By Saio Marrah
Media Lecturer, Isaac Massaquoi (Ph.D.) has urged broadcast journalists to devote ten (10) hours every week to programmes supporting community development.
Dr. Massaquoi was reminding journalists of a provision in the Independent Media Commission (IMC) code of ethics that compels radio and television operators to undertake such a commitment.
He was speaking at a three-day Media Workshop for Journalists on how to Report Zoonotic Diseases in Sierra Leone, organized by Politico Newspaper in Freetown from 28th to 30th August 2023.
The media trainer from the School of Information and Communication, University of Sierra Leone was lecturing over 30 practicing journalists on the topic “Health Reporting Techniques and tips: Interviews, sensitivity, Fact-checking.”
He said community service is essential as studies have proven that radio stations in particular command a lot of respect, with a wide range of audience.
He encouraged media practitioners to focus on thematic reporting, focusing on continuous sensitization when doing health reporting, instead of waiting for a pandemic to emerge.
Dr. Massaquoi also motivated the group of journalists to make reading a culture so that they can be better informed while pointing out that there is a lot of research prepared by medical practitioners, which would serve as an eye-opener.
According to him, even though it is good to report on happenings, journalists should also focus on revelation as well.
After calling on them to be more clinical in reporting news to capture the attention of their audience, the media expert also pointed out the sensitivity aspect of reporting events of a cultural nature.
He urged health reporters to endeavor to ask questions on technical issues so they will be able to break them down for easy consumption by the audience.
He also admonished them to take their work with the utmost seriousness it deserves.
One of the trainers who is the Editor of Mano Reporters ; an Online news platform , Kemo Cham called on media practitioners to move out of their comfort zone to get the stories to give voice to the needy, and use their profession to challenge public officials on issues.
A participant in the training, Ronald J. Morovia from African Young Voices later informed Politico that it was a learning opportunity and an eye-opener for him.
As a health reporter, he said there are certain diseases that the animals carry that humans may not know about.
Being educated about the preventive measures for those diseases, he said was very important.
“So this is an eye opener and I believe it has capacitated me to continue reporting on such issues, raising awareness, because our role as journalists is to educate and inform people,” Morovia noted.
Commenting on how he intends to report on the knowledge he had gained, Monrovia said he hosts a show, "Health Digest” that comes up every Monday which he said would serve as a good platform to use and educate the public about the zoonotic deceases and the one health policy.
Another Journalist and participant working with Star Radio, Hassanatu Kamara told Politico that he had learned a lot from experts and had for the first time realized the interrelation between the environment, humans, and animals.
Ms. Kamara also stated that the visit to the Tacugama Chimpanzee Sanctuary revealed the challenges of the encroachment of the sanctuary.
According to her, the three-day training has helped her to grow interest in writing stories that have to do with human health and the environment.
Copyright © 2023 Politico (01/09/23)
