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Disaster relief is dependent on reliable information. People affected need to know about conditions. Authorities are generally expected to reach out with critical information. Most do. News is not simply important, it is lifesaving.
The massive earthquakes that levelled parts of Turkey and Syria this week wreaked havoc on people, homes and institutions. Millions across the world have been following the story, the casualties and the gruesome pictures. On the ground in affected areas - southern Turkey and northwest Syria - aid workers are doing their part. The weather is cold and snowy.
Cities closest to the earthquake epicenter are Aleppo and Idlib in Syria. International news outlets arrived by the end of the week. Due to the fraught conditions - a dozen years of civil war - people there have next to no access to reliable information. On the Syrian side “there is no electricity,” said International Medical Corps Syria representative Wafaa Sadek to US public radio network NPR (February 6). “There is no fuel.” Over 300,000 people in Syria have been displaced.
Virtually all traditional media reporting in Syria originates with the official SANA news agency. Government officials through this service claim that aid will only be allowed into the most affected regions when Western countries drop sanctions against Syria as a state sponsor of terrorism. Russian Federation forces bombed - literally flattened - Aleppo in 2016.
Once again, social media offers people in Syria with a reasonably reliable communications source. The Syrian White Helmets, notable relief providers, use social media lead people to necessary services and “to get information to each other about where they should be going next,” said co-director of the Global Resilience Institute at Northeastern University (US) (February 8). “These social networks are based on the recognition that I do not necessarily know directly someone who has a generator or somebody who has oxygen supply, or somebody who has medical training, but I know indirectly someone who does in my network. The challenge, of course, is verifying it.” (See more about social media here)
Immigration is a gripping issue in many parts of the world. It seems odd for the 21st Century but some folks just don’t like having folks from elsewhere in their neighborhood. Everybody expects this from Viktor Orban’s Hungary where returning to the 17th Century is a goal. But, it happens.
Latvian media regulator National Electronic Media Council (NEPLP) cancelled the broadcast operating license for Russian exile news outlet TV Dozhd, also known as TV Rain, last December. The channel was welcomed in Latvia six months earlier. TV Dozhd was among several Russian exile media outlets relocating to Riga over the last decade as critical voices were driven out. This became a flood as the Russian Federation’s war in Ukraine spurred further repression.
One official reason the NEPLP booted TV Dozhd was failure to provide simultaneous Latvian language translations, as required by the original permit. There were also a couple of missteps by a news anchor, who was promptly fired. Latvian Defense Minister Artis Pabriks, an avowed nationalist politician, called for the expulsion of TV Dozhd staff as “unreconstructed Russian imperialists.” Said NEPLP chairperson Ivars Abolins, quoted by Deutsche Welle (DW): "Those who are not ready to follow the rules, cross the red lines, may not work here. The rules are fair.” (See more about media support here)
Observers in Latvia noted the enduring tensions between Latvians and the large Russian-speaking minority. Latvia, seized by the Soviet Union in 1940, sits on the Russian border, a quarter of the population are Russian speakers. While the arrival of exile Russian media outlets was largely welcomed by Latvian authorities. TV Dozhd was quickly granted broadcast authorization in the Netherlands, taking up residence in far more cosmopolitan Amsterdam, sharing office space with The Moscow Times.
Last fall AFP (September 27) estimated 300 Russian exile media workers living in Riga. That was before DW and RFE/RL opened Riga bureaus to support Russian and Belarusian reporting. TV Dozhd had about 60 employees, only five have remained in Riga. But living there is becoming slightly less comfortable as the was in Ukraine rages on. Latvia’s Ministry of Education clamped down on Russian language in public schools, mandating only EU languages for second language instruction.
In line with the current global trend, RTL Group is doing the tighten-up. After taking full control of publisher Gruner+Jahr (G+J) in January, which sent union members to the streets, chief executive Thomas Rabe has clarified just what this will mean, in a statement to press agency dpa (February 7). Several titles will be shelved, about one-third of G+J employees out over then next two years and he is looking for new office space, still in Hamburg. After the buy-out, G+J was fully absorbed by RTL Deutschland, subsidiary of Bertelsmann Group, whose chief executive is the aforementioned Herr Rabe.
This is all about the money. Herr Rabe sees no future in brand extension titles. "Many of the titles are offshoots,” he said. “We cannot imagine selling them if we keep the core brands like Geo. Otherwise, uniform brand management would not be possible.” About 20 other titles will be discontinued, perhaps eventually sold. “We will calmly explore the market in the next few weeks and see who is really interested in which title and in what sequence of steps we hand over the titles.” (See more about Bertelsmann/RTL here)
Administrative jobs at the G+J Hamburg headquarters will be the first to go, hence the search for new office space. Editorial positions, he said, will not be touched. About 200 jobs may be transferred to new owners. “Due to the market development in advertising and distribution, but also due to cost increases of paper and energy,” he added, “Gruner+Jahr would be double-digit negative in Ebita this year without measures."
Horrific events, natural or otherwise, always claim the attention of news media. Setting aside for a moment complaints of unending “breaking news” and gratuitous mayhem, there is true public interest in these events, however gruesome. And, so, this takes reporters and news crews this week to Turkey and Syria.
After the first giant earthquake struck early Monday morning near the Turkey/Syria border news crews were on alert. Turkish television channel A Haber sent a crew to Malatya, some distance from the original epicenter. On the ground reporter Yüksel Akalan was delivering when two consecutive powerful aftershocks hit. Buildings were collapsing all around. (See more about media in Turkey here)
The human instinct kicked in and Mr. Akalan gathered up the crew and began running from the destruction. The reporter’s instinct took hold and he kept talking, describing the scene. The videos went viral, certainly the first real look - live - of the disaster. In the midst of ongoing confusion Mr. Akalan ended a live report, scooped up a child and carried her to safety. (See more about TV news here)
“We were very scared at the time of the incident,” said crew member Esra Arpa, quoted by A Haber (February 7). “All of a sudden, we were caught between the earthquake, buildings and dust clouds. We went and the place almost slipped. It was a moment of horror, and at that time search and rescue operations were underway. They were trying to escape and it was a very difficult moment for us. I am still in shock right now. We managed to get out of there with the courage of Yüksel Akalan."
International news crews - CNN, BBC, et.al. - have, by the next day, made their way to the sites of destruction. Drone video has been replaced by live reporters and photographers.
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