2005 SEAPA Journalism Fellowship

Covering Disaster in Southeast Asia
May 1 - June 10, 2005

Background

The December 26, 2004 tsunami that killed and displaced hundreds of thousands of people, swept away entire villages and turned large swaths of land across south and southeast Asia into wastelands has been described as 'an unprecedented global catastrophe'.

Deaths on a scale unimaginable, images of utter destruction, suffering, misery and chaos beamed to homes around the world have brought the disaster to people's doorsteps, be they in neighbouring towns or cities, or in faraway continents.

To date, estimates put the death toll at over 200,000 in Indonesia, India, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Malaysia, the Maldives, and in half a dozen other countries devastated by the giant waves.

To be sure, this part of the world has had more than its share of past calamities. Just weeks before the Indian Ocean tsunami, hundreds of people perished in landslides in the Philippines. Scores were killed in separate earthquakes in Indonesia. In 1991, a volcanic eruption killed more than 1,600 people in villages around Mount Pinatubo in the Philippines in one of the country's worst disasters, the impact of which continued to be felt until a few years after the eruption. In 1992, more than 2,000 people were killed by a powerful earthquake in Indonesia. Elsewhere in the region, floods are a regular occurrence, drowning villagers, destroying crops and ruining livelihoods.

The entire world has responded positively to appeals for help for the tsunami victims. Millions of dollars for emergency relief are slowly reaching affected villages and billions of dollars more have been pledged by governments and individuals for the reconstruction effort.

Media coverage of the catastrophe has been swift and sustained. Global reportage was in fact instrumental in mobilizing rescue work, aid delivery, relief operations and assistance to victims of this calamity.

But coverage and reportage of tragedies like this also has its downside. In the rush to give the public scoops and blow-by-blow accounts of events, journalists sometimes tend to gloss over facts, abuse the use of statistics and over-simplify complex situations. Journalists who are sent to disaster areas are often unprepared for the job. They are overwhelmed and even understandably shocked by what they have come to witness and chronicle, but at this, they can often be caught in superficial coverage, failing to deepen the world's understanding of the phenomena, and unable to give context to their accounts.

As Asia struggles to rebuild lives, homes and communities in the aftermath of the Asian tsunami, as well as other disasters before that, it is an opportune time for journalists to take a deeper, more sober look at the impact of this and other crises: how reconstruction efforts are coming along, how affected communities are coping and surviving, what interventions victims and survivors are receiving from governments and other donor agencies, where aid money is going and how it is being used.

This early, there are fears that politics and corruption will get in the way of genuine rehabilitation and reconstruction efforts. In Indonesia's troubled Aceh province, which bore the brunt of the tsunami with nearly 100,000 people dead, relief workers and activists predict corruption in the management and utilisation of aid money for the victims of the December 26 disaster.

At the same time, the media is already asking very crucial questions: How does the international community sustain its sense of charity? And what role do we as journalists play in keeping this story alive, moving, and relevant?

Objective

The 2005 SEAPA Journalism Fellowship will provide the venue for journalists in Southeast Asia to investigate and analyze the responses and interventions of governments, aid agencies, people's organizations and communities as well as individuals to crises such as the latest tsunami.

It will also provide journalist-fellows the opportunity to write more in-depth, contextualised stories of people affected by such catastrophes: populations displaced by disasters, orphaned children in danger of falling prey to traffickers, survivors bravely rising above the tragedy, people selflessly helping victims. There are countless stories of human drama to tell: acts of sacrifice and generosity, tales of courage amid adversity, the resilience of the human spirit. There are also stories of trans-national cooperation, interdependence and the global response to a crisis. These and more can be told.

Beyond the impact of calamities themselves, the Programme will also allow journalists to explore how lives and communities have been transformed months or even years after widespread disaster.

In a post-disaster setting, the Fellowship could also look at the media coverage of the Asian tsunami and disasters in general in order to perhaps help draw up norms or guidelines for disaster reporting.

Course Description

SEAPA will invite journalists from around Southeast Asia to apply for 12 slots in the Programme, which will run from May 1 to June 10. Applicants will be asked to submit story proposals on the theme, Covering Disasters in Southeast Asia.

The Fellowship will allow for limited travel to a second Southeast Asian country where the journalists will spend up to four weeks to research on a story of their choice. Before that, they will undergo a three to five-day orientation seminar in Bangkok where resource persons will be invited to talk on topics related to their story proposals.

After the research-travel phase, the fellows will return to Bangkok for a three to four- day workshop during which they should be able to present an outline of their stories. During the course of their stay in a second country, the journalists will be in regular discussion with editor/coordinators who would provide direction and guidance as they develop and write their stories.

SEAPA will make available translators for fellows who are more at home using their native languages.

Criteria for admission

Applicants from print and broadcast media should have at least three years experience in journalism, either as staff of a media organisation or freelancer.

They should have some background or experience in writing on social and environmental issues in their countries and interest in writing in-depth human interest stories or investigative pieces.

Applicants should submit an essay of not more than 500 words, briefly introducing themselves and explaining their story proposal, along with two samples of their
work.

They should submit a letter of reference from their editors, which would also include permission that they can take part in the Fellowship.

Applications can be sent either by email to seapa@seapabkk.org, or by post to:

Southeast Asian Press Alliance
538/1 Samsen Road
Dusit, Bangkok 10300
Thailand

Application Announcement: January 20, 2005
Closing Date: March 25, 2005
Announcement of Acceptance: April 1, 2005