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What is AlertNet?
Reuters AlertNet is a humanitarian news network based around a popular website. It aims to keep relief professionals and the wider public up-to-date on humanitarian crises around the globe.
AlertNet attracts upwards of ten million users a year, has a network of 400 contributing humanitarian organizations and its weekly email digest is received by more than 26,000 readers.
It was started in 1997 by Reuters Foundation - an educational and humanitarian trust - to place Reuters' core skills of speed, accuracy and freedom from bias at the service of the humanitarian community.
AlertNet has won a Popular Communication award for technological innovation, a NetMedia European Online Journalism Award for its coverage of natural disasters and has been named a Millennium Product by the British Government -- an award for outstanding applications of innovative technologies.
Why was it set up?
During the Rwanda crisis of 1994, the Reuters Foundation became interested in media reports of poor coordination between emergency relief charities on the ground. It surveyed charities on what could be done to remedy this. The conclusion was that there was a need for a service that would:
- Deliver operation-critical information to relief charities worldwide
- Encourage relief charities to swap information with one another
- Raise awareness of humanitarian emergencies among the general public
These overlapping objectives are summarised in the Reuters AlertNet tagline - 'Alerting Humanitarians to Emergencies'.
Why Reuters?
Philanthropy has been a feature of Reuters' 150-year history and the Reuters Foundation was set up in 1982 to recognise and formalise such activity. Reuters AlertNet is just one of a number of Reuters Foundation projects, all of which are designed to employ Reuters' skills to help disadvantaged communities around the world.
See the Reuters Foundation website for details of our other projects.
When researching the viability of a humanitarian news network, Reuters Foundation Trustees concluded that, for a number of reasons, Reuters was unusually well placed to support such a project. It has:
- An unrivalled reputation for providing speedy, accurate reporting from its worldwide network of journalists
- A reputation for independence enshrined in the company's 'Trust Principles' (see details of Reuters independence safeguards)
- World class news production skills
- Technical publishing skills honed in the fiercely competitive business of supplying information to the financial markets
- An ability to create networks of contributors and to encourage them to share information - a key feature of many Reuters financial markets services
MediaBridge project
Making it easier for journalists to cover crises
Making it harder for editors to say 'no'
In 2004, Reuters AlertNet conducted a major analysis of humanitarian crisis reporting in collaboration with Columbia School of Journalism. The result was the Fritz Report, the biggest survey yet of relations between the media and humanitarian relief agencies. Reuters AlertNet, with the support of Britain's Department for International Development, is now acting on the report's recommendations in a project called MediaBridge. The project involves the creation of practical tools and services to help journalists cover difficult emergencies. These include:
- Crisis briefings - key background information on more than 70 emergencies
- Country statistics - generates graphs comparing global humanitarian facts and figures
- Who works where - a directory of relief organisations and U.N. agencies working in key crises, willing to help journalists
- Humanitarian heads up - an e-newsletter for journalists including early warning on looming crises
- Hotspot mapping - puts global emergencies on the map
- Interactive training - improve your humanitarian reporting with our online training modules
- World press tracker - keep tabs on global trends in crisis coverage
- MediaWatch - daily choice pickings of provocative articles on humanitarian themes from the world's media
- AlertNet Expresso - your daily shot of humanitarian news, delivered by email
For more information about MediaBridge click here.
The AlertNet community
The cornerstone of the AlertNet community is the AlertNet membership. Our members are non-discriminatory, non-profit civil society organisations that are actively involved in emergency relief.
We are not recruiting for new members at the moment as we are focusing on deepening relationships with our current membership community.
Members get access to a password-protected area. Benefits include:
- A simple, form-based publishing system which allows relief charities to publish their news from emergency hotspots directly to the website
- Humanitarian news from dozens of other media outlets around the world via our partner Factiva
- Emergency alerts via email customised according to users' preferred 'channels'
- Downloadable Reuters photographs for use in appeals and publications
See full list of member benefits
What does AlertNet cover? And why?
