Innovative Workshop to Prepare Latin American
and U.S. Latino Journalists to Cover Disasters

Washington, D.C. – At a time when countries throughout the Americas face growing threats from natural disasters and terrorism, the International Center for Journalists (ICFJ) announces a new workshop that will give journalists from Latin America and the United States the skills to better report on crises, both natural and manmade. The 14 participants selected for this program will participate in a comprehensive Washington, D.C., training program and then travel to the Gulf Coast, which is still recovering from the effects of Hurricane Katrina.

Participants will learn a multitude of skills essential for providing the public with desperately needed information during a crisis, such as:

• How to develop a newsroom disaster preparedness plan
• Types of disaster stories ranging from emergency bulletins to feature stories on the human cost of disasters to investigative reporting
• Equipment and technical needs for disaster coverage
• Use of multimedia elements, such as maps, podcasts and explanatory graphics
• Enterprise journalism – how stories on such issues as deforestation, security threats and government mismanagement can help raise attention to critical issues that can prevent or mitigate the effects of disasters
• Safety for journalists covering crises
• Ethical issues in disaster coverage – dealing with victims of trauma, reporting vs. getting involved, use of deceptive tactics to gain access to disaster sites or hospitals

Sessions will be taught by experts on disaster and terrorism coverage, including experienced reporters and editors, emergency management officials, relief workers and law enforcement agencies. In New Orleans, participants will meet with journalists from The Times-Picayune and broadcast news outlets, visit still ravaged neighborhoods like the Ninth Ward, and interview officials from government, health care, education and other sectors. Participants will also visit Lousiana State University in Baton Rouge, where they will meet with experts from the LSU Hurricane Center and faculty of the Manship School of Journalism.

In Washington, D.C., participants will discuss other

types of disaster coverage, including terrorism (specifically the 9/11 attacks), plane crashes and natural disasters such as earthquakes and the Indian Ocean tsunami. Sessions will examine the increase in natural disasters due to climate change and the growth of global terrorist groups. Practical, hands-on exercises during both segments of the program will help participants in planning, interviewing and producing stories.

The program will take place May 11-18. The deadline for applications is March 17. The program will be conducted primarily in Spanish, and applicants may be from any Latin American country or from the Spanish-language media in the United States. The program is sponsored by the McCormick Tribune Foundation.

This program follows another in April 2007 that brought 21 Latin American and U.S. journalists reporting for Spanish- and English-language news organizations to Washington to learn how to better cover immigration issues. That program was sponsored again by the McCormick Tribune Foundation, along with the Scripps Howard Foundation.