Local journalists are attending a two day virtual workshop on the basics of professional health reporting and safety while covering pandemics, notably COVID-19. This has been made possible through UNESCO and the Africa Centre for People Institution and Society (ACEPIS).
This workshop is targeting a maximum of 200 journalists in the eastern Africa region, especially those working in public, private, and community media. Local media houses have been invited to nominate participants. The local Health Promotion, Media and Communication Unit in the Ministry of Health also has a participant attending, as they work with journalists on a daily basis.
The SMC is also a participant in the training as the knowledge will help create a better understanding of health reporting and the set standards that exist, in line with ethics, human rights and dignity. The training will also build the capacity of the SMC secretariat when monitoring health reports which are covered daily.
The first session of the workshop has specifically dealt with the mental health of journalists, when they are covering health related stories and when facing trauma on the field. It is known that journalists have suffered from stress, insomnia and anxiety working during the pandemic. The first session dealt with coping mechanisms and techniques that can be applied as part of a self care plan by journalists when managing their mental well being. The presentation has also dealt with practices that can be adopted by media houses to help staff deal with mental issues linked to reporting.
The workshop will also build on the capacity of journalists on how to avoid catching infections, safe communication techniques with the public, ethical journalism in Covid-19 reporting, how to fact check, how to communicate during public health emergencies and freedom of expression during the pandemic, among other interesting topics.