Media and Witnessing
A significant part of what we know about humanitarian crises is brought to us by journalists and practitioners who dedicate at least a part of their time to both witnessing events as well as transmitting them to the world.
Media coverage and the internationalization of crises (that is, the rendering of local or regional humanitarian crises to be of interest to the international community) are often what leads to and allows for broad international support and response to crises, sometimes without which the loss of life would be far greater.
A number of different methods of witnessing of crises have been used. Some journalists visit areas of crisis and share information and images via established news agencies, some humanitarian workers set up blogs and commentaries about the fields in which they work. Others - local residents or organizations - set up facebook and twitter feeds to share the goings on they are seeing on the ground. Yet others do not share any information in exchange for access to sensitive areas, and hence witness events that would only be made publicly accessible months, or even years, later. Others create documentaries and fictional storylines around crisis situations, often attracting a large audience.
To find out more about tehse methods, visit the pages in this section, including:
- The Big Screen - movies and documentaries about crises
- Journalism and Humanitarianism - a space dedicated to journalists who risk their lives in the field to bring us stories as they happen
- Blogs and Commentaries - smaller-scale and independent sources of information on the humanitarian field