In an increasingly challenging international field, journalists and humanitarian agencies could work more closely together when responding to emergencies.

This was one of the conclusions of a major conference hosted by the British Red Cross at the Foreign Press Association in London on 13 December, in partnership with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), Department for International Development, ITV News and The Times.

The day consisted of four debates led by panels of high profile figures from the media, charity and government sectors.

Former BBC correspondent and British Red Cross ambassador Michael Buerk chaired the morning sessions where there was lively discussion of conflict reporting and relations between aid agencies and the media.The first debate focused on new research commissioned by the British Red Cross on how much media coverage of the world's conflicts is given to humanitarian issues. The analysis by CARMA International studied conflict reporting between May and October this year covering stories from Lebanon and Iraq, to Sudan and Afghanistan.

We believe aid should be raised impartially according to need.

Sir Nicholas Young, British Red Cross

The study found the media was predominantly interested in death tolls with much less written about the impact of aid or humanitarian needs. Another key point was the overt politicisation of conflict reporting, particularly in coverage of Iraq.

Tom Vesey, from CARMA International said:  "Overall there was very little reporting on the impact of aid and very little on what actually NGOs are doing."

Following the example of journalists embedded with the military in conflict zones, he suggested journalists could embed themselves within an aid unit.

While some journalists welcomed this suggestion as a useful means of reporting the humanitarian angle, Vincent Lusser, from the ICRC explained the difficulties this would pose for an organisation that depends on maintaining its neutrality in often precarious scenarios.The debate also noted the financial pressures on foreign news coverage in the face of a media landscape that "is changing at lightening speed", where both newspapers and broadcasters are losing audiences.

Neglected crises

The World Disasters Report, commissioned by the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, was the subject of the next debate. Sir Nicholas Young, British Red Cross chief executive, opened the discussion with a summary of the report, which focuses this year on neglected crises.

Our responsibility is not to raise money, our responsibility is to raise an understanding.

Adrian Van Klaveren, deputy director BBC News

"A record £653 in humanitarian aid was raised for each person affected by the tsunami but emergency appeals for Chad, Malawi and Niger raised on average less than £14 per person," Sir Nicholas said. "We believe aid should be raised impartially according to need."

However, he described the difficulty encountered this year encouraging broadcasters to support a DEC (Disasters Emergency Committee) appeal for drought in east Africa and the Lebanon conflict.

In response, Adrian Van Klaveren, deputy director of BBC News, said: "Our responsibility is not to raise money, our responsibility is to raise an understanding.

"Audiences are often looking for solutions. People want to know 'what can we do?'. It is too simplistic to say people don't care about Africa, they do, they just want to know what they can do," he said.

Michael Buerk commented: "Aren't people more likely to have an emotional and financial engagement to a natural disaster than a complex chronic African crisis?"

ITV News international editor, Bill Neely, joined the discussion on the types of disasters covered."I think we cover far too many weather stories in the USA, but obviously Hurricane Katrina was an exception as the story was really the fact that it was the greatest blot on Bush's domestic administration," he said.

The award-winning correspondent also criticised the BBC's Niger coverage as "exaggerated" and commented that he "switched off" when aid agencies trundle out the overused description of "a looming humanitarian crisis".

Dangerous work

The discussion in the afternoon turned to the increasing danger for both journalists and aid workers in conflict zones where record numbers have been killed in recent years. Vincent Lusser, from the ICRC, said access and security were major challenges to their work.

We need you to help us tell the story and you need us to raise awareness of the humanitarian situation.

Lyse Doucet, BBC World television

"Whatever the situation there needs to be a space for impartial humanitarian action," he said. "In a globalised media environment people, even in remote conflict areas, are connected to the internet. Therefore our colleagues in Kabul have to think that what happens in Afghanistan can affect our colleagues elsewhere in the world."

He added: "We are horrified by the numbers of attacks on journalists. Journalists are civilians and as such are protected by international humanitarian law."

The final session examined ways in which aid agencies work with the media to improve coverage of humanitarian disasters. Lyse Doucet, presenter and correspondent from BBC World television, impressed that there is "no such thing as the media" as a single entity."There are lots of different types of media," she said. "Journalists come in all shapes and sizes - some are interested in humanitarian issues and some simply aren't."

The panel of journalists urged communicators within aid agencies to adopt a more personal approach with journalists by developing contacts rather than simply sending emails, and use language that would sell a story to a news editor.

Lyse summed up the day's consensus: "We need you to help us tell the story and you need us to raise awareness of the humanitarian situation."

Leigh Daynes, head of media and public relations at the British Red Cross, agreed to set up a steering group to keep the debate alive and implement some of the day's recommendations.

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