By Peter Mosley

Chinese journalists who took part in a "Reporting on Disasters" workshop in Beijing have praised its timeliness and relevance in light of the catastrophic earthquake that struck Sichuan province.

"I'd like to extend my appreciation of the lectures, especially the one where we covered interviewing traumatised survivors, and the human colour we should integrate into our stories," wrote Gui Tao, from Xinhua news agency, one of 14 journalists who attended the week-long Reuters Foundation/Tsinghua University workshop in October.

Interviewing refugees from the earthquake zone, Gui Tao recalled some of the lessons from October.  "I began my interview by giving a little girl a loaf of bread and persuaded her out of crying," he said. "I still remembered your tips - never begin your interview by asking 'How do you feel now.'"

When it came to writing, Gui Tao said he "integrated human colours, such as 'People were standing along the streets, sending text messages to their friends all over the country to remind them of the possible aftershocks. Some people were considering putting bottles upside-down in their homes as earthquake detectors that night.'"

Gui Tao added: "I do think the seminar was timely and helpful."  Click here to read Gui Tao's breaking-news report on the 'quake and aftershocks.

Steven Dong, executive director of the Tsinghua-Reuters Programme on Global Journalism and
Assistant Dean of Tsinghua's School of Journalism, went to the earthquake region twice as a media adviser to the State Council's Emergency Committee.  He said he was sure the workshop participants would be appreciating what they had been taught. 

Steven also helped draft the Transparent Governance regulation which took effect from May 1 and legally requires all information about such events as the SARs epidemic or the earthquake to be released to the press and public. "This has been proved to be beneficial to both people and government," he wrote. "I think China is learning fast and our (Reuters/Tsinghua) programmes are right in catering for this need."

Another Xinhua participant at Beijing, Chao Xiao, called it "a disaster workshop which really happened." Although he was not sent to the earthquake-hit area - he was on assignment in Guangdong province in the south-west - Sichuan is his family's home province so he was caught up in the unfolding disaster, albeit remotely. Fortunately, he found that his hometown, Leshan, was not badly affected.

Some of the tips and guidelines learned during the workshop came to mind as Chao Xiao followed the earthquake coverage. "Indeed, the workshop was very timely," he wrote.

He remembered who to contact first in such an emergency (military officials, relief agencies such as Red Cross, local authorities, government officials and experts, etc).

The 'quake confirmed for him that normal telecommunications - mobiles or fixed lines - were totally unreliable. All the equipment went dead. Satellite devices, although heavy, were the only way to get out stories and pictures.  One of his colleagues suggested the bright idea of using homing pigeons (nothing new under the sun!) but it was not taken up.

Chinese media competition was fierce, Chao Xiao said. Xinhua, being better equipped than most, stayed ahead of the pack.  "I also remembered clearly what you said in the workshop: 1. 'No story is worth your life' and 'What kills most reporters is not the disaster itself but car accidents.' In fact, a guy from my department, home news for overseas, was injured in a car accident. He was okay but I saw a picture of the car - it was totally destroyed."

There were also reports of unthinking, unethical behaviour by some reporters - such as holding up relief work while they got a good shot of the scene or an interview. One television reporter was said to have asked rescue workers to "just stop for five minutes" so she could finish her on-the-spot report - "and she was standing right on the debris, saying to camera, 'There are still a lot of people buried under here.'"

One man, named Chen Jian, who had been buried alive for 76 hours seemed in a relatively good state when rescued and answered all kinds of questions from reporters, straight to microphone. "Nobody thought that what he needed most at that time was not interviews but rest. The Q and A session, on top of his 76-hour ordeal beneath the rubble, exhausted him. When he was finally moved out, he died, only ten minutes away from the medical centre."

Said Chao Xiao: "What I am thinking is that reporters should know Do's and Dont's - and a good story sometimes might be murder."

He also remembered the workshop session on how reporters as well as survivors can be traumatised by a disaster. "I talked to several reporters from Xinhua who just came back from the quake-hit areas, they all said they dreamed earthquakes and dead bodies over and over again and dreamed they were killed..."  Most managed to cope with their emotional aftershocks, although help was available if needed.

Chao Xiao tuned in to AlertNet during the 'quake disaster - the workshop had stressed its value as a resource for journalists. One thing he said he discovered was that it is usually better for orphans to stay with their relatives in familiar surroundings even though many people wanted to adopt the children.

END