The subject of humanitarian crises is an enormous one. As in most specialist areas, there are lively debates about definitions, standards and the best way of working. In particular there is a basic division between short-term humanitarian crisis relief and long-term economic development.
AlertNet focuses its resources on covering fast-moving humanitarian emergencies and on the early warning of future emergencies. In so doing we provide relatively little on economic development which is a closely related subject and makes up the majority of the work of AlertNet member NGOs.
The reason for this focus is that Reuters has traditionally been strong in handling fast-moving information and that our chosen medium - the online world - is particularly well-suited to alerting services.
AlertNet countries
These are nations believed to be of particular interest to those following humanitarian crises because they fulfill one of more of the following criteria:
- They are low- or medium-income and thus likely to find that their capacity to handle large emergencies depends on international assistance
- They are particularly prone to humanitarian crises
Of the world's 190 or so countries, more than 150 fulfill these criteria. You can find a full list of nations covered by clicking the country profiles drop-down menu in the left-hand side of any AlertNet page.
AlertNet emergencies
There are four types: health, sudden onset, food-related, and conflict. In practice, emergencies don't fit neatly into such categories, frequently overlapping in a complex manner in which it is difficult to separate cause and effect. AlertNet's presentation of emergency material aims to make clear these areas of overlap.
In the spirit of Reuters' commitment to independent, unbiased coverage of news, we aim to track all such emergencies for which it is possible to find reliable information. In particular, you will find coverage of emergencies that, for a variety of reasons, receive only sporadic coverage elsewhere in the media - so-called 'forgotten' or 'hidden' emergencies.
See full list of AlertNet emergencies
AlertNet themes
There are issues which underpin all AlertNet emergencies. And there are other topics that are the subject of lively debate within the humanitarian relief community. AlertNet aims to provide news, background and opinion on the key topics and you can find a full listing in the 'Topics' drop-down menu on the left-hand side of every AlertNet page.
Who uses AlertNet? And what do they use?
Based on a survey conducted in late 2005, the breakdown of users is as follows:
WHO THEY ARE
| Government development officials |
3 percent |
| Students |
18 percent |
| Teachers/academics |
4 percent |
| In relief work or development |
40 percent |
| In the media |
6 percent |
| None of the above |
27 percent |
| Don't say |
2 percent |
HOW OLD?
| Under 18 |
4 percent |
| 18-24 |
20 percent |
| 25-34 |
45 percent |
| 35-44 |
19 percent |
| 45-54 |
7 percent |
| 55 or older |
3 percent |
| Don't say |
2 percent |
WHERE ARE THEY?
| Africa |
7 percent |
| Asia |
7 percent |
| Australasia |
7 percent |
| Europe |
28 percent |
| Latin America |
2 percent |
| Middle East |
2 percent |
| North America |
46 percent |
| Don't say |
2 percent |
Based on an analysis of our web server logs in January, 2007 usage of the site breaks down as follows:
Newsdesk - 44 percent
Mapping - 14 percent
AlertNet low graphics version - 4 percent
Homepage - 4 percent
Crisis briefings - 3 percent
Reuters pictures - 3 percent
News syndication - 3 percent
Other - 9 percent
AlertNet in the media
On this page, we bring you a selection of AlertNet's appearances in the media. Some of them talk about the services we provide to the NGO community, and many cite us as a respected source. Others have invited us to comment from our unique position between the worlds of journalism and humanitarianism. Click here to access the page.
Content Partners
At the request of member charities, who would like relevant news sources to be aggregated by AlertNet, we aim to create a network of contributors who have valuable content but do not fulfill the membership criteria. These organizations are known as 'content partners' who make use of the AlertNet channel to give their content a wider audience.
Among our content partners are:
- Factiva - a database of more than 10,000 publications from around the world, of which about 110 appear on AlertNet. Access to Factiva material is restricted to AlertNet members.
- Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET) - a USAID-funded service that provides timely and rigorous early warning and vulnerability information on emerging or evolving food-security issues
- Human Rights Watch (HRW) - a U.S.-based organisation that conducts fact-finding investigations and reports on human rights abuses around the world
- Humanitarian Policy Group (HPG) - a team of independent researchers and information professionals working on humanitarian issues to improve policy and practice through a combination of analysis, dialogue and debate
- Humanitarian Practice Group (HPN) - an independent forum where field workers, managers and policymakers in the humanitarian sector share information, analysis and experience
- Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC) - established in 1998 by the Norwegian Refugee Council, IDMC is an international body monitoring conflict-induced internal displacement worldwide
- International Crisis Group - a non-profit, non-governmental organisation working through field-based analysis and high-level advocacy to prevent and resolve deadly conflict
- Global Voices - an online non-profit media project pulling together conversations, information and ideas appearing around the world in various forms of participatory media such as blogs, podcasts, photo sharing sites and videoblogs
- Tropical Storm Risk (TSR) - a storm tracking service that forecasts risks from tropical storms, hurricanes and typhoons worldwide
- Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) - a U.N. agency mandated to lead and coordinate international action to protect refugees and resolve refugee problems worldwide
- United Nations Integrated Regional Information Networks (IRIN) - a humanitarian news agency covering over 77 countries in parts of Asia, the Middle East and all of sub-Saharan Africa
- United Nations Operational Satellite Applications Programme (UNOSAT) - a U.N. programme that provides access to satellite imagery for use in humanitarian relief, disaster prevention and post-crisis reconstruction
- United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) - a U.N. agency dedicated to providing emergency food relief and supporting the economic and social development of the poor and hungry worldwide
Technology
AlertNet is hosted at Reuters' world class Docklands Technical Centre which is responsible for the systems that support Reuters financial information business.
The website makes use of open source technology where possible: a mySQL database, Apache webservers, pages written using Perl-based 'Mason' modules and has been developed by Wrenhill Ltd.
AlertNet uses all best practice security methods:
- Two 'demilitarized zones' between public users and the backend system to exclude hackers
.
- A development and integration platform entirely separate from the live service allowing performance testing and site additions to be handled safely
- Within the software, members (users who can submit content) are
authenticated against a members database before they can publish.
Accessibility
The main AlertNet site is mostly compatible with the WorldWide Web Consortium (W3C) accessibility standards.
Low Graphics AlertNet, designed to meet the needs of those working in areas with poor telecommunications links, is fully W3C compliant.
Sponsors
AlertNet receives its core funding from Reuters Foundation. However, in seeking to act as a catalyst for humanitarian news sharing, it also seeks partnerships with organizations sharing its humanitarian values and willing to provide direct financial support or in-kind donations.
Current sponsors include:-
How to contact us
General enquiries
E-mail: alertnet@reuters.com
Fax: +44 20 7542 8599
Postal address:
Reuters AlertNet
30 South Colonnade
London E14 4EP
United Kingdom
Sponsorship, partnering
Editor -- Martyn Broughton (Tel: +44 20 7542 8655)
News and features
Deputy Editor -- Tim Large (Tel: +44 20 7542 9484)
Journalist -- Ruth Gidley (Tel: +44 20 7542 2412)
Journalist -- Emma Batha (Tel: +44 20 7542 6237)
Journalist -- Megan Rowling (Tel: +44 20 7542 3405)
Membership enquiries
Communications & Research Coordinator -- Joanne Tomkinson (Tel: +44 20 7542 2432)
Communications & Research Officer -- Rebecka Rosenquist (Tel: +44 20 7542 8716)
"Who works where" enquiries
Researcher -- Rebecka Rosenquist (Tel: +44 20 7542 8716)
Technology
Project manager -- Simon Channon (Tel: +44 20 7542 8122)
Software Developer -- David de Diego (Tel: +44 20 7542 7453)
Map Officer -- Liesbeth Renders (Tel: +44 20 7542 8963)
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