

preparedness and disaster management (50%). According to some researchers people from

organizations representing civil society are in a favourable position in the editors' selection

process (Holt and Karlsson, 2011) something which can benefit organisations such as the

RCRCM. The findings in this study support that.

Alternative media affects journalistic form, content and even the standards. Deuze describes

that the future news systems will be based, at least in part, on an interactive and connective

mode of production where media makers and users will work and compete to play a part in

the mutual construction of reality. He describes potential developments in two directions:

toward finally establishing the ideals of journalism and democracy to enable citizens to be

self-governing, or to supercharge the social fragmentation of society into countless

individualized public spheres. On a hopeful concluding note he mentions that:

“Some consider a shift toward a more engaged, emancipatory and participatory relationship between media professionals and their publics and example of a new humanism in the domains of public relations, journalism, and advertising, constituting “an antidote to narrow corporate-centric ways of representing interests in modern society (Balnaves, Mayrhofer, and Shoesmith referred in Deuze 2009: 262)”.

This is in line with the optimism expressed by most respondents in this thesis related to

alternative journalism and the opportunities they bring. However, as mentioned, the majority

of respondents interviewed still feel that traditional journalism and media is more trustworthy

and communication staff still makes priority to deal with mainstream journalists and media. In

55

conclusion and based on the findings in this study, I would attribute alternative journalism and

media rather big importance in contexts such as disasters and conflicts. Organizations

representing civil society such as the RCRCM do communicate with its beneficiaries and find it

useful and coming with mainly opportunities. There are Challenges though, both in terms of

navigating in the endless space of information and adhering to its own principles key to its

performance.

This thesis indicates that the RCRCM would benefit from investing further in qualified

communication staff and from develop its communication guidelines. This to support the

RCRCM walking the fine line of protecting its key fundamental principles and further use the

potential alternative journalism and media brings to improve dialogue with the people the

RCRCM serves.

There is thus scope for further studies on if, and how, the RCRCM need to improve its

strategic communication with regards to alternative journalism and media to reach

organizational objectives.

7 Discussion: findings related to research gaps

In the Introduction, chapter two, a couple of research gaps identified by Waisbord and Atton

are mentioned. Below the gaps are again described followed by information extracted during

the course of working with this essay which is believed to provide some information in

contribution to reduce the gap.

Research gap identified by Atton: Who are the audiences of alternative media, who uses

alternative media and for what purposes?

As the respondent Isaac Griberg mentions, many people who contact the ICRC via social

media do it because they want to advocate or put pressure on the ICRC to act in one way or

another. Sometimes the ICRC gets hundreds of similar messages and its clear then that it is an

organized act. Sometimes it is individuals seeking assistance. Some people send content with

violence or pornography and this kind of information is clearly taken out.

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Section 3.4 describe that diaspora populations, such as those living abroad during the Kenya

election crisis in 2007, are often audiences of alternative crisis media. In this case the diaspora

provided to be useful for the Kenyan Red Cross fundraising. The online Mikes, an online

business, provided the diaspora Kenyans to give online, purchasing relief materials that the

company staff delivered to displaced persons camps in the Rift Valley, either through Mama

Mikes or directly to the (Kenyan) Red Cross. (Zuckerman 2009: 192-193). This thesis has also

described that the RCRCM is itself a user even if it is still in many ways still finding its way.

Research gap identified by Waisbord:

Does global advocacy effectively shape news coverage when it dovetails with local actions,

considering journalism´s preference for local news hooks?

As part of this thesis results, the practical example of facilitating and supporting hunger

affected communities themselves to advocate in India in the rather well quoted IFRC World

Disaster Response publication 2011 provides an example (section 5.1 and above point 1).

The respondent currently working in Sri Lanka explained how communication has been key in

supporting fundraising efforts for operations in support of internally displaced, a generally

speaking neglected disaster.

Research gap identified by Atton, in the introduction, chapter 2:

How is alternative media produced, how do people work, how did they learn the job and

how do producers identify and choose their stories? Atton has also mentioned that we know

very little about who uses alternative media and for what purposes (Atton, 2008).

