Making newsrooms and media organisations, which have central role in disseminating information, an integral part of disaster reduction strategy is crucial for strengthening the national disaster-preparedness, recommends a new study.

The study carried out jointly by five universities led by the UK-based Bournemouth University including Tribhuvan and Kathmandu universities from Nepal, and two other universities from India made public on Thursday made the recommendations after eight months long study of the Nepali media and journalists that were affected by the mega earthquake in 2015. The report is based on the interviews carried out with 46 journalists including editors who reported on the earthquake and aftermath, along with the field visit to Sindhupalchowk, Nuwakot, and Gokha, in addition to Kathmandu Valley.

Along with the several recommendations targeted at preparing the newsrooms and media houses for disaster, the report “Voices from Nepal: Lessons in Post-Disaster Journalism” also lauds the resilience Nepali journalists demonstrated during and aftermath of the disaster. “The journalists who were victims themselves performed their duties amid different constrains which demonstrates their resilience,” said ChinduSreedharan from Bournemouth University, one of the co-authors of the report, while making public the report. “The finding shows they did show positive attitude towards learning to work during the disaster.”

The report, however, points out the lapses that media houses hardly had disaster preparedness plan in place and largely clueless how they would function if disaster of high intensity hits their work place. Based on the observations and interviews the report recommends news organisations to develop editorial strategies for dealing with different disaster scenarios.

 “The report gives a very good picture on what Nepali media and journalists went through in the aftermath of the earthquake while also giving future perspectives on what should be done to prepare for similar disaster,” said ChiranjiviKhanal chief of Central Department of Journalism and Mass Communication in Tribhuvan University.