• Media

Media

This document brings together the deliberations of a meeting of donors, NGOs and journalists from Sri Lanka, Liberia and Nepal on the role of the media in tackling corruption in humanitarian aid programmes. It draws on various case studies and suggests ways in which humanitarian agencies and the media can mutually support responsible coverage of corruption in emergency aid.

The participants describe the relationship between humanitarian agencies and the media as characterised by a healthy tension: the media proves useful to humanitarian agencies in drumming up support and donations but criticism in the media is feared. Agencies are weary of being implicated in stories that would damage their reputation both in the field of operation and at home. At the same time, humanitarian agencies are perceived as overly secretive, unforthcoming and unnecessarily hostile to probing questions.

The document contains a series of recommendations to donors, humanitarian agencies, and local and international media. Important among them are:

To donors:

• develop a policy of supporting agencies confronting corruption
• ensure information concerning the aid interventions in public and accessible
• provide resources for proactive communication
• assist local media in crisis affected countries.

To humanitarian agencies:

• resist using media as a public relation device
• operate an ‘access to information’ policy
• build long-standing relationship.

To local media:

• follow situation over time
• investigate the cases
• relate local knowledge
• explore possibilities of assistance.

To International media:

• promote expertise
• advocate for access to information
• provide solidarity.
  

• Full text of document
• Publisher details
• Send to a friend