Smartphones reshaping storytelling, MSF connection with local communities
Through the power of smartphones, Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) is reshaping how we gather and share stories of people facing crises. In November, a group of MSF communications specialists completed the second mobile communication training in Nairobi, following a session in Geneva earlier this year. Over 25 communications specialists were trained to use mobile devices to share stories from medical projects, bringing local communities’ accounts to life in more authentic, ethical and accessible ways.
In regions like Yemen and South Sudan, where traditional media access is limited, MSF is bridging this gap by using mobile tools to connect with our audiences, while ensuring consent is obtained and an ethical approach is maintained in the sharing of sensitive information.
“The future is mobile,” says BBC digital video journalist Gloria Achieng during a panel discussion at the training, highlighting the growing importance of authentic, real-time storytelling with just a phone.
Mobile communication is helping MSF capture raw, immediate stories that reflect the realities of the communities we work with.
Photographer: Alice Gamelin-Lazure
“Mobile tools allow us to tell stories directly from our projects and support MSF’s operations while staying true to our ‘Telling it as it is’ approach,” says one MSF communications staff. “It also is a new approach in our way of interacting with local communities. Social media is enabling us to create an ecosystem where local communities are at the same time the source of our storytelling and part of our audiences.”
“We all have a Ferrari in our pocket, and most people are driving it in first gear.”
Yusuf Omar, journalist
This transition towards mobile-based communication isn’t entirely new. MSF’s digital curators program has long been a key organic initiative in helping our operations engage more directly with our various audiences across the globe. But this new pilot training on mobile communication is taking things a step further, building a robust community of communication staff skilled in digital storytelling, encompassing techniques in photography, digital monitoring and video production tailored for their local and regional social media accounts.
“We all have a Ferrari in our pocket, and most people are driving it in first gear,” says Yusuf Omar, award winning mobile journalist. “Even in the most remote communities, you find people with smartphones.”
The expansion of mobile communications marks a shift in MSF’s approach, enabling teams in countries including Iraq and Honduras to share content showing how crises affect individual people with lives, families, communities. At the same time, this content fosters greater transparency and community engagement.
MSF’s ongoing use of mobile communications is set to strengthen our commitment to accessible, ethical and impactful storytelling.
