CNN25: Tsunami & “Call To Action”

Today’s first World Report Conference panel discussed the tsunami. The second panel is titled “A Call To Action.”

> 11:19am: A delegate weighs in: “What strikes me about the tsunami is that it created a natural focal point for the world’s attention.” But the other issues mentioned during the panel — global warming, environmental concerns, poverty — “they seem to lack a focal point.” So: “How does this group create a human focal point, a message focal point, to bring one or more of these major issues the same kind of attention that the tsunami was able to [bring]?”

> 11:17am: “Why don’t we get international news in the United States?,” Bellamy asked. Heads were nodding in agreement…

> 11:11am: A delegate asked for more coverage of global warming. CNNI chief Rena Golden was asked to respond: “CNN has some programming, including the Miles O’Brien documentary recently…We have a program called Global Challenges, which is all about sustainable development. It airs weekly on CNNI. Can we be doing more? Should we be doing more? Yes, these are huge issues. But CNN has drawn attention to some of them, and we will continue to. Especially AIDS and poverty…”

> 11:07am: I think some of the attendees are star-struck by Martin! He said CNN did a good job covering the tsunami…

> 11:07am: UNICEF executive director Carol Bellamy, National Geographic Society explorer-in-residence Sylvia Earle and singer Ricky Martin are on the “Call to Action” panel.

> Bindra has a new book, “Tsunami,” that all the conference attendees received…

> The panel concluded that the reconstruction is harder to cover than the initial disaster.

> 10:10am: Lee: “Covering this tragedy, we’ve realized how important it is for us to be there, to have the footage [to show the scene].”

> 10:08am: Bindra: “People would come up to us and say thank you, because they knew we were getting a message out.”

> 9:58am: On the journalists panel, CNN correspondents Satinder Bindra and Sanjay Gupta are joined by ETTV Taiwan executive director Yuling Chang and MBC South Korea’s Jinsook Lee.

> The president of Indonesia, live via satellite from Tokyo, thanked the media for covering the tragedy and “enabling everyone all over the world to see and share our pain.”