AlertNet
AlertNet relaunch
Saturday 11 December 2010
“Thirteen years after starting life as a platform for aid workers to better coordinate relief efforts, our new-look AlertNet combines improved navigation with greater visual impact and powerful tools for anyone interested in humanitarian issues.
“With an audience of more than 12 million visitors a year, AlertNet serves aid workers, donors, journalists, policymakers, researchers, teachers, students and the public. The award-winning site provides trusted information on conflicts, natural disasters, hunger, diseases and climate change and is the only site of its kind that the general public really engages with.”
Highlights of the relaunch include videos and slideshows, climate change information, a dedicated area for the site’s more than 450 member agencies and “an interactive number cruncher for humanitarian statistics”.
● CLICK for more about AlertNet now
● CLICK to see how the site looked in 1997 when Steve Somerville, then director of the Reuters Foundation, first launched it
Paul Mylrea lands top media job at BBC
Friday 26 February 2010
Mylrea, whose 20-year career at Reuters ended in 2002, is director of communications at the British government’s department for international development. Previously he was director of group media relations at Transport for London and head of media at Oxfam GB. He is also president-elect at the Chartered Institute of Public Relations.
Mylrea will lead the BBC press office and strategic communications function and be part of a ten-strong communications steering group. He will also be the BBC's official spokesman. The job specification states that it sits at the heart of reputation management for the BBC.
"Paul is a terrific hire for the BBC," the corporation's director of communications, Ed Williams, said. "The combination of 20 years at Reuters, along with proven experience at the hard end of public sector communications, is excellent preparation for leading media relations at the BBC."
● SOURCE BBC | PR Week
Foundation launches free information service for Haiti quake disaster
Sunday 17 January 2010
To register, survivors subscribing to the Digicell network, largest in the Caribbean, text their location to the SMS shortcode 4636. By return, up to date, reliable, actionable information in French and Creole will be sent to them wherever they are in Haiti, helping them to reach shelter, aid and loved ones. The service will cost them nothing.
The service also acts as a news and information gathering mechanism, whereby survivors can report information directly into the Foundation’s new Emergency Information Service team of specialist journalists. The EIS team will collate this information and it will by made available to agencies, emergency teams and local media.
People outside Haiti and the quake zone can register their loved ones' mobile phone numbers on their behalf. The SMS shortcode is dependent on local telecommunications infrastructure; if the infrastructure fails, the local SMS service will not work.
The EIS also aims to get critical information to survivors via local media, especially radio. The Foundation already has a team of expert humanitarian journalists in Haiti to collect and disseminate information.
Foundation chief executive Monique Villa said: "In times of major natural catastrophes, information itself is aid, as crucial as shelter or blankets. All forms of communication in Haiti have been impaired and the EIS team will help fill the communication void providing reliable, actionable information to the disaster affected population.”
The Emergency Information Service is a first service of its kind, launched by the Thomson Reuters Foundation in December 2009. The EIS will be deployed when major natural disasters strike communities around the world, leaving them with no reliable communication infrastructure. EIS Action-Units will be deployed within hours of a disaster and upon arrival in the disaster zone will seek out, collate and disseminate life-saving information to disaster-hit populations.
● AlertNet
● Thomson Reuters Foundation
Thomson Reuters Foundation launches humanitarian news lifeline
Tuesday 15 December 2009
The Thomson Reuters Foundation launched its Emergency Information Service (EIS), a humanitarian news lifeline designed to help the survivors of major natural disasters. The free service will supply fast and practical information from all available sources, such as help in finding shelters, drinking water and missing relatives.
“The aim is to provide accurate and actionable information to the affected population,” Monique Villa, chief executive of the Foundation, told a launch event at Thomson Reuters’ London office at Canary Wharf.
An EIS team of journalists based in the disaster zone will collect information and disseminate it in local languages using all available communications, from SMS text messages and radio to “zero tech” methods such as posters, leaflets and megaphones.
Tim Large, editor of Alertnet, the Foundation’s humanitarian news service, said the teams would comprise Alertnet and Reuters-trained reporters working with local media and NGOs. They would also cooperate with the Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, a major supporter of AlertNet since it was founded in 1997, as well as other NGOs.
