Thomson Reuters Foundation has launched a pioneering Emergency Information Service to respond to major natural disasters around the world. It will deploy journalists as expert Action Units to gather and provide latest information about major catastrophes to those who need it most – people who have actually been struck by the events. The EIS will thus fill a critical gap in the chain of crisis information.
(The EIS made its debut during the Haiti earthquake disaster, and the Toronto Globe and Mail reported it under the headline "Texting in a time of trauma; System sends and receives short messages vital to communities". Click here for full story).
A key aim of the EIS is to ensure that those affected by natural disasters are not treated as mere victims but as survivors and first responders who can help shape and manage the disaster recovery process through their own local knowledge and expertise.
The launch at Thomson Reuters in London on December 16 featured the premiere of “Surviving the Tsunami – Stories of Hope”, a multimedia web documentary co-produced by the Red Cross to mark the fifth anniversary of the Indian Ocean Tsunami. It captures inspiring stories of survivors, aid workers and a Reuters photographer. Click here to watch the trailer. The stories combine powerful imagery with eyewitness testimony and interactive graphics.
The production follows the success of two award-winning multimedia documentaries by Reuters, “Bearing Witness” about the Iraq war and “Times of Crisis” about the global financial meltdown.
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