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Journalist colleagues, I'd like to have a word, because - and I will give you the benefit of the doubt here - many of you have not reported about health before.
There are two dangerous forms of Covid-19 info doing the rounds: blatantly false info and groundless speculation. https://twitter.com/CollinsMandy/status/1249661525490622464
There are two dangerous forms of Covid-19 info doing the rounds: blatantly false info and groundless speculation. https://twitter.com/CollinsMandy/status/1249661525490622464
Both of these can be avoided by interviewing proper experts - and that doesn't mean anyone with a medical or health sciences degree.
You wouldn't take your broken leg to an ophthalmologist. You wouldn't ask your biokineticist to treat your cervical cancer.
You wouldn't take your broken leg to an ophthalmologist. You wouldn't ask your biokineticist to treat your cervical cancer.
Medicine/evidence-based health is a vast subject. The human body and the field of human disease are both very complex and there are many specialties, so you can't just take any doctor and get their opinion. You run the risk of spreading bad, inaccurate information.
That just adds to the panic and has a knock on effect as it gets passed on in the grisliest game of broken down telephone.
If you're interviewing half-assed experts and speculating on data with only your own "knowledge" and opinion, you may well be complicit...
If you're interviewing half-assed experts and speculating on data with only your own "knowledge" and opinion, you may well be complicit...
... somewhere down the line, in someone's death.
So get the right experts. For a pandemic/epidemic, that means epidemiologists, infectious disease experts, virologists. Maybe an actuary with solid experience in modelling this kind of data.
So get the right experts. For a pandemic/epidemic, that means epidemiologists, infectious disease experts, virologists. Maybe an actuary with solid experience in modelling this kind of data.
But please, don't just get any old kiepie with a medical degree. Do your job. Balanced, fair - and calm, non-sensationalist reporting - is crucial right now. This is the time to use your skills in service of South Africans - for all of our sakes.
Ending lockdown safely is a collective effort - and spreading the right information is your part to play.
Here endeth the rant.
Here endeth the rant.