The inspiration for the EIS came from the 1994 Tsunami disaster, which killed 226,000 people and demonstrated on a massive scale the victims’ need for vital information. To mark the fifth anniversary, AlertNet and the Red Cross have teamed up to pay tribute to the survivors in a film called Surviving the Tsunami: Stories of Hope, which was shown at the launch event. Watch the trailer, right, or click on the link below to see the whole film.
● Emergency Information Service
● AlertNet
● Reporter’s Notebook by Dean Yates
● Surviving the Tsunami | VIDEO
“The aim is to provide accurate and actionable information to the affected population,” Monique Villa, chief executive of the Foundation, told a launch event at Thomson Reuters’ London office at Canary Wharf.
An EIS team of journalists based in the disaster zone will collect information and disseminate it in local languages using all available communications, from SMS text messages and radio to “zero tech” methods such as posters, leaflets and megaphones.
Tim Large, editor of Alertnet, the Foundation’s humanitarian news service, said the teams would comprise Alertnet and Reuters-trained reporters working with local media and NGOs. They would also cooperate with the Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, a major supporter of AlertNet since it was founded in 1997, as well as other NGOs.
The inspiration for the EIS came from the 1994 Tsunami disaster, which killed 226,000 people and demonstrated on a massive scale the victims’ need for vital information. To mark the fifth anniversary, AlertNet and the Red Cross have teamed up to pay tribute to the survivors in a film called Surviving the Tsunami: Stories of Hope, which was shown at the launch event. Watch the trailer, right, or click on the link below to see the whole film.
● Emergency Information Service
● AlertNet
● Reporter’s Notebook by Dean Yates
● Surviving the Tsunami | VIDEO
Foundation expands its activities, opens new web portal
Thursday 28 May 2009
The Thomson Reuters Foundation is expanding to reflect the activities and larger scope of the combined business.
The company’s charitable arm has acquired the web address www.trust.org to reflect the importance of the Trust Principles and built a new portal for the Foundation’s three key areas of focus – the rule of law, humanitarian information and journalism training.
The Foundation’s three main programmes – and the communities that bring them to life – will find a home on the new website, says Foundation CEO Monique Villa (pictured). These programmes are TrustLaw, Trust AlertNet (and its associated Emergency Information Service) and Trust Media.
● Trust Media, flagship of the old Reuters Foundation, is all about training journalists around the world to the highest standards – everything from business reporting in Africa or Eastern Europe to multimedia coverage of crises around the world. Also under Trust Media's wing is the Reuters Oxford Institute, the Foundation’s partnership with Oxford University, which is dedicated to the study of journalism and its ongoing challenges in the 21st century.
● Trust AlertNet is the world's premier website on humanitarian issues. Covering conflicts, natural disasters and health emergencies, it has 10 million users a year. It has also built up an alliance of more than 400 non-governmental organisations engaged in relief work around the world. The Foundation is developing the Emergency Information Service to support survivors of major earthquakes, cyclones and other natural disasters with potentially life-saving information. From SMS text messages to megaphones and bulletin boards, it will use the best means possible to reach communities left in the dark. The project stems from the conviction that information in itself is a form of aid, exactly as crucial as blankets or tarpaulins.
● TrustLaw, the Foundation’s newest project, will be born at the end of this year. It is based on a simple but ambitious goal: to create an international hub for the practice of pro bono legal work. The idea is to match those in need of legal expertise with those willing to give it at no cost to the client. Just as AlertNet offers news, information and a community space for professionals from the humanitarian aid world, TrustLaw will serve as a forum for lawyers, accountants, judges, journalists, governments and NGOs focusing on specific areas of the law such as good governance and anti-corruption. The website will offer news and information as well as a database of law, best practices, policies and procedures and country background reports.
“Whether you are a Thomson Reuters employee, a client, a Foundation partner or a member of the public, www.trust.org will be an open door to getting involved,” Villa said in a message circulated within the company. “The full-blown new website will be launched at the end of this year but you can already get a feel and find out a little more about what the Foundation is up to and how it is already making a difference to those who have much less than many of us. The first issue of our quarterly Your Foundation newsletter is now on the site and a good place to learn more.
“I know that the Thomson Reuters Foundation is going to be remarkable. It will be pioneering and it will reflect the amazing skills, experiences, passion and dedication of our business and the people who work in it. In the months to come there will be lots of ways to hear more and get involved – through town halls, our new quarterly newsletter and through our network of Foundation ‘Champions’.
