Science reporting in Accra, Ghana: Sources, barriers and motivational           factors

Appiah, Bernard; Gastel, Barbara; Burdine, James N.; Russell, Leon H.

doi:10.1177/0963662514547478

Cited by 44 publications

(29 citation statements)

References 24 publications

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“…Bakyawa et al [2013] demonstrate how a lack of funding and infrastructure impedes health communication in Uganda. Appiah et al [2015] reveal the lack of institutional support and training that impedes science journalism in Ghana. Ndlovu, Joubert and Boshoff [2016] illustrate how the lack of incentives and the censoring of politically sensitive findings limit public communication of research findings in Zimbabwe.…”

Section: Recommendations For Diversity and Developing Countriesmentioning

confidence: 97%

Science communication as a field of research: identifying trends, challenges and gaps by analysing research papers

Guenther¹,

Joubert²

2017

JCOM

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Research in the field of science communication started emerging about 50 years ago and has since then matured as a field of academic enquiry. Early findings about research-active authors and countries reveal that scholarly activity in the field has traditionally been dominated by male authors from English-speaking countries in the West. The current study is a systematic, bibliographic analysis of a full sample of research papers that were published in the three most prominent journals in the field from 1979 to 2016. The findings reveal that early inequities remain prevalent, but also that there are indications that recent increases in research outputs and trends in authorship patterns ― for example the growth in female authorship ― are beginning to correct some of these imbalances. Furthermore, the current study verifies earlier indications that science communication research is becoming increasingly institutionalised and internationalised, as demonstrated by an upward trend in papers reflecting cross-institutional collaboration and the diversity of countries where authors are based.

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Section: Recommendations For Diversity and Developing Countriesmentioning

confidence: 97%

Science communication as a field of research: identifying trends, challenges and gaps by analysing research papers

Guenther¹,

Joubert²

2017

JCOM

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“…Worldwide, this is not unique to SCD, as other diseases face similar challenges including mechanisms to sustain advocacy with active efforts to encourage patients to be involved in care and research (Balasegaram et al , ). In addition, journalists are faced with challenges in reporting technical aspects of science and health (Appiah et al , ). Scientists may also need training in communication to help them engage the public effectively.…”

Section: Advocacymentioning

confidence: 99%

Sickle cell disease in Africa: an overview of the integrated approach to health, research, education and advocacy in Tanzania, 2004–2016

Tluway

Makani

2017

Br J Haematol

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Summary Sickle cell disease (SCD) is the single most important genetic cause of childhood mortality globally. Tanzania has one of the highest annual births of SCD individuals in the world, estimated to reach 11 000 births a year. Without intervention, 50–90% of children will die in childhood. However, cost-effective interventions have the potential to reduce childhood mortality by up to 70%. The effects of SCD are multi-dimensional, ranging from causing high morbidity and mortality, and reducing the quality of life, to imposing a high socio-economic burden on individuals, families and health systems. In the past 12 years, the SCD programme in Tanzania has developed, with local and global partnerships, a systematic framework for comprehensive research that is integrated into providing healthcare, training and advocacy in SCD. This report outlines the approach and achievements of collective initiatives for management and control of SCD in Tanzania.

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“…Participants' mean age was 20–30 in both our study and the one in Ghana. [ 21 ] However, it differed from participants' mean age in European countries (30–50). [ 19 ] An explanation could be the increasing number of young university graduates in developing countries such as Iran and Ghana that has emboldened the youth to explore skilled areas of journalism such as health journalism.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…[ 19 ] However, this differed from participants in Ghana where most journalists were males (62.1%). [ 21 ] It appears that Iranian women who have traditionally been more responsible for health issues in the family and have gained a new role in the society after the Revolution have chosen to follow this career.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Similarly, journalists' work experience was between 5 and 10 years (37.4%). [ 21 ] Also, in a study on 586 science journalists working throughout the world, a significant number of journalists had a work experience of less than 10 years (65%). [ 22 ] A stark point in all these studies and in the present study as well is health journalism, with a mean of less than years for work experience, is a young profession.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Health journalism: Health reporting status and challenges

Keshvari

Yamani

Adibi

et al. 2018

Iranian J Nursing Midwifery Res

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Background:Media play crucial role in disseminating health information. Due to the importance of accurate health news reports, and the national need to professionalism in health journalism, this study aimed to investigate the characteristics of health journalists, and health reporting status and the challenges involved.Materials and Methods:Using consensus sampling, this descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted on all health news reporters in Isfahan (34 journalists) in 2015–2016. Data collection was done via a researcher-made questionnaire. Content validity of the questionnaire was determined by qualitative method and based on the opinions of six experts. The test–retest reliability coefficient was 98.0. Data analysis was done by Statistical Package for the Social Sciences, version 16 and descriptive statistics and content analysis were used for analyzing the responses to two open questions.Results:Among 34 journalists, 56% were women and 44% men; the majority of journalists (65%) had no specialized training on health reporting, 35% of journalists were not able to understand the health issues, and the knowledge of medical terminology in 59% of them was moderate to low. The most important required skill for reporters was the ability to interpret medical research reports (88%), 97% were eager to participate in specialized health education.Conclusions:Our study showed that health journalists lacked knowledge and specialized training for dissemination of health news. This has brought about serious challenges. Thus, development and implementation of training courses in close collaboration with educational department of the Ministry of Health and news programs professionals at Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting is highly recommended.

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Science reporting in Accra, Ghana: Sources, barriers and motivational factors

Cited by 44 publications

References 24 publications

Science communication as a field of research: identifying trends, challenges and gaps by analysing research papers

Science communication as a field of research: identifying trends, challenges and gaps by analysing research papers

Sickle cell disease in Africa: an overview of the integrated approach to health, research, education and advocacy in Tanzania, 2004–2016

Health journalism: Health reporting status and challenges

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