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Conflict Zones – Civil Media

Toward the end of 1999 Marguerite Clark, editor of Radio World International, asked me to write an article about radio broadcasting and disasters. Natural disasters – hurricanes, earthquakes and floods – dominated the news that fall and winter. Inescapable, though, were the man-made disasters.

Professionals call them complex disasters. Wars, civil and otherwise, have complex roots and complex consequences. Where conflict is the order of the day, civil order disappears and with it the essential thread communication.

I discovered in five years of writing about communication in conflict zones the necessity for building, maintaining and furthering both the technical capacities for civil broadcasting and the personal capacities for keeping communication alive and well. The thirteen articles included here are far from a complete picture of communication in conflict zones, nor the unique role of radio broadcasting in those efforts. They do, however, reveal in no small measure the efforts of thousands of individuals dedicated to taking what they know, using what they know and adding value in parts of the world where sharing and caring breaks down.

This collection of articles, some straight reporting of news and some essays, is organized around four geographies: the Balkans/Southeast Europe, Africa, Asia and the Middle East. In time I hope to add more material, filling in areas and subjects important but not yet covered.

All but three of these articles appeared in Radio World International, under the editorial expertise of Marguerite Clark. During this five-year period I interviewed several dozen people who gratefully shared their stories. Notes have been added where appropriate.

Contents

Radio Reaffirms Role in Disasters

Teaching Radio Best Practices

BBC Hones International Strategy

Big and Small, Broadcasters Determined in DR Congo

Wariness Permeates Ivorian Radio

Huge Mix for Sprawling Nation

Public Broadcasters and Balkan Ghosts

Confidence Crumbles in Serb Broadcast Council

RMC-MO Marks 30th Year

New US Broadcasts to Iran

Radio Sawa Report: Big audience, Low impact

Hot Spots

The Public Diplomacy of Willis Conover

Conflict Zones - Civil Media, collected articles 1999-2005, 43 pages, PFD
Free to ftm members, others from €39.

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