SESSION
Radio as a lifeline: the importance of radio in risk communication
All journalists play an essential role in mediating between risk information and their communities, but radio can play a particularly important role in reaching diverse audiences when it comes to risk communication. Drawing from the experiences of journalists from different countries, we will discuss what radio can uniquely offer when communicating risks in different contexts, such as during disasters, when navigating health decisions, or understanding what changing rainfall patterns mean for a community.
We will discuss how radio survives the changes in today’s media landscape and how it can continue to serve a broad range of audiences, sometimes literally offering a lifeline in times of crisis.
The session will draw the audience into a discussion where we will consider what tools and support radio journalists need in order to empower their communities effectively, what role can they or should they play in complex situations, and how to ensure that communities continue to be served through effective risk information sharing.
Leonor SierraSession proposer, producer and moderator | Risk know-how, Sense About Science | United States
Leonor Sierra leads Risk know-how, an initiative to support communities navigate risk information and assess benefits and trade-offs within their own contexts. As part of this work she has interviewed community risk communicators from around the world to inform a risk communications workbook and resources to support their work.
Bernard OkebeSpeaker | Community Empowerment and Media Initiative | Kenya
Bernard Okebe is a radio journalist specialising in environmental risk communication, is a media trainer, and programmes coordinator for the Community Empowerment and Media Initiative in Kisumu (CEMI-K). He is also the national coordinator for the Pan-African organisation African Media and the Malaria Research Network.
Núria JarSpeaker | Catalunya Ràdio | Spain
Núria Jar is a journalist specialising in international, science, and health reporting. She works at Catalunya Ràdio and has contributed to TV3, RAC1, La Vanguardia, El País, and Revista 5W. A Hypatia I crew member at MDRS, she also creates podcasts and teaches radio at Pompeu Fabra University in Spain.
Aleida RuedaSpeaker | SciDev.Net, RedMPC | Mexico
Aleida Rueda is an award-winning science journalist based in Mexico City. With 18 years’ experience covering science, health, environment and climate change in developing countries, she currently writes for SciDev.Net (Latin America) and is co-founder and former president of the Mexican Network of Science Journalists (RedMPC).