Local media gets training in disaster reporting

Admit it. For most of us, a volcanic eruption in Dominica is the last thing on our mind, far less how to go about preparing and dealing with the aftermath of such a deadly disaster.

Media trainer and survivor of the Monserrat Soufriere Hills volcanic eruption, Rose Willock, has been through it all and it is something that she does not want to experience again.

She conducted a workshop on Wednesday for media personnel here on how to report a volcanic eruption.

“It is true that Dominica has nine volcanoes but there are three that are considered potentially active,” she said. “What that means is that it is likely to erupt at any time, but at the same time we cannot pretend that everything is as usual, it is not. As you know, as media persons, you have to be up front with sharing the information with the public, getting the public sensitized and how they deal with a natural disaster.”

She said the workshop was for sharing experiences on how to disseminate information better.

“If heavens forbid, any of your volcanoes erupt, at least you have a heads-up in terms of what you need to do, and how you need to do it,” she pointed out, noting that it is important to be ready for any eventuality and have the information at hand to better deal with the fall out.

The workshop delved into the areas of planning, emergency/disaster reporting, broadcasting before, during and after an emergency, numbers to call, among others.

Reporter from SAT Telecoms and Broadcasting Larry Larocque, said that it was a very important and informative workshop but lamented the small turn out of both the media and disaster stakeholders.

“It was something that I see was necessary,” he said, “I think more workshops in that aspect should be held regularly but all the media houses are not properly represented in this workshop. I think a representative from every media house should be there and other relevant stakeholders.”

Radio announcer at state-owned DBS Radio, Andrea Louis, stated that when she was informed of the workshop, she thought it was very important.

“What have I learnt is that it is very important for the media to be prepared to report actual information to the public and to keep them informed and comforted when needed,” she said. “So this workshop is good and beneficial in that it when the media personnel get to know about it and pass the information to others in our workplace but to the larger Dominican public.”

Dominica Broadcasting Service (DBS), Government Information Service (GIS), Caribbean Broadcasting Network (CBN4), Dominica Vibes, Marpin 2k4, Dominica News Online (DNO) along with the former Disaster Coordinator, Cecil Shillingford, and representatives from the French Red Cross and Dominica Red Cross were in attendance.