Haiyan Relief - Radio and SMS Information Services

Thank you again for your support of this project. Please donate to the Typhoon Haiyan Relief Fund and help us get news and information to Filipinos who desperately need it. 

Below is an update directly from the feild. Please share this update with your friends and family and ask them to support this critical and time-sensitive campaign. We will continue to update you as more information becomes available. 

With electricity, media, and mobile networks knocked out in areas affected by Typhoon Haiyan, information is scarce for aid agencies and those in desperate need of aid – making it difficult to understand the full scale of needs.

Internews’ Rapid Response Unit has deployed a Humanitarian Media team to the Philippines. The team is conducting a fast assessment of the media and communications environment to see what can be done to help restore capacity in the media sector and support information flows to people affected by the disaster. 

Reports from the Internews team on the ground, gathered from local networks, indicate that most local media infrastructure in the affected areas has been completely wiped out. Our contacts talk of mobile phones and broadcast equipment at radio stations being "taken away by the sea." Early reports from UN colleagues tell us that at least four local journalists from major networks are dead, including one who drowned even as he was reporting from the second floor of a building in Tacloban.

To stay up to date with Internews staff and issues of information in this crisis, follow the twitter hashtag #commisaid.

 EnviroNews.ph is working hard to keep up their FrontlineSMS platform which integrates short messaging service (SMS) reporting from journalists in the country, to get news and information out about the disaster quickly. Imelda Abano, an EnviroNews.ph journalist, is currently the only Filipino journalist at the UN climate negotiations (COP 19) in Warsaw. This is an equally important measure to ensure longterm, sustainable solutions to climate change, as scientists have warned that extreme weather events will only increase in intensity and frequency if climate change is left unchecked. Many Filipinos have never heard of "climate change" before, and without reliable, accurate, and localized information about it, near-term and long-term adaptation remains challenging.

Background: Philippine Media Landscape

infoasaid, a past partnership between Internews and BBC Media Action, developed a media landscape guide to the Philippines that provides context for the affected area:

• The Philippines’ media is rowdy, vibrant, diverse and hugely profitable. There are nearly 1,000 radio stations across the country, broadcasting on FM and Medium Wave, according to Kapisanan ng mga Brodkasterng Pilipinas (KBP) - the Association of Broadcasters of the Philippines. The KBP also lists more than 200 television stations.
• There are 28 daily newspapers published in Manila. Dozens more daily and weekly newspapers are published in provincial cities.
• Media ownership is concentrated in the hands of a few large privately owned groups. Their radio and TV stations and their newspapers command the highest audiences nationwide.
• Most independent provincial broadcasters are affiliated to one of the big national radio and TV networks and relay large segments of their programming. The state media is a minor player, partly because it is banned from supplementing its budget with advertising.
• The largest chain of radio stations, Radyo Natin, consists of more than local 100 FM stations. It forms part of the Manila Broadcasting Company (MBC) the largest radio group in this nation of more than 7,000 islands.
• Filipinos send and receive more text messages than any other nation in the world except the USA – about 400 messages per person per month in 2011.

Yesterday, the most powerful typhoon to hit the Philippines prompted blackouts, landslides, and flooding, forcing thousands of residents to evacuate to higher, safer grounds.

Among the current estimates of at least 20 missing and 1 dead, power and communication have also been severely disrupted, leaving thousands of Filipinos , particularly those most vulnerable along the coast, without access information.

EnviroNews has been working around the clock to ensure that communities get the news and information they need to ensure their safety and wellbeing.

 Internews, the Earth Journalism Network, and its partner, EnviroNews, has been putting your dollars to work immediately by piloting the Frontline SMS news service, which harnesses the power and reach of mobile phones and social media to ensure that timely news reaches affected populations in real time. Your donation has made this effort possible, making sure that those affected by the typhoon get the help they urgently need.

 Before, during, and after the Typhoon hit, we used the SMS platform to send the most up to date information about Typhoon Utor, locally known as “Typhoon Labuyo.” Integrating power of mobile phones and a twitter feed, which runs live on the EnviroNews homepage, together we were able to extend the reach of accurate and timely news and information to even the most remote regions of the Philippines.

 But there is still lots of work to be done, and challenges that remain. Many people are without power, and the communication infrastructure has been badly damaged. For thousands of people across the Philippines, a mobile phone or twitter feed can also be a lifeline to answer critical questions such as “Is it safe to go outside?” “What is the extent of the damage?” and “Where can I go to get help?” In order to continue to provide this much needed service, EnviroNews needs you to help in any way you can – tell your friends and family about our project, post about it on your Facebook wall or Twitter page, and continue to donate. Now more than ever, your contributions are critical.

 As we continue to assess the damage and monitor new developments, we will keep you up to date and informed on our project. Thank you again for all you do for our cause.