What’s journalism worth in disasters and emergencies? A lot, says a new UN report

This article is published in association with United Nations.

A single New York Times article on a disaster generated an additional $500,000 in official aid. That’s just one of the findings on the critical role a free press plays in saving lives, according to a new UN report released on Tuesday.

Key points

• A free press is critical to saving lives, mitigating the impacts of humanitarian disasters and strengthening other disaster preparedness and risk reduction
• Research across 152 countries links greater press freedom with lower risks of conflict, repression and human rights violations
• Trusted journalism acts as a crucial source to counter false and harmful disinformation

From COVID-19 and human rights to climate action and earthquake response, journalists doing their jobs saves lives while also acting as an antidote to harmful fake news, according to a new report from UN culture agency, UNESCO, titled The value of journalism: Global evidence on why media matters to economies, national security and crises.

Key findings highlight that beyond countering disinformation, trusted media strengthens government accountability, helps affected communities access support and pushes governments and local officials to take action.

Good reporting also leads to a more efficient and extensive response, from emergency needs to dealing with disasters.

Critical reporting also acts as a watchdog to keep the aid sector honest, leading to reform and more effective responses, according to UNESCO, which supports media literacy around the world.

Original environmental journalism can lead to better protection of natural ecosystems, the report argues. 

For instance, an online magazine reporting on wastewater discharge from a landfill site in Thailand prompted authorities to step in, while investigations into illegal sand mining in Uganda led to a nationwide ban.

Here are more examples from the report:

• In Burkina Faso, radio programmes about the risks of infant malaria, pneumonia and diarrhoea were found to dramatically increase the rate at which caregivers took children to health centres, reducing deaths of children under five years old by an average of 7.15 per cent per year and saving an estimated 2,967 children’s lives
• A campaign by journalists at the Los Angeles Times led to new building codes that made California’s largest city more earthquake-resilient 
• A study on the value of radio after a major earthquake found it connected family to lost ones, encouraged children to return to school and helped spread critical information about safety, hygiene, clean drinking water and shelter to prevent the outbreak of deadly disease
• An evaluation of radio content in Nigeria designed to address COVID-19 misinformation and vaccine hesitancy found that the programmes helped regular listeners identify and challenge false narratives© Hassan Akkad Syrian filmmaker Hassan Akad (pictured on the left, in the water) was among those who crossed the Mediterranean Sea to seek refuge in Europe in 2020. (file)

Fighting fake news

False narratives, rumours and disinformation are exacerbating crises and undermining the ability of communities to prepare, respond and rebuild after a disaster and even preventing aid from reaching those in need. 

False reporting can also exacerbate conflict and lead to violence against humanitarian workers, according to the report.

Disinformation has caused significant harm and damage during such health crises as COVID-19 in what the World Health Organization (WHO) described as an “infodemic”. 

One study estimated that disinformation led to nearly 2.3 million cases and 66,000 hospitalisations in 2021 in the United States alone, resulting in $2 billion in extra costs of hospitalisation and 45,000 avoidable deaths.

At the same time, trusted journalism acts as a crucial source of information to counter these narratives and convey expert advice.

Spotlight on aid

News coverage can also prompt significant charitable giving from audiences, according to the report.

British journalist Michael Buerk’s famous reporting from Ethiopia in 1984 for the BBC is credited with raising more than $200 million for famine relief.

Turkish photojournalist Nilüfer Demir’s photo of the drowned child, Alan Kurdi, raised worldwide attention to the Syrian conflict in 2015, leading to a spike in donations, including a 50-fold increase in funding to some non-governmental organizations. 

Journalism can also lead to major reform within the aid sector itself as demonstrated during the #AidToo scandal, where journalists revealed abuse of power in Haiti and a culture of impunity, involving NGOs Oxfam and Save the Children. 

Read the full UNESCO report here.