Zawaya

Coverage of health crises is different from coverage of regular events

By: Mahmoud Belhimer

The ultimate goal of media coverage is to find the truth and convey it to the public. However, media coverage of disasters and crises requires more rigor in complying with the rules and ethics of journalism, in comparison to how we cover events in normal times. In times of disasters, we need to be careful about the effects of the media message on the recipients; this message may bring disastrous results in two cases: either the media fails in reporting real information on the magnitude of the risk, such as the swine flu epidemic, thus reducing its gravity, making people slack in taking preventive precautions, leading to the spread of the epidemic and causing a global disaster; or the media exaggerates in reporting the issue, thus creating panic among people, paralyzing their lives and causing them damage that could have been avoided. Every media report, especially in disaster times, should abide by professional rules and the ethics of journalism. These rules emphasize the responsibility of journalists in ensuring accuracy and objectivity of all the news they issue. Failure to comply with these regulations means misleading the public, and possibly the entire international community. Since journalists are the first to witness events on the field, and report their details to the public who build their positions and options based on what the media says, there are basic rules that should be adhered to while dealing with this type of health crises, mainly:
1) Quickly appointing a professional journalistic team, and equipping it with the necessary means to ensure special coverage imposed by the seriousness of the event.
2) Reporting all information and details on the epidemic from the event’s field, with a strong commitment to accuracy.
3) Having experts, specialists and concerned officials inform the public about what they know on the subject, because they are well-placed to convince people, and to strengthen the credibility of the media.
4) In times of disasters of this magnitude, sensationalism should be avoided as it may lead to spreading panic among millions of people and putting their lives at risk. The media has the responsibility of ensuring the safety of people and their lives.
5) Focusing on how to solve the problem rather than cogitaing about its symptoms. People should be guided to the preventive measures to be taken, with the help of experts.
However, the media may sometimes be a victim of circumstances beyond its control; it may either lack real information about the danger due to officials covering it up, thus making the media report inaccurate information, or it may be a victim of false or exaggerated estimates by the officials. In the case of swine fever, warnings issued by the World Health Organization and health officials in several countries gave the impression that the world is facing a new catastrophe that’s more dangerous than ever, and the media has gone after that. On the other hand, the lack of events sometimes leads the media to prolong talks about certain subjects and possibly to repetition; this is what should be avoided during acute epidemic crisis like swine flu.