Emergency broadcast

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In 2012, the BBC along with other media helped to establish the Communication for Disaster Affected Communities Network (CDAC), which has improved understanding of what communication support works best in these types of situations.

Theodora Hannides, research manager at BBC Media Action, has been exploring the role and effectiveness of humanitarian broadcasts in emergencies, and used insights from BBC Media Action’s monitoring and evaluation of four case studies, to put together a report on the subject. The four case studies investigated were: a Syrian refugee and Gaza Lifeline project, both in 2014; the Ebola virus outbreak in West Africa in 2014/2015; and the Nepal earthquake response in 2015.

Hannides’ report, Humanitarian broadcasting in emergencies – a synthesis of evaluation findings, looks specifically at mass communication programming, where broadcasting can reach millions of people and inform them of what has happened, what to do and how to find people.

She points out that there are a number of challenges in researching crisis interventions, not least the logistical constraints and ethics of an emergency setting. For example: it’s not ethical to set up a control group that does not receive aid.

Overall, the report identified six areas where communications have the most impact: connecting people with each other – which sometimes involved breaking down barriers between different groups; giving people a voice to air their concerns and share their experiences; improving discussion and dialogue; enhancing knowledge and learning; positively influencing attitudes; and encouraging and motivating people to act. Hannides points to how these six outcomes fit under five elements of psychosocial intervention: safety, connectedness, self and collective efficacy, calm, and hope.

So while mass media is effective in reaching large numbers of people with potentially life-saving information across a range of topics, it is less effective at providing more context-specific, localised information, which people also need. Hence, a combination of mass media and local partnerships often works best. Information needs to be practical to be useful, and mass media is best for knowing what to do and how to protect yourself and your family.

Mass scale broadcasts are particularly effective at achieving psychosocial impacts, such as helping people feel connected to others going through the same crisis.

And finally, the evaluation found that crisis exacerbates and heightens existing issues so people make choices about where to get their information based on access, quality, trust and the relevance of the content. In emergency situations, information that can be trusted is of particular value but that trust can be gained and lost easily.

This article originally appeared in the October 2015 issue of Impact