“I have been hugely inspired working with the Foundation team in bringing this to life, and I hope the Foundation will not only reflect our great businesses but also serve as a source of pride to all of you.”
● SOURCE Thomson Reuters Foundation
The company’s charitable arm has acquired the web address www.trust.org to reflect the importance of the Trust Principles and built a new portal for the Foundation’s three key areas of focus – the rule of law, humanitarian information and journalism training.
The Foundation’s three main programmes – and the communities that bring them to life – will find a home on the new website, says Foundation CEO Monique Villa (pictured). These programmes are TrustLaw, Trust AlertNet (and its associated Emergency Information Service) and Trust Media.
● Trust Media, flagship of the old Reuters Foundation, is all about training journalists around the world to the highest standards – everything from business reporting in Africa or Eastern Europe to multimedia coverage of crises around the world. Also under Trust Media's wing is the Reuters Oxford Institute, the Foundation’s partnership with Oxford University, which is dedicated to the study of journalism and its ongoing challenges in the 21st century.
● Trust AlertNet is the world's premier website on humanitarian issues. Covering conflicts, natural disasters and health emergencies, it has 10 million users a year. It has also built up an alliance of more than 400 non-governmental organisations engaged in relief work around the world. The Foundation is developing the Emergency Information Service to support survivors of major earthquakes, cyclones and other natural disasters with potentially life-saving information. From SMS text messages to megaphones and bulletin boards, it will use the best means possible to reach communities left in the dark. The project stems from the conviction that information in itself is a form of aid, exactly as crucial as blankets or tarpaulins.
● TrustLaw, the Foundation’s newest project, will be born at the end of this year. It is based on a simple but ambitious goal: to create an international hub for the practice of pro bono legal work. The idea is to match those in need of legal expertise with those willing to give it at no cost to the client. Just as AlertNet offers news, information and a community space for professionals from the humanitarian aid world, TrustLaw will serve as a forum for lawyers, accountants, judges, journalists, governments and NGOs focusing on specific areas of the law such as good governance and anti-corruption. The website will offer news and information as well as a database of law, best practices, policies and procedures and country background reports.
“Whether you are a Thomson Reuters employee, a client, a Foundation partner or a member of the public, www.trust.org will be an open door to getting involved,” Villa said in a message circulated within the company. “The full-blown new website will be launched at the end of this year but you can already get a feel and find out a little more about what the Foundation is up to and how it is already making a difference to those who have much less than many of us. The first issue of our quarterly Your Foundation newsletter is now on the site and a good place to learn more.
“I know that the Thomson Reuters Foundation is going to be remarkable. It will be pioneering and it will reflect the amazing skills, experiences, passion and dedication of our business and the people who work in it. In the months to come there will be lots of ways to hear more and get involved – through town halls, our new quarterly newsletter and through our network of Foundation ‘Champions’.
“I have been hugely inspired working with the Foundation team in bringing this to life, and I hope the Foundation will not only reflect our great businesses but also serve as a source of pride to all of you.”
● SOURCE Thomson Reuters Foundation
$260,000 China quake relief donation
Thursday 22 May 2008
Thomson Reuters, ● Reuters Foundation and staff have donated a combined $260,000 to help relief work following the earthquake in China’s Szechuan province.
The Foundation has donated $100,000, supplemented by $100,000 from Thomson Reuters, to be distributed through agencies chosen by the Foundation’s ● AlertNet International Disaster Fund (AIDfund), an independent grant-making fund. Often working in partnership with local people, the agencies, which are all members of ● Reuters AlertNet, will receive funding to help them fulfil specific aid programmes.
Thomson Reuters staff across Asia have set up local fundraising initiatives which have raised $60,000, as well as offering generous donations of blankets and clothes for earthquake survivors. These have been passed to local Red Cross Societies.
"The earthquake has prompted a tremendous outpouring of support and humanitarian relief from our staff across the region,” said Kenneth Tsui, managing director for North Asia for the markets division.
“The company, its employees and Foundation have responded rapidly to raise and distribute funds for those affected by the tragedy. In such a disaster situation, we will also continue to enable relief agencies to access and share vital news and information that could help improve the situation."
