The COVID-19 elephant has been squatting in our media room for more than a year but those of us who cover health and medicine know that there has been a lot more going on in this area, much of it augmented by the pandemic. In fact, matters of public and personal health have never been more prominent for the audiences we serve.
If that makes it sound like a good time to take stock of what we do and how we do it, please join us at the WFSJ Health Committee. We want to create a global forum for some of the most interesting and relevant aspects of this field, as well as launching projects based on these discussions. Among the questions we would like to consider:
- How can we tap into new types of support to make health care journalism more sustainable? (Including hard-nosed conversations about money!)
- How can we raise the profile of crucial health inequities? These include:
- Closing the health care gap between Global North and Global South
- Identifying the value of planned — as opposed to “just in time” — health management strategies
- Shining a light on topics that are not being covered and why
- Shining a light on where health care investments are made (more hard-nose conversations about money)
- Developing the skill set we need for better coverage
- How can we apply investigative journalism initiatives to matters of health?
- And, because we simply cannot ignore the elephant: what have we learned (and more importantly, notlearned) about preparing for the next major public health crisis?
All this and more awaits you if you would like to make your voice heard. The committee is chaired by WFSJ Vice-President Mandi Smallhorne. To register your interest or ask any questions, please contact her at mandiwrite@icon.co.za.