As the COVID19 Pandemic continue spreading across the world and affecting people’s life as well as our economy, education and traveling. We should bear in our minds that this pandemic is a new disease and health experts don’t have insightful & deep information about it, so it is causing confusion in the world at the moment to the extent where organisation like WHO is saying that it may become embedded in the society like HIV which is endemic.
Historically, the CORONAVIRUS started from China in December last year 2019 & has so far killed thousands and thousands of people and infected millions of people across the world. Somalia as a country confirmed its first case on the 16 of March 2020 according Somalia Health Ministry report.
Now as a Journalist under Media Women Network, I know that media is an important source for reporting the issues surrounding COVID19 for people in the society to obtain enough and authentic information. However, journalists in Somalia at the moment are facing serious challenges like limited or shallow knowledge about information gathering about COVID19 lack of sound understanding on the best way of reporting information about COVID19 in the society.
Hence as Media Women Network we thought wisely that journalists in Somalia at the moment need to acquire imperative information regarding skills and knowledge on better news reporting about COVID19 in a country like Somalia and on how to produce good stories about COVID19.
For these, Media Women Network headed by Hamdi Hassan Yusuf as a Chairperson, she proposed that there must be crucial tips in place for Somali journalists to adhere to in obtaining and reporting information about COVID19 for them to report actual information and to cover exquisite stories about COVID19.
“The tips will further also help the journalists to be creative enough with sound skills and knowledge that will enable them to overcome the challenges they encounter on daily basis on gathering and reporting information about COVID19. since COVID19 is new, unique and complicated in nature and it attacked people without the world knowing and getting prepared for it and people are responding to it wrongly based on their culture, religion and nationality whereby some people up to now they don’t believe it to be real and dangerous. All these created a lot of confusions and suspicions on COVID19”. That is why Somalia is currently one of the worst affected country in Eastern Africa.
According to Somalia Health Minister, Dr. Fowzia Abikar who gives daily update on COVID19 on Television for the people to be aware of the magnitude of the spread of COVID19 in Somalia; on the 16th of May she reported that the total number of COVID19 cases in Somalia is 1357 Cases, 55 Deaths and only 148 recovered. Hence, since COVID19 is spreading so rapidly in Somalia, it is monumental in this critical time for the journalists in Somalia to acquire some essential advice or tips on covering good stories about COVID19 and best reporting strategies to help in providing the local population with the best knowledge about COVID19 and the best ways to control its spread.
Here are the best tips journalists should consider for better reporting and sharing of information about COVID19 as it is their earnest duty to report and participate in raising awareness about COVID19 Pandemic awareness, these tips encompass the following:
1. Journalists should try to understand what COVID19 is, by doing research on COVID so as to get more and more information about the Pandemic. Then it will be easier for them to report real facts about COVID19.
2.Journalists should try to review their information before releasing it to the public to avoid misinforming the public and to make the public not to view their information with contempt.
3. Journalists should be accurate in reporting by reporting actual figures without manipulation of figures that may put members of the public in panic as they know that increasing numbersof deaths and affected people for personal reasons is unprofessional.
4. Journalists should make sure that the structure of their stories about COVID19 should be understandable, balanced and well organised for easy understanding by the audience in the society.
5. Journalists should always provide the right sources of suspected cases they do report for easy tracing by the concern authorities in Somalia.
6. Furthermore, journalists should have a good and close relationship with health experts, for them to acquire more and accurate information about COVID19.
7. Journalists should produce story or report beyond the update from Health Minister, like addressing the challenges facing peoole in fighting COVID19, the impact of COVID19 on the population and economy as well bringing information about the suspected cases which are unreported in the society.
8. They should make sure that all their stories about COVID19 should include crucial awareness massages about COVID19 like preventive measures and the dangers of COVID19.
9. Journalists should try in all earnest execute daily dissimination of information about COVID19 to help health workers and other officials on the battle front fighting COVID19 to defeat COVID19 within an offing and their information will reach all communities in Somalia.
10. They should avoid metioning direct name of a person who is affected or died of COVID19 without obtaining his or her permission or permission from concerned authority to do so, since it is unprofessional and can create discrimination in the society.
