Journalism, public health, and COVID-19: Some preliminary insights from the Philippines

In this essay, we engage with the call for Extraordinary Issue: Coronavirus, Crisis and Communication. Situated in the Philippines, we reflect on how COVID-19 has made visible the often-overlooked relationship between journalism and public health. In covering the pandemic, journalists struggle with...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Bernadas, Jan Michael Alexandre C., Ilagan, Karol
Format: text
Published: Animo Repository 2020
Subjects:
Online Access:https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/faculty_research/649
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Institution: De La Salle University
Description
Summary:In this essay, we engage with the call for Extraordinary Issue: Coronavirus, Crisis and Communication. Situated in the Philippines, we reflect on how COVID-19 has made visible the often-overlooked relationship between journalism and public health. In covering the pandemic, journalists struggle with the shrinking space for press freedom and limited access to information as they also grapple with threats to their physical and mental well-being. Digital media enable journalists to report even in quarantine, but new challenges such as the wide circulation of health mis-/disinformation and private information emerge. Moreover, journalists have to contend with broader structural contexts of shutdown not just of a mainstream broadcast but also of community newspapers serving as critical sources of pandemic-related information. Overall, we hope this essay broadens the dialogue among journalists, policymakers, and healthcare professionals to improve the delivery of public health services and advance health reporting. © The Author(s) 2020.