BA (JMC) 108: Health Journalism

Unit 2 (Introduction to Health Journalism)

By Dr. Saima Pervez

Roles & Responsibilities of a Health Journalist

Who is a Public Health Journalist?

A health journalist is just like any other journalist, but one who focuses on and specialises in
health reporting. Their areas of interest and concern of reporting news are public health,
common health challenges, medical research, health policies, government schemes, public
healthcare system, health infrastructure as well as socio-political, economic and cultural
factors that are determinants of health. A health journalist may write for print media, digital
media or can even report for electronic media like radio and television.

What are the duties of a Health Journalist?

The work of a health journalist involves a number of things, and travel is a very common
activity amongst them. The average day could involve visiting different locations or experts
and conducting research and interviews, but could just as easily be made up of hours spent on
the phone or internet conducting that same research. Office work is another huge part of the
job, and you‘ll spend a considerable amount of time writing reports and articles from behind
the desk.

Some journalists are employed full-time by a specific employer, while others do freelance
work and submit their information to various publications throughout the year. Some of the
duties that a health journalist or reporter is expected to perform are:

 Gathering data and information related to health issues and reviewing them to gain
a complete understanding of the subject matter.
 Conducting interviews with doctors, patients, and experts on the subject being
worked on.
 Crafting a report or writing an article about the subject using all data and
information, while still presenting the information in an informative manner.
 Travelling to different locations to research, investigate, and gain information on
health issues.
  Reporting to superiors and discussing ideas for new topics or reviewing current
work to ensure its accuracy and readability.
 Attending conferences, conventions, and other gatherings of professionals in the
field.

Characteristics/Qualities of a Health Journalist

A health journalist should have the following key qualities or characteristics:

 Good Communication – Strong written and verbal communication is probably the

most important trait a health journalist needs to have since the entire job revolves
around it. The key purpose of health journalism is to communicate with the general
people and bridge the gap between the ‗public‘ and ‗public health‘.

 Good Teamwork – Apart from individual projects, health journalists often work as
part of a larger team. With that in mind, having a team spirit and coordination skills is
important.

 Self-Motivated – A health journalist also needs to be able to stay disciplined and

motivated since they usually have to work around deadlines.

Responsibilities of a Health Journalist

It is said that the media may be the most important source of health information for the
general public. When a public health situation is involved, health writers and the media can
certainly play a role in quickly delivering important messages to the public. In a sense, then,
they do serve as a component of the health provider community. And this makes it all the
more important for health writers to ensure that they get it absolutely right. Given that most
people do not interact with their doctors on a regular basis, the media is possibly the most
significant source of health information for the general public. But health information in the
media cannot substitute for personal medical advice. It is important that the public
understands this.

According to Association of Health Care Journalists, ―Journalists have a special

responsibility in covering health and medical news.‖
In our current era of entanglement, journalists must investigate and report the possible
conflicts of interest among sources of health information and those who promote a new idea
or therapy.

They must investigate and report the possible links between researchers and private
companies, researchers and public institutions, patient advocacy groups and their sponsors,
celebrity spokespersons and their sponsors, and non-profit health and professional
organizations and their sponsors. To fail to do so may mean that journalists become unwitting
mouthpieces for incomplete, biased, and imbalanced news and information.

Journalists face unique challenges in covering health news. Some specialized skills,
knowledge, and judgment are helpful. For example, some information based on poorly
designed or poorly powered studies should not be reported unless the flaws are emphasized.
Health reporting does involve ―telling a story,‖ but it also requires writers to take on
additional responsibilities through the story cycle—finding the story, collecting information,
and writing it. Standard news criteria such as timeliness and impact may be used to pick
stories. But in health reporting, context is crucial.

Editors, reporters, and writers need to scrutinize the terminology used in health news. Vague,
sensational terms may harm news consumers by misleading and misinforming. It is not the
role of journalists to become advocates for causes. However, journalists have a responsibility
to investigate and report on citizens' needs as they struggle to understand and navigate the
health-care system. People need help in understanding the ways in which scientists and
policymakers reach conclusions. In that sense, there is an inherent educational role that
journalists must assume.

Journalists must weigh the balance between the amount of attention given news about
medicine and the attention given news about health and the social determinants of health.
There may be too much news about the delivery of medical services and not enough news
about the cost of, quality of, and evidence for those services. The current imbalance may
contribute to the nation's health-care cost crisis, driving up demand for expensive, unproven
ideas. These are responsibilities journalists may not encounter in covering other topics.

Health reporters need to find out who has funded the research and who might be likely to
gain. And reporters must always double-check claims or else they may end up in
embarrassing situations.
Schwitzer, Gary, et al. "What are the roles and responsibilities of the media in disseminating
health information?" PLoS medicine 2.7 (2005).

Lăzăroiu, George. "Health reporting in the mainstream media." American Journal of Medical
Research 2.2 (2015): 124-129.

Total Word count: 1022

Release Date: 16.04.2020