This thesis found that when the IFRC was working with citizen journalists in e.g. India through

the “Video Volunteers” (an American NGO) for advocacy purposes in its high profile annual

publication World Disasters Report (see above section 5.3) we have an example of how

alternative media is produced. The people that made the filming are young and activist

people, themselves coming from the poor communities suffering from hunger. Level of

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education is primary to high school level with workshop level journalistic education only. They

pitch stories which the NGO Video Volunteers, other NGOs or media may or may not be

interested in. Video Volunteers as explained by one respondent is led by a professional

journalist (see web link references, alternative journalists). No script was provided by the

IFRC, only information that the purpose was not to point finger but to describe their situation.

Funding was symbolic to cover transport and work. The reporters are members of community,

trained in the basics and ethics of journalism.

Another example of how staff members use platforms of alternative journalism:

After 25 years of civil war, people are reluctant to speak out. Many local people, caught in the middle of conflict, have been severely disciplined, have lost jobs, and had to build a life all over again. Many lost everything. You will find that it is rather the Sri Lanka diaspora and the expatriates that speak out. In a post conflict there is also a lot of inaccurate information in circulation. I see from time to time diaspora and sometimes they comment my blogs. Sometimes they comment and tell me I am not objective and I tell them – I write about what I see. I love this kind of direct dialogue with people (Bob McKerrow, IFRC).

One respondent mentioned the “Inner City Press” and what he believed was a one man band

trying to be like a wasp and challenging large actors such as the United Nations and how it

was useful for the RCRCM to monitor these kinds of actors to stay on your toes.

Regarding who uses alternative media, the following examples were encountered during the

process of working on this thesis:

As Zayan and Carter describe, most citizen journalists in Arab countries come from privileged

backgrounds, having high levels of education, income and leisure time in which to blog. Syrian

blogger Amman Abdulhamid does not see this as a problem, however insisting that Arab

citizen journalism often “cross*es+ the bridge between the elite and the grass roots” in

reporting on human rights abuses and in helping to organize public campaigns to end them

(Beckerman 2007, p 19 referred to in Zayan and Carter 2009).

The students (including the Ph.D candidate quoted in Isaac Gruber’s piece where he did

empirical research to understand motivations for participation within volunteer and technical

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communities (V&TCs), described people who supported e.g. trapped victims after the Haiti

earthquake in 2010 using Ushahidi’s platform is another example of young people engaging in

something they believe is useful.

Gribergin his study describes six functions (motivations, or reasons) of V&TVs volunteerism

(Houle et al, 2005, p 337-338 as referred by Griberg (2012);

values – the person is volunteering in order to express or act on important values, such as

humanitarianism and helping the less fortunate

understanding- the volunteer is seeking to learn more about the world and or exercise skills

that are often unused

career – the volunteer has the goal of gaining career-related experience through volunteering

social- volunteering allows the person to strengthen one´s social relationships

protective – the individual uses volunteering to reduce negative feelings, such as guilt, or to

address personal problems

enhancement- the individual is seeking to grow and develop psychologically through

involvement in volunteering.

A seventh function can be added as an attempt to broaden the model (Butler et al 2010 as

referred by Griberg 2012:5):

visibility – online volunteering provides the person with an opportunity to be visible beyond

the boundaries of their geographical community.

Research gap identified by Waisbord:

How (does) global advocacy movements effectively support local advocacy needs to be

understood by analysing local reporting practices?

As Pierre Kremer describes in his CDAC speech (see appendix no 3) , the Red Cross Red

Crescent after the Tsunami 2004 in Indonesia “we became a broker of communication, an

intermediary between the donor and the beneficiary, we worked on behalf of communities to

fix or help with the issues that communities were facing”. Kremer explained that the program

used a mix of face to face, SMS, TV, Radio and print to not only get a two way communication

going but it was supported by multiple channels of communication allowing an open

discussion between us as the advocates, the beneficiaries and the service providers.

