It hardly seems that long ago when Angela Dawson, who was then representing the Gates Malaria Partnership, based at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, and I, then with the Commonwealth Broadcasting Association, got together to develop this initiative, based on improving health journalism for the media in the developing Commonwealth - initially, in Africa, and focussing on HIV/AIDS, TB, and Malaria.
We started by creating a 100 page Participant’s Manual based around 7 Activities. This, coupled with the Resource Manual, and other out-of-class elements of the course programme, made this into a practical, interesting, and diverse, leaning experience.
Then, after meeting with Commonwealth Press Union (CPU) Director, Lindsay Ross, and, CPU Training Manager, Jane Rangeley, we got the press onboard.
After a short time. we found ourselves in the tiny town of Tanga, in northern Tanzania, for the first, of our many in-country workshops on Health and Media.
We wanted this could become more than just a 5-day in-country course. We had the idea that this could be an opportunity to develop a network of journalists around the Commonwealth who are concerned about developing the quality of health reporting. Thus, alongside the in-courses, we created a listserv and website dedicated to the continual support of our course participants.
As the courses continued, we refined our approach, developed the website and, increased our listserv recipients. After Tanzania, we went to Swaziland, Lesotho, Namibia, Malawi, Botswana, the Gambia, Kenya, Cameroon, Mozambique, then Bangladesh, Vanuatu, and the Solomon Islands.
Throughout this time, I left the Commonwealth Broadcasting Association, moved to South Africa, and begin working full-time on the Health and Media initiative. Angela Dawson went to Sydney and became a lecturer at the University of Sydney and the “other half” of the Health and Media Initiative, now called, the "Commonwealth Health and Media Partnership".
With the continued support of the Commonwealth Press Union, and the Commonwealth Broadcasting Association, and many other like-minded organisations, more courses, resources, and initiatives are beginning to take shape.
Right now though we can boast a network of listserv members from 34 countries around the world - most of whom are working radio, TV, and print journalists from Commonwealth Countries around Africa. More than half have been on the in-country course, while the others joined the network after reading about it on the Health and Media website.
So, where do we go from here? The most likely answer is to create more health and media networks, in more regions, and in more countries around the Commonwealth and around the world. Perhaps we can also develop and accredited online course, and a mentoring programme. There may also be plans underway for another Health and Media conference.
If you have any suggestions or comments, feel free to send me an email.
Colin Lloyd, co-Director, Commonwealth Health and Media Partnership |
