Re-designing the media in humanitarian interventions communicating with communities at times of crisis

When looking at the context of humanitarian interventions, a new approach to the use of the media and communication during conflict and other disasters has been emerging in recent years. Known in the humanitarian field under the term Communicating with Communities (CwC), this approach aims to address the short-term complexities and issues that arise in the immediate aftermath of a crisis, and seeks ways to provide a rapid response to emergencies through the use of the media. This chapter begins with a discussion of some of the literature that brings together concepts from Media & Communication and Peace Studies, highlighting what still needs to be examined from a communication perspective when we think more specifically about humanitarian interventions. The recent literature on CwC in the context of conflict, which still largely belongs to the grey sphere, is then explored. The implications and the potential that the adoption of this tool brings to international aid are also discussed; in particular, concepts and ideas related to its practice are considered in the light of the framework of ‘communicative ecology’ (Tacchi et al. 2003), which illustrates how different media and communication channels are embedded in people’s lives. Lastly, this chapter highlights the significance of this communication approach in connection with journalism, and how the two fields can work together for an improved aid effort. Within the specific milieu of this chapter, the words ‘disaster’, ‘emergency’ and ‘crisis’ indicate the incidence of violent conflict. The meaning connected to these terms is based on the definition provided by Simon et al. (2015), who consider disaster as ‘a state in which the social fabric is disrupted and becomes dysfunctional to a greater or lesser extent, causing maximum community disruption and dislocation’ (p. 610).