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8 Future research

Several scholars argue that a big part of available research on journalism has a liberal and

Western perspective. Globalization has helped to make it more interesting to do research

across boundaries such as country or culture. Based on the concepts I have chosen to describe

in detail in just alternative journalism, I describe below areas that some of today's scientists

believe require priority in future research.

Advocacy (Opinion Formation) Journalism: Issues Waisboard suggests to be further explored

include: "What happens when the global impact (human rights, environment, NPs listing)

clashes with national or local government interests, or the chief representatives of the news?"

Citizen Journalism: According to Atton there is virtually no research in terms of audiences and

research in the detailed international comparative studies. Researchers have not focused on

how alternative media is produced, how people work and how they learned the job. How do

they identify and select their stories and how do they represent their sources? There are very

few studies critically examining “progressive” media in terms of their “repressive” aspects,

such as the advocacy of violence.

Participation journalism: Karlsson and Holt (2011) suggest that more research is devoted to

the conditions/circumstances in which journalists work and how they affect editors' choice

and content of participation journalism.

Many of the respondents mentioned that while they agreed with that the concept of

alternative journalism is difficult and blurred and the authors mentioning in the Interview

Guide that the concept is rather contested, they found the topic interesting and timely.

The rise of social media is now quite influencing the way we communicate, it is becoming as important as what we communicate. I’m not sure this is for the good but we certainly need to embrace this trend and build from the opportunities it offers, especially in terms of directly partnering with people (starting with our volunteers and beneficiaries) in directly addressing key humanitarian/development challenges, leading advocacy activities and designing informal communities campaigning on common interest issues.

60

We’re still in an early stage in terms of further engaging our volunteers (blogs, Movement Facebook page, Twitter) or beneficiaries (beneficiary communication project). Our approach there is explorative more than strategic for the time being. But we’ll get there! (Pierre Kremer, IFRC).

In some places, such as described by the respondents working in the US and Sri Lanka,

volunteers are already doing advocacy work and it would be interesting to further explore the

results and potential of this .

As e.g. Pierre Kremer’s speech (Appendix 3) shows, the matter of how the RCRCM is using

information from inside to support beneficiaries is a highly interesting topic. As it is not

possible to address several research questions in one thesis, one area I am considering to do

further research on is: How can the Red Cross better include content from volunteers and the

beneficiaries themselves through alternative journalism (journalism by participating in web-

based media or channels such as blogs and micro blogs/twitters) to reach stakeholders?

61

References

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Kvale, S Den kvalitativa forskningsintervjun. Lund. Studentlitteratur.

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62

Wall, M (2009) The taming of the Warblogs: Citizen journalism in Iraq. Allan, S and Thorsen, E

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Falkheimer, J and Heide, M (2010). Strategisk kommunikation. Lund. Studentlitteratur.

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Zayyan, H and Carter, C (2009) Human Rights and Wrongs: Blogging News of everyday life in

Palestine. Allan, S and Thorsen, E (Eds) Citizen Journalism: Global Perspectives. New York:

Peter Lang Publishing. Page 85-94.

More than two authors

Bailey, O.G, Cammaerts, B., and Carpentier, N (2008), Understanding Alternative Media.

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4796-86ba-d496be1d45ad [2012-06-01]

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[2012-05-16]

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[2012-06-11]

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EXAMPLES ALTERNATIVE MEDIA

BBC Have your say: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/have_your_say/ [2012-05-24]

Bureau of Investigative Journalism. http://www.thebureauinvestigates.com/ [2012-05-30]

OhmyNews web site: http://international.ohmynews.com/[2012-05-16]

Radioswap: http://www.radioswap.net/wiki/doku.php?id=about [2012-05-16]

IReport: http://ireport.cnn.com/ [2012-05-24]

Schnews web site: www.schnews.org.uk [2012-05-16]

Video volunteers, home page. http://www.videovolunteers.org/ [2012-05-30]

Wikinews: http://en.wikinews.org/wiki/Wikinews:Writing_an_article [2012-05-24]

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RED CROSS AND RED CRESCENT MOVEMENT RELATED SOURCES AND WEB

BASED EVENTS:

