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Broadcasting is key communication medium in emergencies
ITU Report to highlight role of terrestrial radio and TV in disseminating
critical information
Geneva, 29 November 2013 – ITU held a Workshop on Emergency
Broadcasting to highlight the importance of international cooperation needed to
enhance the reach of broadcasting in emergency situations, such as in the
Philippines, which was recently devastated by Typhoon Haiyan and the cyclones
that have battered the coastal districts of eastern India.
A new ITU Report on Emergency Broadcasting on the essential role of
terrestrial radio and television broadcasting will be finalized by April 2014
and made available online free of charge. The Report will be compiled by co-Rapporteurs
to
Study Group 6, Lynn Claudy (National Association of
Broadcasters, USA) and Gary Stanley (Babcock International Group, U.K.).
“Emergency broadcasting plays a critical role in the rapid dissemination of
information to the public, and is a key element in helping save lives in the
aftermath of natural disasters,” said ITU Secretary-General Hamadoun I. Touré.
“The ITU Report on Emergency Broadcasting will provide broadcasters, first
responders and the general public important information on how to prepare for
natural disasters and their aftermath.”
For many decades, radio and television broadcasters have been the primary
source of critical information to the public in the event of disasters such as
tornadoes, hurricanes, floods, snowstorms, earthquakes, tsunamis, and even
terrorist attacks and industrial catastrophes. Due to their wide coverage,
broadcasting services are more likely to survive such events than other
communication networks.
Radio and television broadcasting provides reliable point-to-multipoint
delivery of essential information and safety advice to the public as well as to
first responders and others via widely available consumer receivers, both mobile
and fixed. Even in cases where electricity and mobile-phone base stations are no
longer available, reception of broadcast signals is still possible with
battery-operated receivers in cars and in hand-held devices such as mobile
phones equipped with a radio or TV receiver.
“The Workshop addressed key issues related to broadcasting as a means of
communicating to the public during emergencies and how it fulfils these
requirements most reliably and effectively,” said Mr François Rancy, Director of
ITU’s Radiocommunication Bureau.
“With the number of natural disasters and other large-scale emergency
situations on the rise around the world, as we have seen with the devastation
caused by the recent Typhoon Haiyan, it is absolutely essential that the public
is provided the necessary emergency information quickly, comprehensively and
accurately,” said Christoph Dosch, Chairman of ITU-R Study Group 6 (Broadcasting
service). “Terrestrial television and radio broadcasters provide the fastest,
reliable and most effective means of delivering information to the public in
these critical situations.”
A Video interview is available on ITU’s YouTube channel:
http://youtu.be/60l1GXZUddM
For more information, please see
www.itu.int/go/ITU-R/RWP6A-2013 or contact:
Sanjay Acharya
Chief, Media Relations and Public Information
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Grace Petrin
Communications Officer, Radiocommunication Bureau
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