Confessions of an NGO media-minder

The relationship between media-operator and media-minder in disaster relief can be tense.

Sarah Wilson (above) has been a media officer for Christian Aid for six years, specialising in the Caribbean and Latin/Central America. Her official job title for the NGO is 'journalist'. 

I was in Haiti to report on the six-month anniversary of the earthquake, focusing on what the aid agencies are doing in this second phase of recovery - I travelled with Sarah and relied a good deal on her knowledge and contacts. 

I took the chance to ask her about the central, but often troubled, relationship between people like her and people like me in covering disasters and their aftermath.

There's a fine line for a journalist between taking advantage of insight and support, and losing impartiality and independence. But where exactly is it? 

Sarah sees the issue more diplomatically than that, with her role being as an honest broker between her aid partners and the journalists. 

She is a former press and broadcast journalist herself, with, among other outlets, the Scotsman and Channel 4 News. 

We sat down at the end of my brief trip, in the comfort of Le Plaza Hotel in downtown Port Au Prince, for a spot of counselling.