ICRC: The first so called hangout (digital online seminar forum) arranged by ICRC 25 April 2012 with the theme “Use of Social Media in Humanitarian Crisis - notes http://baljitdhillon.tumblr.com/post/22068663638/use-of-social-media-in-humanitarian-crisis-notes [2012-05-18] ICRC web site. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) http://www.icrc.org/eng/ [2012-05-16] ICRC web site: Mapping humanitarian action - a fast developing sector. http://www.icrc.org/eng/resources/documents/interview/2012/mapping-interview-2012-04-05.htm [2012-05-23] ICRC web site: Hotline for journalists in dangerous situations: http://www.icrc.org/eng/resources/documents/publication/p0394.htm [2012-05-30] IFRC web site: About the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement http://www.ifrc.org/en/who-we-are/the-movement/ [2012-05-16] IFRC web site. The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) www.ifrc.org [2012-05-16] IFRC web site: The web site explaining about its 187 member national societies http://www.ifrc.org/en/who-we-are/the-movement/national-societies/ [2012-05-16] IFRC web site: World Disasters Report (WDR) 2005: Information in Disasters http://www.ifrc.org/Global/Publications/disasters/WDR/69001-WDR2005-english-LR.pdf IFRC web site: World Disasters Report (WDR) 2011: Focus on Hunger and Malnutrition. http://www.ifrc.org/en/publications-and-reports/world-disasters-report/wdr2011/ [2012-05-30] IFRC: Beneficiary Communication- Listen, Act, Now. Video on Youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PlmGkU7qKxQ [2012-05-16] IFRC web site. Pioneering better communications in Haiti: http://www.ifrc.org/en/news-and-media/news-stories/americas/haiti/pioneering-better-communications-in-haiti/ McKerrow, B. Thavarani one year later (blog on Red Cross results in Sri Lanka) http://bobmckerrow.blogspot.se/2012/05/thavarani-one-year-later-poorest-of.html [2012-05-16] Red Cross/Red Crescent Climate Centre http://www.climatecentre.org/ [2012-06-25] RCRCM: The Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/icrcfans#!/RedCrossRedCrescent/info [2012-05-16] Swedish Red Cross. Home page: www.redcross.se [2012-05-30] Swedish Red Cross. Official blog. http://svenskarodakorset.wordpress.com/ [2012-05-30] Wynter, A. IFRC. Nigeria using cell phones to combat malaria in Nigeria http://www.ifrc.org/news-and-media/news-stories/africa/nigeria/using-cell-phones-to-combat-malaria-in-nigeria/ [2012-05-16]

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Appendix 1 (Interview details)

International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) 1. Isaac Griberg, Social Media Officer, conducted on 7 May 2012 via Skype,

2012.igriberg@icrc.org 2. Bijan Frederic Farnoudi, Media and Public affairs for Europe and North America,

answers provided to the Interview Guide provided by e-mail 8 + 16 May bfarnoudi@icrc.org

3. Jean-Yves Clémenzo, Public Relations Officer for Eastern Africa, conducted 23 May via Skype. jclemenzo@icrc.org

International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC)

4. Joe Lowry, Communications Manager up to Feb 2012. (NB this interview as part of the qualitative interview exercise under the Methodology section of this course, therefore some questions have been added and/or omitted in the final Interview Guide) – conducted by Skype on 11 November 2011. joelowry@gmail.com

5. Amy Greber, Social Media Officer, conducted on 18 May 2012 via Skype. amy.greber@ifrc.org

6. Paula Alvarado, Communications Manager at the IFRC Regional Delegation for South Asia between October 2008 and December 2011, conducted at the Swedish Red Cross Headquarters on 3 May, 2012) alvarado.paula@gmail.com

7. Bob McKerrow, Head of Delegation at the Sri Lanka Delegation – conducted by Skype on 16 May 2012. bob.mckerrow@ifrc.org

Swedish Red Cross A focus group interview was conducted at Swedish Red Cross headquarters on 4 May, 2012 with the following individuals:

