Philippine Disaster News and Community Donations

What is the relationship of the media coverage of disaster and donations from the public ? Donations for natural disasters is usually greater than for the victims of war Images of desperate people , who stood in front of the ruins of his house , starved and threatened ill - every day in the German media reports of lower Haiyan typhoon victims in the Philippines . This tragic pictures encourage more people to contribute . Daniela Felser German Contribution of the Council ( Deutscher Spendenrat ) explains , the media reports on natural disasters in Southeast Asia led many to ask : how can I help ? Until last Saturday ( 09 / 11 ) group " Aktion Deutschland Hilft " , which is a combination of several aid organizations , has collected donations worth 3.5 million euros .

role of the media

According to Daniela Felser , the last few years many major natural disasters that occur worldwide . But the public 's willingness to donate is not receding . Media has a

big role in mobilizing public donations . This was justified by Burkhard Wilke of the Institute of Social Issues Dzi . " In the case of a natural disaster , if the media reports about the number of victims , the public 's willingness to donate are usually quite large ," said Wilke . Middle of last year , the area south and east Germany had experienced a major flood . Media when it was widely reported and come to collect donations . Over half of the donations go to organizations that help comes from the call that is spread through the print and electronic media , Felser said . Many special events are held in public and private television . The results were quite surprising .

Even if the Philippines is located over 10,000 miles of Germany , the willingness of people to contribute fairly large . Burkhrad Wilke explained , in a disaster situation , the parties are the victims could be identified clearly . This contrasts with the situation of civil war , such as in Syria .

A little donation to the    

In the conflict in Syria , the media also did extensive reporting . But in this conflict , the situation is chaotic and it was unclear who are the victims . " Sometimes the government referred to as the guilty party , sometimes the rebels ," Wilke said . Although many dramatic picture of the situation in Syria , not a lot of incoming donations . Though aid organizations in Germany have repeatedly urged people to donate .

The longer the unfolding chaos in a disaster , people's willingness to donate a little more . Especially if there are a lot of reports about the difficulty of reaching the victim or a prolonged bureaucratic problems . This is for example the case with the earthquake in Pakistan or Iran . Whereas when the tsunami occurred in Aceh in 2004 , donations can be collected quickly .

According to research by

German Contribution Council , a group that accounts for the most diligent are residents aged 60 years and older . Social researcher explains Eckhard Priller , these circles usually live pretty well established , and they

also still feel the hard times after the war . So they 've got a sense of solidarity .

Among European countries , Germany ranks high in terms of humanitarian donations . If the contribution is calculated according to the number of inhabitants , the largest donation came from the Netherlands and Scandinavian countries such as Sweden and Norway . Many people contribute regularly through social organizations , so do not depend on the news about the disaster .