Colloquium on role of states in crisis reporting held in Luxembourg

According to a press release by Asia-Europe Foundation (ASEF), 10th ASEF Journalists’ Colloquium on Crisis Reporting was from 4-6 November in Luxembourg in which 38 practicing journalists and media experts from 33 countries took part.

Romain Schneider, Luxembourg’s Minister for Development Cooperation and Humanitarian Action, said that communication is an important pillar of Luxembourg’s humanitarian strategy. He added that the country decided to develop a communication module called emergency.lu as a reaction to the communication gaps experienced in the Haiti response in 2010.

“This project is addressing the challenge of worldwide rapid response capacity and preparedness for humanitarian emergencies by providing a solution to speedily fill the communication gap after a disaster”, he added.

Executive Director ASEF Zhang Yen added that the Colloquium provided an opportunity to deliberate and analyse different approaches, skills and tools used in crisis reporting from Asian and European perspectives.

Some of the discussion highlights of the event were based on journalists’ experiences from the field during disasters such as the Himalayan Quake in Nepal, the Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan or the refugee crisis in Europe. Other sessions of the Colloquium focused on important aspects that create huge impact in reporting a crisis. These include: role of social media, reporting for people directly affected by disasters, and long-term reporting of events, the release read.

ASEF also stated that it will be publishing the ASEF Media Handbook on Crisis Reporting based on the discussions and conclusions at the colloquium. The handbook will have practical suggestions for journalists covering catastrophes. The handbook will be available for free download on ASEF website in early 2016.