Once again MediaWise is pleased to be able to offer some student/recent graduate journalists across Europe an opportunity to become part of a mentored team covering the World Health Assembly in Geneva – 18-23 May 2014. (See bellow)
Please can you pass this on to students whom you think might be eligible. Competition will again be fierce for the 4 places.
They will be working with World Health Communication Associates who have unparalleled access to the event, and mentored by y Ms. Chitra Subramaniam Duella, a leading Indian journalist (see www.thenewsminute.com) and Dr. Franklin Apfel, MD, former WHO Communications Officer and Director of WHCA (see www.whcaonline.org)
To be considered applicants must send CV and a ONE PAGE LETTER describing their interest in taking part and reporting on health issues. To save time their application MUST BE SENT DIRECT TO Sabrin[email protected] BY 30 APRIL.
Successful candidates will get airfare, accommodation, meals and local travel expenses, and must be free to travel from 16 May.
Global Journalism and Health Mentoring Initiative
Geneva, Switzerland
The Challenge
Finding effective ways to
- Enter the stadium – overcoming obstacles to accessing health information
- Democratise knowledge – making health information understandable
- Bring it home – enhancing the utility of health information for all.
Why Journalism and Health
Journalism and public health are public goods. Journalists are key contributors to people’s health literacy (the ability to access, assess and use information for health). Poor health literacy is associated with poor health choices, increased illnesses, higher health costs and death. Health literacy is one of the strongest predictors of health along with age, gender, ethnicity, income and empowerment. Paradoxically, journalism training does not often focus on public health and the study of public health gives low priority to the role of journalists as public health educators and informers.
A new mentoring approach
Who’s there? Yes (WTY) is a new independent initiative which aims to address this paradox by raising the health literacy of journalists and an awareness of their roles and responsibilities to raise health literacy of others. The initiative explores the role of communications as a determinant of public health along-with epidemiology, law and economics. Using an active learning mentoring approach, the initiative brings “cub” and experienced reporters reporters to key global health events and builds its curriculum around the topics and experts present (see box 1) . Reporters then file stories on twitter, blogs and mainstream media. The initiative provides on-going networking support. In this way the initiative aims to catalyse interest in global health reporting and strengthen global health communication. The initiative has already benefited from the active involvement of governments, civil society, the private sector and academia.
Proof of concept workshop WHA 5/2013; Media’s pH value New Delhi 9/2013
A proof of concept workshop was conducted in May 2013. This workshop brought 15 international journalists, scientists and advocates from around the world to the 66th session of the World Health Assembly (WHA) for a hands-on understanding of global health policies. Through a series of meetings with key policy makers, advocates and analysts, participants reflected, identified and reported on effective ways to gain information from and about the work and plans of WHA participants (National Public Health Authorities including Ministers of Health from 198 countries of the WHO).
Teaming up with Newslaundry ( see – http://www.newslaundry.com) WTY launched Media’s PH value focused on tobacco Control
http://www.bmj.com/content/347/bmj.f6275?ijkey=k5j0Cx0UUzj3gyg&keytype=ref
http://www.comminit.com/global/content/medias-ph-public-health-value
Why Geneva
Geneva is home to the WHO, the only global multilateral policy setter. It is home to the World Trade Organisation (WTO), the quasi-judicial global free trade voice on issues such as access and patents. The city hosts several multi-lateral health-related organization like the GAVI, UNAIDS, The Global Fund and hundreds of civil society groups. Switzerland is home to some of the best technology and pharmaceutical companies in the world and cutting edge research centres.
Decisions taken in Switzerland have far reaching effects on policy direction and funding priorities for countries that are home to the world’s largest burden of diseases. Who’s there? Yes, aims to bring heath home where we are all policy makers.
This initiative is led by Ms. Chitra Subramaniam Duella, among India’s best known journalists, political commentator and analyst (Stanford and Delhi Universities), Founder CSD consulting, Switzerland and India’s first news aggregator see www.thenewsminute.comDr. Franklin Apfel, MD, an health communicator (Swathmore, Columbia and UC Davis) and Managing Director of World Health Communications Associates (United Kingdom) see www.whcaonline.org. They are united by a mutual interest in understanding journalism and public health as public goods.
For more information contact [email protected]
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