Title: New media helped, but radio delivered for earthquake-struck Haiti
Author: Matthew Lasar
Source:Ars Technica
Publisher:Condé Nast Digital
Date (published):12/01/2011
Date (accessed):14/01/2011
Type of information:article
Language: English
On-line access: yes (HTML)
Abstract:
"When Haiti's devastating earthquake hit last January, the world responded with a wave of humanitarian relief efforts. But unlike previous disasters, they also deployed new communications systems—text messaging, digital crowd sourcing, and social networking, among other platforms.

The Haiti earthquake "marked the beginning of a new culture in disaster relief," notes a report on the phenomenon just released by the Knight Foundation. "Occurring several years into a revolution in communications technology, the event attracted legions of media specialists bearing new digital tools to help."

Yet the electronic medium most successfully deployed was not the newest, but one of the oldest. "Although much of the attention has been paid to new media technologies, radio was the most effective tool for serving the needs of the public," Knight concludes."