Editor for online news and social media Simon Davis on the work he and his team at the Department for International Development did during the aftermath of the Haiti earthquake in 2010.
2. Content in a crisis
The Haiti earthquake
The UK Government’s digital coverage of its international relief
efforts
Picture: UNDP / CC BY-NC-ND
3. The crisis in context
On 12 January 2010, Haiti – one of the poorest countries in the
western world – was hit by a massive earthquake, the worst in over
a century.
More than 230,000 people died and 1.5 million were left
homeless.
Within an hour of receiving reports about the disaster, the British
Government’s humanitarian team was helping with relief efforts.
Picture: NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center / CC BY-NC
4. Key comms aims
• Show the immediate and ongoing impact of UK aid
• Be the authoritative voice of the British Government
• Inform the public alongside aid workers and news makers
• Convert short term interest into longer term engagement
Picture: InsideDisaster.com / CC BY-NC
5.
6. Key comms challenges
• Timescales – need hands on, around the clock operation
• Materials – new content required quickly and smartly
• Access – content and coverage from the ground essential
• Buy in – harness all the help you can get
Picture: DFID / Ed Hawkesworth / CC BY-NC-ND
7. Approach and tactics
• Work with what you’ve got – draw on available content
• Work with what others have got – talk to your partners
• See what more you can get – a supply from staff in the
field
• Be creative with what you can get – think behind the
scenes
Picture: DFID / Ed Hawkesworth / CC BY-NC-ND
9. Content and channels
Immediate coverage
• Updates from the ground – rolling news, Twitter
• Pictures of the impact – Flickr photos & YouTube
video
• Experts behind-the-scenes – blogs from our own
staff
Picture: DFID / CC BY-NC-ND
10. Pic: UK Fire Service,
CC-BY-NC-ND
Video: ITN News
11. Content and channels
Ongoing engagement
• Coverage continues – beyond the media spotlight
• Real life stories – case studies of the people we help
• Progress reports – multimedia features one year on
Picture: DFID / Russell Watkins / CC BY-NC-ND
13. What next?
• Digital staff ready to deploy to the scene of disasters
• Interactive content could offer an immersive
understanding
• New digital platforms are directing a better response
15. Thank you
@ContactSimon
Links…
DFID’s digital coverage of the Haiti earthquake
http://www.dfid.gov.uk/News/Latest-news/2010/Haiti-
Earthquake/
On doing digital at DFID
http://prezi.com/hcihqfoq30xx/digital-dfid/
New York Times’ panaromas of Port au Prince http://
www.nytimes.com/interactive/world/haiti-panoramas.html#/0
An interactive experience of the earthquake response http://
www.insidedisaster.com/experience/Main.html
Notas del editor
\n
Simon intro: editor for news and social media at DFID\nDFID is the part of the British Government that delivers aid to poor countries and helps respond to humanitarian disasters\n
NB World hadn’t seen a disaster on this scale since the Boxing Day tsunami of 2005 – i.e. before Twitter and YouTube existed and Facebook was only available in US universities.\n
Not a carefully planned comms strategy – an evolving one!\n
