Please get in touch if you have suggestions or updates to this guide. Last updated: 10/30/25
Guides & training programs:
- RJI’s guide to reporting in environmental disasters
- Data Journalism guide for disaster coverage: verification tips and more
- CPJ’s Journalist Security Guide: Natural Disasters
- CPJ’s Post-incident emergency resources: includes legal, family, trauma and more
- Poynter on ethical disaster reporting
- Lessons from a new emergency reporter: reporting a disaster where you live – Katie Myers
- Report from World News Media conference on preparing newsrooms for disasters, August, 2023
- Public Media Alliance: Climate change & disasters reporting tools
- ARENA: newsroom guide to ham radio use during disasters – Maria Arce
- US Journalist Assistance Network
- IJN: Ten questions to ask when reporting natural disasters
- Reuters guide to reporting on high risk situations
- IWMF Guide to Newsroom Safety
- IREX: How journalists can protect themselves before, during, and after natural disasters
- IREX: SAFE Basic Training Manual
- UNESCO: Safety Guide for Journalists
- Re-examining principles of disaster reporting: A TRAINING COURSE FOR SENIOR JOURNALISTS, PIOs and PROs
- News Manual: Reporting death & disaster
- Journalism Source of Safety online toolkit
- Pop-up Community Newsroom Toolkit – Stacey Feldman
- Grist’s “Disaster 101” guide and templates for disaster information
Community info needs guides:
- Listening Post Collective Playbook with info needs assessment
- CJR: Taking a community-centered approach
- Advancing community centered journalism: a practical guide
- American Press Institute’s community listening workbook
Climate:
- Covering Climate Now: Climate Solutions Reporting Guide
- The Solutions Project: Covering Climate Equitably
- SciLine’s Climate Quick Facts resource guide
Mental health and trauma-informed reporting:
- The Dart Center’s Trauma-Aware Journalism toolkit, style guide for trauma-informed reporting and disaster resources
- Center for Collaborative Journalism: A guide to practicing care in journalism
- The Self Investigation has resources focused on mental health for media workers
- JournalismFund Europe webinar: Webinar: Avoiding Burnout and Ecoanxiety
Journalism as mutual aid and hierarchy of needs from City Bureau & others:
- What journalism can learn from mutual aid
- Maslow’s pyramid, fake news, and the future of journalism
- Is your journalism a luxury or a necessity?
Some useful national data & resources:
- Journalist’s Toolbox has data and resources for specific emergencies — i.e. wildfires, public safety, weather, as well as tools like mapping
- Basic go bag checklist, office “stay bag,” and emergency plan guide (not media specific!) from Ready.gov
- The Center for Disease Control also published how to plan evacuations, emergency kits, resources on fire preparedness and much more.
- Small Business Administration small business preparedness
- Natural Hazards Center
- Windy.com offers good wind prediction
- Environmental Protection Agency’s site
- Ready.gov site from FEMA
- Recovery multimedia toolkit from FEMA
- USGS Water Watch site for flooding and river gauges
- NWS/NOAA storm prediction center
- National Weather Service Air Quality website
- U.S. Forest Service wildfire incident map, Inciweb
- WiFire from UC San Diego has excellent fire heat maps, active perimeters, smoke analysis, historic fire data, and even wind and other weather.
- Environmental Protection Agency Fire and Smoke air quality map
- NOAA tsunami information and warning webpage
- U.S. Drought Monitor
- USGS earthquake preparedness guide, largely based on information developed in the SF Bay Area
- Flightradar24 flight information
- Emergency scanner applications: Broadcastify, Radio 5-0
- Firemappers – wildfire mapping information
- Watch Duty – wildfire maps and alerts
- Google crisis response data and maps
- Disaster experts: A journalist’s guide from Columbia Climate School
- Sciline’s resource for journalists to connect with experts
- Center for Public Integrity’s disaster data by country
National community-centered non-profit groups working on disasters:
- Emergency Legal Responders
- Mutual Aid Disaster Relief – A People’s Framework for Disaster Response
- Partnership for Inclusive Disaster Strategies
- Disaster Researchers for Justice
- Extreme Weather Survivors
- Mask Bloc directory
Research:
- Media perception and trust among disaster survivors: Tsunami survivors’ interaction with journalists, media exposure, and associations with trust in media and authorities
- Trauma Exposure in Journalists: A systematic literature review
- Journalists and PTSD
- UNESCO report: Safety of journalists covering trauma and distress ‘Do no harm’
- Preparing for the worst: Lessons for news media after Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico
- Journalism Beyond the Command Post: Local Journalists as Strategic Citizen Stakeholders in Natural Disaster Recovery
- Fear, trauma, and local journalists
- Aspen Institute: First reporters in the disaster zone: lessons from Katrina
- How Journalists Become First Responders during a Natural Disaster
- Disaster journalism: fostering citizen and community disaster mitigation, preparedness, response, recovery, and resilience across the disaster cycle
- Best practice approaches for reporting disasters
Case studies and reporting on specific disasters:
- Reporting during Hurricane Helene:
- Knight Media Forum 2025 session: “When local news is a lifeline“
- Case study: How statewide collaborations can help
- How product thinking helped us support communities – Shannan Bowen
- UNC’s research on local coverage: “In the eye of the storm“
- Journalists after the LA wildfires:
- NBC Academy article
- Society for Environmental Journalists workshop
- LA Press Club’s guide to covering disasters in California
- Dart Center case study: Radio in Chile
- Case Study: Nethope: information as Aid: creating a Facebook group
- Southerly Magazine’s Disaster Guidance Compilation
- The New Tropic: What we learned from Irma,
- Honolulu Civil Beat: Our fire coverage is just beginning
- CJR: Prepping journalists for California’s next wildfire
- OPB: Wildfire coverage looks different in Oregon vs. California
- NPPA: Photojournalists and California Wildfires
- Poynter: Local journalists cover Hurricane Helene
- Journalists want to know: can we use your disaster photo, please?
- Food, shelter, blankets – and information: Why good journalism is crucial in times of crisis
- Internews’ reports:
Opinion:
- Commentary: A ‘Second Disaster’ Caused by Good Will– Daily Yonder
- Reuters: Climate journalists are struggling, newsrooms should develop a plan to help
- IJN: Why newsrooms should develop a mental health strategy for climate journalis
- Nieman Lab: Making disaster journalism that cuts through the noise
- Nieman Reports: As Journalists, We Need to Change the Way We Cover Disasters
Journalism and media outlets focused on disasters:
- Center for Public Integrity “Hidden Epidemics” series
- Muckrock Wildfire project
- ‘Communities shouldn’t have to rely on miracles’: A conversation with Samantha Montano
- Samantha Montano’s Disasterology newsletter
- Colleen Hagerty “My World’s on Fire” newsletter
- The Eyewall – covering Atlantic tropics weather
- Zeke Lunder’s The Lookout website and Youtube covering wildfires in California
- Life with Fire – podcast covering wildfire with Amanda Monthei
- Daniel Swain’s Weather West blog and Youtube videos