8. Anna-Carin Hedén, Web Editor. anna-carin.heden@redcross.se 9. Carl-Johan Nordlander, Manager Social Media. carl-johan.nordlander@redcross.se 10. Inga-Lill Hagberg, Communications Officer, International Programmes. inga-

lill.hagberg.desbois@redcross.se 11. Erik Olsson, Editor Magazine ”Henry” and Annual Report. erik.olsson@redcross.se

Uganda Red Cross

12. Catherine Ntabadde, Assistant Director Communications. Written answers provided on 1 June 2012 on the basis of Interview Guide. cntabadde@redcrossug.org

American Red Cross 13. Wendy Harman, Director, Social Strategy. Written answers provided on 6 June 2012 on

the basis of Interview Guide. wendy.harman@redcross.org In addition, Pierre Kremer, IFRC Head of Communications, provided feedback on problem statement, research questions and questions, last time 28 May 2012 Pierre.kremer@ifrc.org

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Appendix 2 (Interview Guide including definitions)

Problem statement and aim

By the use of one case study — the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement — the thesis aims

to research the following problem: How does the Red Cross relate to alternative journalism

during disaster response operations?

Definitions:

There are many concepts and definitions in today’s world of journalism including new forms

of journalism. Therefore it admittedly is a challenge to provide clear and concise definitions. In

this essay, the definitions mainly build on theory based on the following researchers: Nip,

Atton, Waisbord and Allan and Thorsen.

According to the practices observed by Dr Nip Journalism Studies (2006:1), the connection

between mainstream journalism and the people can be categorized as: (1) traditional

journalism, (2) public journalism, (3) interactive journalism, (4) participatory journalism, and

(5) citizen journalism.

I will start with sharing Dr Nips description of mainstream (traditional) journalism followed by

a definition of alternative journalism which I find serve as a cluster to include the above

mentioned forms number 2, 3, 4 and 5.

Traditional journalism

As described by Nip

In traditional journalism, professional journalists are the gatekeepers who filter through the happenings of the world, select the significant events, and report them for their audience. The people do not play any part in the news process except as news sources from which journalists gather information and opinion. But most people, except government officials and those who bear titles, have little chance of becoming news sources. Apart from this, the journalists perform the entire news process, from story idea

68

generation, news gathering, writing, editing, to publishing, exercising their professional news values at every stage. Members of the news audience could send letters to the editor or lodge complaints after the news is delivered, which may feedback to the journalists for making corrections or for future reference” (Nip 2006:10).

Alternative journalism

Alternative journalism, at least in its ideal form, is produced outside mainstream media institutions and networks. It can include the media of protest groups, dissidents, fringe political organizations, even fans and hobbyists” (Atton and Hamilton 2008:1-2).

According to Atton, alternative journalism is typically produced by amateur media producers

who have little or no training or professional qualifications as journalists: they write and

report from their position as citizens, as member of communities, as activists, as fans etc.

Public journalism

Includes citizen journalism, journalism as practiced by non-professionals and civic journalism.

A brand of politically engaged journalism practiced by certain news organizations.

Nip describes that public journalism aims to engage people as citizens both in the news

making process and the use of the news. Town hall meetings, citizen panels, and polls are

common techniques used to tap the concerns of the community, which would then form the

reporting agenda for the journalists. However, the professional journalists generally remain

the gatekeepers in editing the stories and publishing the news, which frames the issues and

presents the story elements in a way that addresses public concerns and helps the people to

participate in the community. Pieces written by citizens are often included as part of a public

journalism package.

Interactive journalism

Interactive journalism is a new type of journalism that allows consumers to directly contribute

to the story. Through Web 2.0 technology, reporters can develop a conversation with the

audience. According to Nip one need to talk about two dimensions: (1) content interactivity,

and (2) interpersonal interactivity. Content interactivity is enabled not only by the technical

capabilities that allow users to free themselves from the linearity set by the professional

journalists, but also by the complexity of choice of content made available. Interpersonal

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interactivity is potentially possible if capabilities of communicating with the content producers

and other users are provided, but takes place only when professional journalists answer

inquiring emails or chat with users, and when users respond to postings of others on

messages boards and chat sessions. The web, which houses the online sites of news

organizations, has been the platform used for interactive journalism.

