How to report—and stay safe—during a natural disaster
If you were stuck in the middle of a raging tsunami, what would you do? Run for your life, or try and fish out your camera for live, on-ground journalism?
Reporting in the midst of a crisis is tricky; and a problem that will only increase as climate change turns, as terrorism becomes more rampant; as 24/7 news coverage captures more market share. Being a young journalist on the ground in such situations is frightening, to say the least.
A tool from D5 Studio, the Philippines, can help.
The team — Candice Montenegro, John Vincent Redrico and Rafael Si — built a simulation training website called ‘Under Pressure’, aimed at young journalists. The multi-media tool will embed them in real-world crisis situations — especially natural disasters such as floods, which are common in the Philippines — and test their reporting and decision-making skills in the situation.
“It’s for young journalists, because typically, they are the ones out on the field,” says Montenegro.
A journalist can log in to the website with their official email ID, and choose from modules of different scenarios, most of which are events that have already taken place in the Philippines.
They will experience each crisis through a mix of audio, video and text content; and in every scenario, made to make certain decisions. “It’s a choose-your-own-adventure style game, where each choice that you make changes the scenario,” says Montenegro, the journalist on the team. “You have split seconds to make decisions and to consider your editorial duties in the moment. There’s no right or wrong, but with every choice, you will receive a list of guidelines, ethics, Dos and Don’ts.”
The prototype is in the production stage, and the team is working on putting together video content — interviews with expert journalists who have gone through crises on the field. “This is time-consuming, and hard to balance with daily work,” adds Montenegro. “However, our editors are supportive and let us set aside time to work on the prototype.”
In the Philippines, she says, television media is still king. “While digital is growing, it’s challenging to find a bridge — videos is a good way to harness the power of television and connect it to the digital sphere.”
While Montenegro has recently parted ways with D5 Studio, the rest of the team will take the prototype forward.
