About us
Often, global crises are met by too little, too late. News of events on the ground become lost and we are left learning lessons for the future rather than tackling the causes of the crisis. The rights of those in the centre of crisis and conflicts are often pushed aside and innocent people are killed or left with long terms physical or mental trauma.
Channel16 will help change that.
Named after the broadcast frequency of an international distress signal, Channel 16 creates a new frontline for responding to global crises. Via Channel 16, people can see reports from the epicentre of humanitarian emergencies and long term crises and learn what actions they can take to help.
Channel 16’s international network of eyewitness bloggers provides a view from the ground, not a newsdesk. This access to unmediated, direct news makes Channel16 a unique source, unembedded in any army, uncensored by any regime, unprejudiced by any agenda other than to help those in need.
Channel 16 is committed to tackling the causes and effects of conflict and disasters across the world. It was initiated by a group of independent bloggers, campaigners and organisations including Demotix, IECAH, Peace Direct, War Child, Global Witness, Oxfam, MERLIN, Viva Rio, Humanitarian Crisis Hub, Humanity United, Danish Demining Group, Women for Women International, International Crisis Group.
Channel 16 is independent and does not speak for any of these organisations.
Sending reports to Channel 16
Who: Anyone who is on the ground in an affected region
What: Contribute reports from the ground. These will be automatically loaded on to the Ushahidi map in the On the Ground section of the website
Why: To provide background, depth and flavour to information on the situation, and to balance information coming from formal media sources with direct reports.
What: Location (region or specific place), information however short or long on what people are doing, what people are saying, how they feel, what issues are being particularly faced.
How:
Send a text message with the above information to: +44 7537 400 721
(the text will be charged at the local rate)
You can submit a report on the website using our reporting tools.
Or by email send a message to reports@ch16.org
OR by voice message – use one of the numbers below to leave a voice
message that will be uploaded to the site.
- Chile: 1 230 020 5924 x 4424
- USA: 1 646 452 9493 x 4424
- UK: 0203 384 2144 x 4424
- Aus: 1 800 425 220 x 4424
- France: 080 511 0798 x 4424
- Germany: 0 800 6644 8884 x 4424
- Italy: 0 800 6644 8885 x 4424
- Netherlands: 0 800 265 9216 x 4424
- Spain: 800 300 858 x 4424
All reports will go through a verification system before being
published so if you know of others who would be interested in
contributing please do share this page with them.
Channel16 Editorial Guidelines for Contributors
What CH16 stands for
Often, global crises are met by too little, too late. News of events on the ground become lost and we are left learning lessons for the future rather than tackling the causes of disasters. Channel16 will help change that.
Named after the broadcast frequency of an international distress signal, Channel 16 creates a new frontline for responding to global crises. Via Channel 16, people can access reports from the heart of humanitarian emergencies and long-term crises, as well as learn about the actions that they can take to help.
Channel 16’s international network of eyewitness bloggers provides a view from the ground, not a news desk. This access to unmediated, direct news makes Channel16 a unique source, unembedded in any army, uncensored by any regime, unprejudiced by any agenda other than to raise the voices of people in need and act on the issues that matter to them.
Sending reports to Channel 16
Anyone in an affected region can contribute reports to the Channel 16. This will provide background, depth and flavour to information on the situation, and will balance information coming from formal media sources with direct reports.
Channel 16 is interested in hearing about: what people are doing, what people are saying, how they feel, what issues are being particularly faced, and where these events are going on.
Reports can be submitted by sending an email to reports@ch16.org.
All reports will go through a verification system before being published. If you know of others who would be interested in contributing please share this page with them.
Authors: Authors will write independently and while their views don’t represent Channel 16, in some cases Ch16 reserves a right to challenge the views in cases of:
Attribution: Contributors shall not present plagiarized work. Pieces should be original, where reference has been made to previous published work the author must state this and some cases provide a link to the work.
Anonymity: Authors can blog anonymously after discussing with Ch16 about the reasons why they have to be anonymous. This can be excused in case personal safety of the author or if the posts could jeopardize safety of a group. Use of anonymous sources is important especially in cases where security is not guaranteed or there are consequences for a source to be named. Use of anonymous sources many times brings out a voice that the writer wouldn’t have represented.Ch16 does not guarantee that an anonymous author cannot be found out by other means.
Accuracy: Bloggers should double check the information they are putting out. They should never write false information. Where they have doubt, they must disclose it. Ch16 will take measures to ensure the reports published do not contain misleading information.
Fairness: Ch16 will grant space for any person or peoples quoted in the posts to reply. Bloggers must ensure their interpretation of information is not misleading. Anyone quoted has right of reply either through the comments section of the site or by writing to the editor at reports@ch16.org@gmail.com
Confidentiality: Should Ch16 share with you confidential information, it shall be treated as so.
Use of photos/Graphics/Audio/Videos/: All the content from bloggers, contributors and other reports must be verified with other sources to ensure they portray the right picture. Permission of the author is needed in order to use all the above. Just because the photos are social media site doesn’t necessarily mean authors want them republished. Ch16 will crosscheck with original authors and atribute their work. Bloggers must pay attention to both privacy and copyright issues.
Children: Names of children below the age of 16 will not be revealed. Bloggers should take measures to ensure names are only used if parent’s permission has been sough. Editor has the role to determine whether children’s identity can be disclosed or not depending on the report and circumstance.
Social Media: Any blogger’s views on other websites and micro-blogs are a responsibility of that Blogger and will not represent Channel16.
Full disclosure of interests: Disclosure of your conflict of interest is important to both Ch16 and the readers. Bloggers will ensure that all times state where they have conflict of interest.
Errors: Be correct on facts and copyright. Where mistakes have been done alert CH16 as soon as possible to rectify it.
Content: Ch16 will own content produced and paid for by Ch16. A Blogger can re-post the content on their site after Channel16 has published. However they have to acknowledge Ch16.
Re-publishing Ch16 content by other sites will be allowed only after contacting the editor.
The content in this document will be updated when necessary. All content is copyright of Ch16. Last updated February 2012.
Contact Ch16 Editor:
Rosebell Kagumire
reports@ch16.org@gmail.com or
rosebell.Kagumire@gmail.com