Participatory journalism.

Some researchers define participatory journalism and citizen journalism as the same or

synonym phenomena while Nip (2006:12) suggests a separation of the two. He describes

participatory journalism as follows: “participatory journalism takes the form of the news users

generating content, more or less independently of the professionals, whereas the

professionals generate some other content, and also produce, publish and market the whole

news product. User contribution is solicited within a frame designed by the professionals”.

Citizen journalism

Also known as "public", "participatory", "democratic", "guerrilla", "street journalism, “grass

root journalism”, “DIY (Do-It-Yourself)” etc. Allan and Thorsen describe Citizen journalism as

not being produced by professionals but outside the normal media-institutions/enterprises.

Jay Rosen (Allan and Thorsen 2009, 256) practically define it as “when the people formerly

known as the audience employ the press tools they have in their possession to inform one

another”.

From the above mentioned forms of alternative journalism, I will focus on number 4 and 5. In

addition and due to the RCRCMs task to advocate on behalf of vulnerable people (e.g. disaster

affected), I have also found it relevant to include the concept of advocacy journalism (6).

Advocacy journalism

Waisbord describes that advocacy journalism gives journalists role to actively "speak for"

certain groups and may even be said to emanate from organized citizens' initiative (2009:

371).

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Propaganda can be used to create a climate of opinion that is a general opinion. Paul F

Lazarfelds theory describes public opinion in two steps with silence helix as an alternative.

Lobbying is a related concept where interest groups in an organized form bring forth their

views to government leaders.

Silvio Waisbord (2009) describes two concept descriptions. Advocacy journalism award

’journalists’ role as active interpreters and participants who ’speaks of’ certain groups, usually

those groups that are denied (or lack, like e.g. Roma populations) ’powerful spokespersons’ in

the media. Journalists are representatives of specific interests and they are motivated by a

desire to reveal power imbalances in society ... advocacy journalism is the opposite of the

"gatekeeper model" where the notion of professional journalism is guided by the ideals of

objectivity and public service.

Waisbord (2009) believes that today's advocacy-journalism is also based on a model derived

from citizens' initiative, which consists of organized groups using the news media to influence

reporting, and related public policy.

I will in this thesis focus on the above mentioned categories of participatory journalism and

citizen journalism. I also think in this case it is relevant to include the category advocacy

journalism. Asking about 14 questions will result in interviews of approximately 50 minutes

each. The order will be followed as much as possible but will inevitably come to be changed

sometimes.

Interview questions to be linked to the research questions: 1. Does your communication policy and strategic plan include relating to/working with

alternative journalism/using information from alternative media?

2. Could you to share the document with me or could you talk me through the policy or plan?

3. What guidelines do you have to support your work and those involved in it that relate to communication where alternative journalism can be applied?

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4. Comparing traditional and alternative journalism/media; how does RC/RC relate to the two different types of journalism/media. What relevance do the two versions of journalism/media have in relation to RC/RCs work?

5. Describe if and how you work with different kinds of media including alternative media.

6. How would you describe the people providing you with alternative journalism items?

What methods do they usually use?

7. Describe how you work with different kinds of media proactively/as a producer at the

onset of and during disaster operation. If yes is it successful? E.g. Do you use/ contribute to info in traditional media, combined traditional and alternative (like

CNN/IReport) or fully alternative media (like comments from the public about/to Red Cross in social media

foras such as blogs, twitters mentioning Red Cross, mobile pictures sent to you from affected people etc.).

Please provide examples from different operations.

8. Do you believe that Red Cross and Red Crescent community volunteers/affected themselves in disaster response operations can contribute via alternative journalism to support RCRCM communication objectives?

9. If yes, what are the results so far that benefits vulnerable (advocacy, fundraising, other)?

10. What can the RC/RC do to better include content from community volunteers/affected themselves in its external communication?

