By Agnes Chen | Senior Private Sector Development Associate
Thank you for your generous support to our Information Saves Lives: COVID-19 Response Fund. Around the world, pervasive health misinformation exacerbates other public health challenges, from inequitable vaccination access, inadequate health systems, to a lack of political will on the part of governments.
Over the halfway mark for 2021, Internews is dedicated as ever to support journalists and media partners on the frontlines in providing essential information on the status of the pandemic and health services to communities. We have recently established the Health Journalism Network (HJN), a dynamic global community of media practitioners reporting on health, including emerging pathogen threats. As of July 2021, the network has over 850 registered members from 65 countries. Our aim is to connect people and build a dynamic community of media practitioners reporting on health, including COVID-19.
We have also recently launched Let’s Talk Vaccines, an interactive e-learning course for journalists focused on the COVID-19 vaccines. In addition to covering vaccine science, access to the vaccine, and the logistics of vaccine rollout, the course also addresses how journalists can build vaccine confidence through their reporting. As a follow up to that course, we have also launched Vaccine Stories Production Grants, where we will support selected journalists who have completed the free online course to pitch, produce, and disseminate a vaccine story in their local and regional media.
It’s been an incredible journey accompanying courageous journalists and media groups to counter the onslaught of health misinformation. In the words of Professor Salim Abdool Karim, Columbia Mailman School of Public Health epidemiologist and director of the Centre for the AIDS Programme of Research in South Africa (CAPRISA) at our recent course launch, “It is a calling to be fact-providers, to explain the uncertainty amidst the facts and to help society come to terms with its harsh reality of those who spin and camouflage the truth.”
Your generous support is enabling us in this important work. Thank you again for your ongoing partnership!
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