AIDfund has awarded cash grants to the following non governmental organisations, all of which have a long history of providing relief aid in China:
● Americare $30,000
● Handicap International $30,000
● British Red Cross $40,000
● World Vision International $40,000
● Save the Children $60,000
Selected by a committee of humanitarian experts, the programmes will help with basic utilities, food, tents and other forms of shelter. They will also provide child-friendly spaces to support children in their adjustment following the disaster, as well as trained physiotherapists to support the rehabilitation of those injured during the quake.
Staff who wish to donate can do so through ● AIDfund online. These donations will help to create a fund for future emergencies.
● SOURCE Thomson Reuters
The Foundation has donated $100,000, supplemented by $100,000 from Thomson Reuters, to be distributed through agencies chosen by the Foundation’s ● AlertNet International Disaster Fund (AIDfund), an independent grant-making fund. Often working in partnership with local people, the agencies, which are all members of ● Reuters AlertNet, will receive funding to help them fulfil specific aid programmes.
Thomson Reuters staff across Asia have set up local fundraising initiatives which have raised $60,000, as well as offering generous donations of blankets and clothes for earthquake survivors. These have been passed to local Red Cross Societies.
"The earthquake has prompted a tremendous outpouring of support and humanitarian relief from our staff across the region,” said Kenneth Tsui, managing director for North Asia for the markets division.
“The company, its employees and Foundation have responded rapidly to raise and distribute funds for those affected by the tragedy. In such a disaster situation, we will also continue to enable relief agencies to access and share vital news and information that could help improve the situation."
AIDfund has awarded cash grants to the following non governmental organisations, all of which have a long history of providing relief aid in China:
● Americare $30,000
● Handicap International $30,000
● British Red Cross $40,000
● World Vision International $40,000
● Save the Children $60,000
Selected by a committee of humanitarian experts, the programmes will help with basic utilities, food, tents and other forms of shelter. They will also provide child-friendly spaces to support children in their adjustment following the disaster, as well as trained physiotherapists to support the rehabilitation of those injured during the quake.
Staff who wish to donate can do so through ● AIDfund online. These donations will help to create a fund for future emergencies.
● SOURCE Thomson Reuters
$300,000 gift for cyclone relief
Wednesday 14 May 2008
Thomson Reuters and the Reuters Foundation said they will support disaster relief efforts in Myanmar with a donation totalling $300,000. The money will directly fund relief agencies that have gained access to areas devastated by Cyclone Nargis. It is being channelled through the AlertNet International Disaster Fund (AIDfund).
The Foundation is donating $200,000 to AIDfund and Thomson Reuters is giving an additional $100,000. AIDfund is an independent fund which provides immediate support to humanitarian organisations working on the frontline of emergency relief.
Cash grants are going to the following NGOs: Adventist Development and Relief Agency, British Red Cross, Christian Aid, HelpAge International, Muslim Aid and World Vision International. They will provide food parcels including rice, oil, pulses and dried fish, water purification tablets, clean water systems, blankets, clothing and temporary shelter.
“The point of AIDfund is to get cash fast to relief agencies already on the ground in Myanmar,” Foundation CEO Monique Villa said. “These agencies are the ones most able to make a difference in this critical period when lives can still be saved. All the agencies we’ve chosen have been active in the country for years. They have the local knowledge and connections to get relief where it’s needed quickly.”
● SOURCE Reuters Foundation | AlertNet
The Foundation is donating $200,000 to AIDfund and Thomson Reuters is giving an additional $100,000. AIDfund is an independent fund which provides immediate support to humanitarian organisations working on the frontline of emergency relief.
Cash grants are going to the following NGOs: Adventist Development and Relief Agency, British Red Cross, Christian Aid, HelpAge International, Muslim Aid and World Vision International. They will provide food parcels including rice, oil, pulses and dried fish, water purification tablets, clean water systems, blankets, clothing and temporary shelter.
“The point of AIDfund is to get cash fast to relief agencies already on the ground in Myanmar,” Foundation CEO Monique Villa said. “These agencies are the ones most able to make a difference in this critical period when lives can still be saved. All the agencies we’ve chosen have been active in the country for years. They have the local knowledge and connections to get relief where it’s needed quickly.”
● SOURCE Reuters Foundation | AlertNet