11. What is the main benefit of alternative journalism in your experience?

12. What is the main difficulty/challenge with alternative journalism in your view?

13. Overall, do you find that the increased level of info stemming from alternative journalism constitute a threat or an opportunity?

14. What is your perception of how the future will look in terms of RC/RC using alternative

media? Learning?

Confidentiality

It is envisaged that elected quotes or information stemming from the interview might be

included in this thesis once finalized. Please note that even if it is not expected that there will

be a wide circulation of the thesis, the content will be made publicly available.

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Appendix 3: Key Note speech Pierre Kremer, IFRC, at CDAC

CDAC Network/Google Media and Technology Fair

London - 22 & 23 March 2012

Communicating with Disaster Affected Communities

Keynote speech – Pierre Kremer

Firstly, I would like to thank you all for the invitation to come here and speak on behalf of the

Humanitarian sector and I would also like to give a special thanks to the CDAC network

members who I have watched develop from a group of like-minded people who care about

how we communicate, to a recognized network with global influence. People are now thinking

more seriously about how we engage and communicate with Disaster affected communities

as a result of the important work of this network.

It is also great to see the participation from the private sector of Google and the GSMA as we

see obvious convergence between private, public and civil organizations, and urgent need to

develop synergies and partnerships. This is particularly true when it comes to beneficiary

communications that has shown that the combined skill base of the humanitarian, Media and

telecommunications industries is essential to scale our impact.

So where are we now?

1. Mobile uptake, especially in the developing world, is reshaping the humanitarian

landscape. Individuals are interconnected more than ever before. In 2011 more than 5

billion phone subscriptions were in use worldwide. The global response to the Haiti

earthquake showed how connected individuals are becoming, and how they can

influence our work. This response demonstrated that SMS technology could support

more involvement by communities as part of the humanitarian effort.

2. There is a growing and renewed critique of international aid which is gaining ground.

At the very heart of the critique of aid is the argument that aid is not accountable and

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that feedback from people to whom aid is intended to benefit, is non-existent or

limited to the assessment phase.

3. People really do now have a voice. For people who have access to the internet it is

possible to communicate with the world using twitter and Facebook and a myriad of

other social networking tools. We are now seeing levels of democracy and interaction

with governments that in the past would have been unthinkable. In addition, the

appearance of NGO watchdogs and the proliferation of SMS and Internet based

technology are making it possible for communities to publicize how they are being

affected by our actions.

The link between accountability of aid and effectiveness suggests that if improvements are to

be made to the program effectiveness, organizations involved in aid delivery must be more

accountable to those they aim to serve.

What people ask for in times of disaster or crisis is finally quite simple. Essentially, they want

to be treated the same way as you and I would like to be treated in crisis situation: we would

need to have access to information, to be able to express our needs and to be listened to. This

is where beneficiary communication can make a difference.

Accountability, dialogue, technologies as a game changer, direct advocacy from beneficiary…

All of these are emerging and unstoppable trends that are already influencing the way we

work.

Red Cross Red Crescent activities to communicate with disaster affected communities

In Haiti, for the first time, Red Cross Red Crescent trialled SMS based communication to

beneficiaries by partnering with local telecommunications provider in Haiti and Trilogy

International.

The IFRC first used TERA (Trilogy Emergency Relief Application), an automated text

information service, to disseminate critical messages to over 1.2 million people in partnership

with a local telecoms provider.

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TERA allows aid agencies and mobile phone users in disaster areas to interact and listen in real

time. Unlike traditional SMS services, TERA allows the IFRC to specify the area – a particular

region or even a neighbourhood – and to send text messages directly to mobile phone users.

The enormous added value to humanitarian operations of this technology is demonstrated

when Red Cross Red Crescent reached more than 360,000 people, on the issue of gender

based violence, with more than 10% of that number responding directly to Red Cross Red

Crescent’s offer of support and help – this is a staggering success in a 24-hour time frame with

minimal human resources.

It also provided early warning last September and October during the hurricane season to

more than half a million people in the vulnerable areas on Haiti’s northeast coast. The hotline

- operated by volunteers from the Haitian Red Cross - received an impressive 710,000 calls

during that particular early warning operation.

