ACCIDENT AND

DISASTERS

Keep it Simple
Reporters covering disasters
sometimes make the mistake of
trying to get too fancy or
complicated with their writing.
After all, theyve just covered a
huge story, and they want to
make the story sound as

Find your Lede

Your story starts from your lede,
so once you`re written that the
rest of the story may come
more easily. But a disaster story
typically has lots of elements,
and too often reporters try to
cram too much information into

Get Quotes Up High

Quotes-from disaster survivors,
eyewitnesses or rescue
personnel-are often the most
compelling part of a disaster
story. Pick a few of your best
quotes and put them up high in
your story. They will grab a
readers attention and convey
the drama of the event.

Keep the Focus on

the People
Disasters are events that occur
on a large scale, but in the end
whats most important is how
they affect real people. Keep the
human element running in your
story. Focus on the victims,
eyewitnesses and emergency

Convey the
Chronology
A disaster is a series of actions
that unfold over time. They can
happen in seconds or take
several hours. But a chronological
account of what happened will
give your readers a better

Take Detailed Notes

Take detailed notes about
everything you learn, including
things that seem insignificant.
You never know when small
details might come critical to your
story,

Get Plenty of
Description
Readers will want to know what
the scene of the disaster looked
liked, sounded like, and smells in
your notes. Think of yourself as a
camera, recording every visual
detail you can.

Find the Officials

In the aftermath of a disaster
there will usually be dozen of
emergency responders on the
scene-firefighters, police, EMTs,
and so on. Find the person whos
in charge of the emergency
response. That official will have
the big picture overview of
whats happening and will be a

Get Eyewitness
Accounts
Information from emergency
authorities is great, but you need
to also get quotes from people
who saw what happened.
Eyewitness accounts are
invaluable for a disaster story.

Interview Survivors
-if possible
Its not always possible to
interview survivors of a disaster
immediately after the event.
Often theyre being treated by
EMTs or being debriefed by
investigators. But if survivors are
available, try your best to

Find the Heroes

In nearly every disaster there are
heroes who emerge people who
bravely and selflessly jeopardize
their own safety in order to help
others. Interview them.

Get the Numbers

Disaster stories are often about
numbers how many people
were killed or injured, how much
property was destroyed, how fast
the plane was traveling, etc.
Remember to gather these for
your story, but only from reliable
sources.

Remember the Five

Ws and the H
As you do your reporting,
remember whats critical to any
news story ; the who, what,
where, when, why, and how.
Keeping those elements in mind
will help to ensure that you
gather all the information you
need for your story.

EITHER
Interview a firefighter in a local fire department about
the operations of the department, making sure to cover
the following points, among others:
standard operating procedures in dealing with different
types of fires and other disasters - including
evacuations.
the types of records and documents the department
maintains regarding victims, nature/cause of fires and
other disasters, and actions taken by fire officers, etc.
liaison with police and other public safety agencies.

Interview a local traffic or highway police about the

operations of his/her unit, making sure to cover the
following points, among others:
standard operating procedures in dealing with different
types of accidents and other vehicular disasters.
the types of records and documents the police maintain
regarding victims, nature/cause of accidents and other
vehicular disasters, and actions taken by police officers,
etc.
liaison with fire and other public safety agencies.
the police department or unit's media policy at scenes
of accidents.

Interview a member of an EMS agency that deals with

natural disasters such as floods, blizzards, tornadoes,
earthquakes, etc, about the local operations of the
agency, making sure to cover the following points,
among others:
standard operating procedures in dealing with different
types of disasters.
the types of records and documents the police maintain
regarding victims, nature/cause of disasters, and
actions taken by EMS personnel, etc.
liaison with police, fire and other public safety agencies.
the EMS agency or unit's media policy at scenes of
disasters.

Survey Report

Introduction
State the purpose/aim of the
report, when and how the
information was gathered.

Main Body
All the information collected and
analyzed is presented clearly and
in detail (break down the
respondents into groups
according to sex, age and place
of residence, state the main
differences between groups).
Subheadings, numbers or letters
can be used to separate each

Conclusion
Sum up the points mentioned
above. If necessary a
recommendation can be included
as well (one way of summing up
is making some general
comments).

Useful hints and phrases:

Present Tenses, Reported Speech and an
impersonal style should be used in survey
reports. Use a variety of reporting verbs such as
claim, state, report, agree, complain, suggest,
etc.
When reporting the results of a survey, the
figures gathered should be given in the form of
percentages and proportions. Expressions such
as one in four or six out of ten can be used,
or exact percentages e.g. 25% of the people
questioned, 68% of those who filled in the
questionnaire, etc. Less exact expressions such
as: the majority of those questioned, a large

Useful language for reports:

To introduce: The purpose/aim of
this report, As requested, This
survey was carried out/
conducted by means of,the
questionnaire consisted of etc.
To generalize: In general,
generally, on the whole, etc.
To refer to a fact: The fact is
that, In fact, In practice, etc.

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