What would persuade editors to give more space to humanitarian news?
Ruth Gidley, Reuters AlertNet journalist

Why do some international stories make more waves than others? Could anything change that?

The team on humanitarian news website Reuters AlertNet (www.alertnet.org) has been thinking about these questions for years. And after a lot of research, AlertNet for Journalists (www.alertnet.org/journalists) has finally been launched – a range of free online resources for activists, media, students and researchers working on humanitarian emergencies around the world.

These include crisis briefings, maps and statistics, a newswire of aid agency press releases as well as contact details for relief groups in the region.

AlertNet is based in London, England, and is funded by the Reuters Foundation, a non-profit foundation of Reuters news agency.

Journalist Ruth Gidley joined AlertNet eight years ago, after working in Guatemala for three years with local independent news agency Inforpress Centroamericana and a brief stint with a local development project. SheÌ¢‰â‰ã¢s in North America to talk to journalists, academics, students and activists about this new toolkit designed to improve and increase humanitarian coverage.