We’ve been using SMS blasting, hot line operated by volunteers while also ensuring a weekly

radio show mixed to poster announcement and more traditional community engagement.

This setting has proved to be most effective on the Haitian population. A recent evaluation

showed that 74% of the people interviewed received RC information, and 83% of them

reported taking action based on this information.

Challenges and next steps

So what are the next steps? What we call beneficiary communication is anything but new.

We’ve been focusing on community engagement and participation for decades. So what is the

games changer? Certainly the unprecedented potential offered by technologies to scale our

capacity out to further a one and two-way communication approach. But not only. There is

another step in the process and that is making change.

I would like to go back a few years and talk about the Tsunami and a project that the

Indonesian Red Cross delivered called the Community Outreach Program. For the Red Cross,

this project was totally outside of the box. We became a broker of communication, an

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intermediary between the donor and the beneficiary, we worked on behalf of communities to

fix or help with the issues that communities were facing. The program used a mix of face to

face, SMS, TV, Radio and print to not only get 2 way communication going but it was

supported by multiple channels of communication allowing an open discussion between us as

the advocates, the beneficiaries and the service providers.

We realised that it was not just about giving out information or just about giving access to

allow people to discuss issues. It was actually more about being truly effective in what we

promised, and to fully inform programming by actual needs as openly expressed by people.

During the course of the project, the team case managed over 6 000 issues to completion and

set a standard within the RC on what we now call Beneficiary Communication.

However, establishing such mechanisms to achieve strong two way communication in today’s

world are facing many challenges collectively as a humanitarian community. Firstly, a focus

needs to be given to the internal barriers to change within our humanitarian organizations.

Inclusive, accountable and participatory approaches have traditionally been associated with

more development than with humanitarian work. To shift this paradigm, we need to not only

focus on crisis or emergency but to envision ourselves as agents of development and

resilience for the communities we work with, rather than givers and providers or top down

providers of information. In a nutshell, we need to position ourselves as equal partners with

people that we help themselves. This requires a new mind-set that will contribute increase aid

effectiveness and efficiency, before, during and after a disaster strikes.

For the humanitarian system as a whole, there is also a need for sharing a common

understanding of beneficiary communication and effective information sharing to ensure

effective coordination, especially within the cluster system. The more that we can share

information across these ecosystems the more effective we can become.

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Finally, to greatly improve our transparency with communities we should evidently be more

open about our successes and failures.

Ultimately, our common belief is clear: communication can help save lives but also

contributes building resilience. Furthering programme deliveries and accountability, it offers

renewed possibilities to engage and partner with people in need, and help them fulfil their

rights. For us, this approach is not that much a choice, it is a responsibility.

***

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Appendix 4: Red Cross workers account of communicating with

vulnerable communities

With the permission from Bob McKerrow (Head of the IFRC Delegation and Red Cross

employee since 1975):

“… I am seeing on every field visit to remote corners of Sri Lanka, many of today’s most vulnerable being empowered through mobile phones (often shared in a village), public call boxes, or through a computer with access to the internet in a local school, clinic or a 24/7 grocer’s shop. During the West Sumatra earthquake in 2009 when we were the first in to remote mountainous villages by helicopter, the first thing we did was took the mobile phone numbers of people, which guided us on further relief distribution and evacuation of the most vulnerable. It also enabled us to communicate with villagers to check what damage aftershocks did. We also discovered ingenious local technology because most villagers were without power, so they wired up their phone chargers to run off motor bike generators…..”

“…Therefore I read your Opinion Piece with great interest and it is essential we combine forces to ensure that…we can only achieve global solutions through a global framework that promotes – for example – the secured sharing of information and expertise, more effective early warning systems to mitigate cyber risks, and developing effective resilience across society.” By achieving this, we can be guaranteed to serve globally, populations at risk by reliable communications.” (Extracts from an e-mail sent from IFRC Head of Delegation Bob McKerrow to IFRC Head of Communications, 8 March 2012)”.